Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica
‘Peleus the son of Aeacus, dear to the deathless gods, came to Phthia
the mother of flocks, bringing great possessions from spacious Iolcus.
And all the people envied him in their hearts seeing how he had sacked
the well-built city, and accomplished his joyous marriage; and they all
spake this word: “Thrice, yea, four times blessed son of Aeacus, happy
Peleus! For far-seeing Olympian Zeus has given you a wife with many
gifts and the blessed gods have brought your marriage fully to pass,
and in these halls you go up to the holy bed of a daughter of Nereus.
Truly the father, the son of Cronos, made you very pre-eminent among
heroes and honoured above other men who eat bread and consume the fruit
of the ground.”’
Fragment #59—1739 Origen, Against Celsus, iv. 79: ‘For in common then
were the banquets, and in common the seats of deathless gods and mortal
men.’
Fragment #60—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvi. 175: ...whereas Hesiod and
the rest call her (Peleus’ daughter) Polydora.
Fragment #61—Eustathius, Hom. 112. 44 sq: It should be observed that
the ancient narrative hands down the account that Patroclus was even a
kinsman of Achilles; for Hesiod says that Menoethius the father of
Patroclus, was a brother of Peleus, so that in that case they were
first cousins.
Fragment #62—Scholiast on Pindar, Ol. x. 83: Some write ‘Serus the son
of Halirrhothius’, whom Hesiod mentions: ‘He (begot) Serus and
Alazygus, goodly sons.’ And Serus was the son of Halirrhothius
Perieres’ son, and of Alcyone.
Fragment #63—Pausanias 1740, ii. 26. 7: This oracle most clearly proves
that Asclepius was not the son of Arsinoe, but that Hesiod or one of
Hesiod’s interpolators composed the verses to please the Messenians.
Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iii. 14: Some say (Asclepius) was the son of
Arsinoe, others of Coronis. But Asclepiades says that Arsinoe was the
daughter of Leucippus, Perieres’ son, and that to her and Apollo
Asclepius and a daughter, Eriopis, were born:
‘And she bare in the palace Asclepius, leader of men, and Eriopis with
the lovely hair, being subject in love to Phoebus.’
And of Arsinoe likewise:
‘And Arsinoe was joined with the son of Zeus and Leto and bare a son
Asclepius, blameless and strong.’ 1741
Fragment #64—For how does he say that the same persons (the Cyclopes)
were like the gods, and yet represent them as being destroyed by Apollo
in the _Catalogue of the Daughters of Leucippus_?
Fragment #65—“Echemus made Timandra his buxom wife.”
Fragment #66—Hesiod in giving their descent makes them (Castor and
Polydeuces) both sons of Zeus.
Hesiod, however, makes Helen the child neither of Leda nor Nemesis, but
daughter of Ocean and Zeus.
Fragment #67—Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes 249: Steischorus says that
while sacrificing to the gods Tyndareus forgot Aphrodite and that the
goddess was angry and made his daughters twice and thrice wed and
deserters of their husbands.... And Hesiod also says:
(ll. 1-7) ‘And laughter-loving Aphrodite felt jealous when she looked
on them and cast them into evil report. Then Timandra deserted Echemus
and went and came to Phyleus, dear to the deathless gods; and even so
Clytaemnestra deserted god-like Agamemnon and lay with Aegisthus and
chose a worse mate; and even so Helen dishonoured the couch of
golden-haired Menelaus.’
Fragment #68—1742 Berlin Papyri, No. 9739: (ll. 1-10) ‘....Philoctetes
sought her, a leader of spearmen, .... most famous of all men at
shooting from afar and with the sharp spear. And he came to Tyndareus’
bright city for the sake of the Argive maid who had the beauty of
golden Aphrodite, and the sparkling eyes of the Graces; and the
dark-faced daughter of Ocean, very lovely of form, bare her when she
had shared the embraces of Zeus and the king Tyndareus in the bright
palace.... (And.... sought her to wife offering as gifts)
((LACUNA))
(ll. 11-15)....and as many women skilled in blameless arts, each
holding a golden bowl in her hands. And truly Castor and strong
Polydeuces would have made him 1743 their brother perforce, but
Agamemnon, being son-in-law to Tyndareus, wooed her for his brother
Menelaus.
(ll. 16-19) And the two sons of Amphiaraus the lord, Oecleus’ son,
sought her to wife from Argos very near at hand; yet.... fear of the
blessed gods and the indignation of men caused them also to fail.
((LACUNA))
(l. 20)...but there was no deceitful dealing in the sons of Tyndareus.
(ll. 21-27) And from Ithaca the sacred might of Odysseus, Laertes son,
who knew many-fashioned wiles, sought her to wife. He never sent gifts
for the sake of the neat-ankled maid, for he knew in his heart that
golden-haired Menelaus would win, since he was greatest of the Achaeans
in possessions and was ever sending messages 1744 to horse-taming
Castor and prize-winning Polydeuces.
(ll. 28-30) And....on’s son sought her to wife (and brought)
....bridal-gifts.... ....cauldrons....
((LACUNA))
(ll. 31-33)...to horse-taming Castor and prize-winning Polydeuces,
desiring to be the husband of rich-haired Helen, though he had never
seen her beauty, but because he heard the report of others.
(ll. 34-41) And from Phylace two men of exceeding worth sought her to
wife, Podarces son of Iphiclus, Phylacus’ son, and Actor’s noble son,
overbearing Protesilaus. Both of them kept sending messages to
Lacedaemon, to the house of wise Tyndareus, Oebalus’ son, and they
offered many bridal-gifts, for great was the girl’s renown, brazen....
....golden....
((LACUNA))
(l. 42)...(desiring) to be the husband of rich-haired Helen.
(ll. 43-49) From Athens the son of Peteous, Menestheus, sought her to
wife, and offered many bridal-gifts; for he possessed very many stored
treasures, gold and cauldrons and tripods, fine things which lay hid in
the house of the lord Peteous, and with them his heart urged him to win
his bride by giving more gifts than any other; for he thought that no
one of all the heroes would surpass him in possessions and gifts.
(ll. 50-51) There came also by ship from Crete to the house of the son
of Oebalus strong Lycomedes for rich-haired Helen’s sake.
Berlin Papyri, No. 10560: (ll. 52-54)...sought her to wife. And after
golden-haired Menelaus he offered the greatest gifts of all the
suitors, and very much he desired in his heart to be the husband of
Argive Helen with the rich hair.
(ll. 55-62) And from Salamis Aias, blameless warrior, sought her to
wife, and offered fitting gifts, even wonderful deeds; for he said that
he would drive together and give the shambling oxen and strong sheep of
all those who lived in Troezen and Epidaurus near the sea, and in the
island of Aegina and in Mases, sons of the Achaeans, and shadowy Megara
and frowning Corinthus, and Hermione and Asine which lie along the sea;
for he was famous with the long spear.
(ll. 63-66) But from Euboea Elephenor, leader of men, the son of
Chalcodon, prince of the bold Abantes, sought her to wife. And he
offered very many gifts, and greatly he desired in his heart to be the
husband of rich-haired Helen.
(ll. 67-74) And from Crete the mighty Idomeneus sought her to wife,
Deucalion’s son, offspring of renowned Minos. He sent no one to woo her
in his place, but came himself in his black ship of many thwarts over
the Ogygian sea across the dark wave to the home of wise Tyndareus, to
see Argive Helen and that no one else should bring back for him the
girl whose renown spread all over the holy earth.
(l. 75) And at the prompting of Zeus the all-wise came.
((LACUNA—Thirteen lines lost.))
(ll. 89-100) But of all who came for the maid’s sake, the lord
Tyndareus sent none away, nor yet received the gift of any, but asked
of all the suitors sure oaths, and bade them swear and vow with unmixed
libations that no one else henceforth should do aught apart from him as
touching the marriage of the maid with shapely arms; but if any man
should cast off fear and reverence and take her by force, he bade all
the others together follow after and make him pay the penalty. And
they, each of them hoping to accomplish his marriage, obeyed him
without wavering. But warlike Menelaus, the son of Atreus, prevailed
against them all together, because he gave the greatest gifts.
(ll. 100-106) But Chiron was tending the son of Peleus, swift-footed
Achilles, pre-eminent among men, on woody Pelion; for he was still a
boy. For neither warlike Menelaus nor any other of men on earth would
have prevailed in suit for Helen, if fleet Achilles had found her
unwed. But, as it was, warlike Menelaus won her before.
II. 1745
(ll. 1-2) And she (Helen) bare neat-ankled Hermione in the palace, a
child unlooked for.
(ll. 2-13) Now all the gods were divided through strife; for at that
very time Zeus who thunders on high was meditating marvellous deeds,
even to mingle storm and tempest over the boundless earth, and already
he was hastening to make an utter end of the race of mortal men,
declaring that he would destroy the lives of the demi-gods, that the
children of the gods should not mate with wretched mortals, seeing
their fate with their own eyes; but that the blessed gods henceforth
even as aforetime should have their living and their habitations apart
from men. But on those who were born of immortals and of mankind verily
Zeus laid toil and sorrow upon sorrow.
((LACUNA—Two lines missing.))
(ll. 16-30)....nor any one of men.... ....should go upon black
ships.... ....to be strongest in the might of his hands.... ....of
mortal men declaring to all those things that were, and those that are,
and those that shall be, he brings to pass and glorifies the counsels
of his father Zeus who drives the clouds. For no one, either of the
blessed gods or of mortal men, knew surely that he would contrive
through the sword to send to Hades full many a one of heroes fallen in
strife. But at that time he knew not as yet the intent of his father’s
mind, and how men delight in protecting their children from doom. And
he delighted in the desire of his mighty father’s heart who rules
powerfully over men.
(ll. 31-43) From stately trees the fair leaves fell in abundance
fluttering down to the ground, and the fruit fell to the ground because
Boreas blew very fiercely at the behest of Zeus; the deep seethed and
all things trembled at his blast: the strength of mankind consumed away
and the fruit failed in the season of spring, at that time when the
Hairless One 1746 in a secret place in the mountains gets three young
every three years. In spring he dwells upon the mountain among tangled
thickets and brushwood, keeping afar from and hating the path of men,
in the glens and wooded glades. But when winter comes on, he lies in a
close cave beneath the earth and covers himself with piles of luxuriant
leaves, a dread serpent whose back is speckled with awful spots.
(ll. 44-50) But when he becomes violent and fierce unspeakably, the
arrows of Zeus lay him low.... Only his soul is left on the holy earth,
and that fits gibbering about a small unformed den. And it comes
enfeebled to sacrifices beneath the broad-pathed earth.... and it
lies....’
((LACUNA—Traces of 37 following lines.))
Fragment #69—Tzetzes 1747, Exeg. Iliad. 68. 19H: Agamemnon and Menelaus
likewise according to Hesiod and Aeschylus are regarded as the sons of
Pleisthenes, Atreus’ son. And according to Hesiod, Pleisthenes was a
son of Atreus and Aerope, and Agamemnon, Menelaus and Anaxibia were the
children of Pleisthenes and Cleolla the daughter of Dias.
Fragment #70—Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles’ Electra, 539: ‘And she
(Helen) bare to Menelaus, famous with the spear, Hermione and her
youngest-born, Nicostratus, a scion of Ares.’
Fragment #71—Pausanias, i. 43. 1: I know that Hesiod in the _Catalogue