history short paper

Cooke, Thomas, 1703-1756 (trans.) / Hesiod (orig.):  THE THEOGONY, OR THE Generation of the Gods .  

Cooke, Thomas, 1703-1756 (trans.) / Hesiod (orig.)  [from The Works Of Hesiod (1740)]

The ARGUMENT .

After the proposition, and invocation, the poet begins the generation of the gods. This poem, besides the genealogy of the deitys and heros, contains the story of Heaven and the conspiracy of his wife and sons against him, the story of Styx and her offsprings, of Saturn and his sons, and of Prometheus and Pandora : hence the poet proceeds to relate the war of the gods, which is the subject of above three hundred verses. The reader is often relieved, from the narrative part of the Theogony , with several beautyful descriptions, and other poetical embellishments.  1  Begin , my song, with the melodious nine  2  Of Helicon the spacious and divine;  3  The Muses there, a lovely choir, advance,  4  With tender feet to form the skilful dance,  [Page 128 ]  5  Now round the sable font in order move,  6  Now round the altar of Saturnian Jove ;  7  Or, if the cooling streams to bathe invite,  8  In thee, Permessus , they awhile delight;  9  Or now to Hippocrene resort the fair,  10  Or, Olmius , to thy sacred spring repair.  [Page 129 ]  11  Veil'd in thick air, they all the night prolong,  12  In praise of Ægis -bearing Jove the song;  13  And thou, O Argive Juno , golden shod,  14  Art join'd in praises with thy consort god;  15  Thee, goddess, with the azure eyes, they sing,  16  Minerva , daughter of the heav'nly king;  17  The sisters to Apollo tune their voice,  18  And, Artemis , to thee whom darts rejoice;  19  And Neptune in the pious hymn they sound,  20  Who girts the earth, and shakes the solid ground;  21  A tribute they to Themis chast allow,  22  And Venus charming with the bending brow,  23  Nor Hebe , crown'd with gold, forget to praise,  24  Nor fair Dione in their holy lays;  25  Nor thou, Aurora , nor the Day's great light ,  26  Remain unsung, nor the fair lamp of Night ;  27  To thee, Latona , next the numbers range;  28  Iäpetus , and Saturn wont to change,  [Page 130 ]  29  They chant; thee, Ocean , with an ample breast,  30  They sing, and Earth , and Night in sable dress'd;  31  Nor cease the virgins here the strain divine;  32  They celebrate the whole immortal line.  33  'E'rewhile as they the shepherd swain behold  34  Feeding, beneath the sacred mount, his fold,  35  With love of charming song his breast they fir'd;  36  There me the heav'nly Muses first inspir'd;  37  There, when the maids of Jove the silence broke,  38  To Hesiod thus, the shepherd swain, they spoke.  39  Shepherds attend, your happyness who place  40  In gluttony alone, the swain's disgrace;  41  Strict to your duty in the field you keep,  42  There vigilant by night to watch your sheep;  43  Attend ye swains on whom the Muses call,  44  Regard the honour not bestow'd on all;  [Page 131 ]  45  'Tis our to speak the truth in language plain,  46  Or give the face of truth to what we feign.  47  So spoke the maids of Jove , the sacred nine,  48  And pluck'd a scepter from the tree divine,  49  To me the branch they gave, with look serene,  50  The laurel ensign, never fading green:  51  I took the gift with holy raptures fir'd,  52  My words flow sweeter, and my soul's inspir'd;  53  Before my eyes appears the various scene  54  Of all that is to come, and what has been.  55  Me have the Muses chose, their bard to grace,  56  To celebrate the bless'd immortal race;  57  To them the honours of my verse belong;  58  To them I first and last devote the song:  [Page 132 ]  59  But where, O where, inchanted do I rove,  60  Or o'er the rocks, or thro the vocal grove!  61  Now with th'harmonious nine begin, whose voice  62  Makes their great sire, olympian Jove , rejoice;  63  The present, future, and the pass'd, they sing,  64  Join'd in sweet concert to delight their king;  65  Melodious and untir'd their voices flow;  66  Olympus echos, ever crown'd with snow.  [Page 133 ]  67  The heav'nly songsters fill th'æthereal round;  68  Jove 's palace laughs, and all the courts resound:  69  Soft warbling endless with their voice divine,  70  They celebrate the whole immortal line:  71  From Earth , and Heav'n , great parents, first they trace  72  The progeny of gods, a bounteous race;  73  And then to Jove again returns the song,  74  Of all in empire, and command, most strong;  75  Whose praises first and last their bosom fire,  76  Of mortals, and immortal gods, the sire:  77  Nor to the sons of men deny they praise,  78  To such as merit of their heav'nly lays;  [Page 134 ]  79  They sing the giants of puissant arm,  80  And with the wond'rous tale their father charm.  81  Mnemosyne , in the Pierian grove,  82  The scene of her intrigue with mighty Jove ,  83  The empress of Eleuther , fertile earth,  84  Brought to olympian Jove the Muses forth;  85  Bless'd offsprings, happy maids, whose pow'rful art  86  Can banish cares, and ease the painful heart.  [Page 135 ]  87  Absent from heav'n, to quench his am'rous flame,  88  Nine nights the god of gods compress'd the dame.  89  Now thrice three times the moon concludes her race,  90  And shews the produce of the god's embrace,  91  Fair daughters, pledges of immortal Jove ,  92  In number equal to the nights of love;  93  Bless'd maids, by harmony of temper join'd;  94  And verse, their only care, employs their mind.  95  The virgin songsters first beheld the light  96  Near where Olympus rears his snowy height;  97  Where to the maids fair stately domes ascend,  98  Whose steps a constant beauteous choir attend.  99  Not far from hence the Graces keep their court,  100  And with the god of love in banquets sport;  101  Meanwhile the nine their heav'nly voices raise  102  To the immortal pow'rs, the song of praise;  103  They tune their voices in a sacred cause,  104  Their theme the manners of the gods, and laws:  105  When to Olympus they pursue their way,  106  Sweet warbling, as they go, the deathless lay,  [Page 136 ]  107  Meas'ring to Jove , with gentle steps, the ground,  108  The sable earth returns the joyful sound.  109  Great Jove , their sire, who rules th'æthereal plains,  110  Confirm'd in pow'r, of gods the monarch reigns;  111  His father Saturn hurl'd from his command,  112  He grasps the thunder with his conqu'ring hand;  113  He gives the bolts their vigour as they fly,  114  And bids the red-hot light'ning pierce the sky;  115  His subject deitys obey his nod,  116  All honours flow from him of gods the god;  117  From him the Muses sprung, no less their sire,  118  Whose attributes the heav'nly maids inspire:  119  Clio begins the lovely tuneful race,  120  Melpomene which, and Euterpe , grace,  [Page 137 ]  121  Terpsichore all joyful in the choir,  122  And Erato to love whose lays inspire;  123  To these Thalia and Polymnia join,  124  Urania , and Calliope divine,  125  The first, in honour, of the tuneful nine;  126  She the great acts of virtuous monarchs sings,  127  Companion only for the best of kings.  128  Happy of princes, foster sons of Jove ,  129  Whom at his birth the nine with eyes of love  130  Behold; to honours they his days design;  131  He first among the scepter'd hands shall shine;  132  Him they adorn with ev'ry grace of song,  133  And soft persuasion dwells upon his tongue;  134  To him, their judge, the people turn their eye,  135  On him for justice in their cause rely,  [Page 138 ]  136  Reason alone his upright judgement guides,  137  He hears impartial, and for truth decides;  138  Thus he determines from a sense profound,  139  And of contention heals the poys'nous wound.  140  Wise kings, when subjects grow in faction strong,  141  First calm their minds, and then redress their wrong,  142  By their good counsels bid the tumult cease,  143  And sooth contending partys into peace;  144  His aid with duteous rev'rence they implore,  145  And as a god their virtuous prince adore:  146  From whom the Muses love such blessings flow,  147  To them a righteous prince the people owe.  148  From Jove , great origin, all monarchs spring,  149  From mighty Jove of kings himself the king;  150  From the Pierian maids, the heav'nly nine,  151  And from Apollo , sire of verse divine,  [Page 139 ]  152  Far shooting deity whose beams inspire,  153  The poets spring, and all who strike the lyre.  154  Bless'd whom with eyes of love the Muses view,  155  Sweet flow his words, gentle as falling dew.  156  Is there a man by rising woes oppress'd,  157  Who feels the pangs of a distracted breast,  158  Let but the bard, who serves the nine, rehearse  159  The acts of heros pass'd, the theme for verse,  160  Or if the praise of gods, who pass their days  161  In endless ease above, adorns the lays,  162  The pow'rful words administer relief,  163  And from the wounded mind expel the grief;  164  Such are the charms which to the bard belong,  165  A gift from gods deriv'd, the pow'r of song.  [Page 140 ]  166  Hail maids celestial, seed of heav'n's great king,  167  Hear, nor unaided let the poet sing,  168  Inspire a lovely lay, harmonious nine,  169  My theme th'immortal gods, a race divine,  170  Of Earth , of Heav'n which lamps of light adorn,  171  And of old sable Night , great parents, born,  172  And, after, nourish'd by the briny Main :  173  Hear goddesses, and aid the ventrous strain;  174  Say whence the deathless gods receiv'd their birth,  175  And next relate the origin of Earth ,  176  Whence the wide sea that spreads from shore to shore,  177  Whose surges foam with rage, and billows roar,  178  Whence rivers which in various channels flow,  179  And whence the stars which light the world below,  180  And whence the wide expanse of heav'n , and whence  181  The gods, to mortals who their good dispense;  182  Say how from them our honours we receive,  183  And whence the pow'r that they our wants relieve,  [Page 141 ]  184  How they arriv'd to the æthereal plains,  185  And took possession of the fair domains:  186  With these, olympian maids, my breast inspire,  187  And to the end support the sacred fire,  188  In order all from the beginning trace,  189  From the first parents of the num'rous race.  190  Chaos , of all the origin, gave birth  191  First to her offspring the wide-bosom'd Earth ,  [Page 142 ]  192  The seat secure of all the gods, who now  193  Possess Olympus ever cloath'd with snow;  194  Th'abodes of Hell from the same fountain rise,  195  A gloomy land that subterranean lys;  196  And hence does Love his antient lineage trace,  197  Excelling fair of all th'immortal race;  198  At his approach all care is chas'd away,  199  Nor can the wisest pow'r resist his sway;  200  Nor man, nor god, his mighty force restrains,  201  Alike in ev'ry breast the godhead reigns:  202  And Erebus , black son, from Chaos came,  203  Born with his sister Night a sable dame.  [Page 143 ]  204  Night bore, the produce of her am'rous play  205  With Erebus , the sky, and chearful day.  206  Earth first an equal to herself in fame  207  Brought forth, that covers all, the starry frame,  [Page 144 ]  208  The spacious Heav'n , of gods the safe domain,  209  Who live in endless bliss, exempt from pain;  210  From her the lofty Hills , and ev'ry Grove ,  211  Where nymphs inhabit, goddesses, and rove:  212  Without the mutual joys of love she bore  213  The barren Sea , whose whit'ning billows roar.  214  At length the Ocean , with his pools profound,  215  Whose whirling streams pursue their rapid round,  216  Of Heav'n and Earth is born; Coeus his birth  217  From them derives, and Creus , sons of Earth ;  [Page 145 ]  218  Hyperion and Japhet , brothers, join:  219  Thea , and Rhea , of this antient line  220  Descend; and Themis boasts the source divine,  [Page 146 ]  221  And thou Mnemosyne , and Phoebe crown'd  222  With gold, and Tethys for her charms renown'd:  223  To these successive wily Saturn came,  224  As sire and son in each a barb'rous name.  225  Three sons are sprung from Heav'n and Earth 's embrace,  226  The Cyclops bold, in heart a haughty race,  227  Brontes , and Steropes , and Arges brave,  228  Who to the hands of Jove the thunder gave;  [Page 147 ]  229  They for almighty pow'r did light'ning frame,  230  All equal to the gods themselves in fame;  231  One eye was plac'd, a large round orb, and bright,  232  Amidst their forehead to receive the light;  233  Hence were they Cyclops call'd; great was their skill,  234  Their strength, and vigour, to perform their will.  235  The fruitful Earth by Heav'n conceiv'd again,  236  And for three mighty sons the rending pain  237  She suffer'd; Cottus , terrible to name,  238  Gyges , and Briareus , of equal fame;  239  Conspicuous above the rest they shin'd,  240  Of body strong, magnanimous of mind;  241  Fifty large heads their lusty shoulders bore,  242  And, dang'rous to approach, hands fifty more:  243  Of all from Heav'n , their sire, who took their birth,  244  These were most dreadful of the sons of Earth ;  245  Their cruel father, from their natal hour,  246  With hate pursued them, to his utmost pow'r;  247  He from the parent womb did all convey  248  Into some secret cave remote from day:  249  The tyrant father thus his sons oppress'd,  250  And evil meditations fill'd his breast.  251  Earth deeply groan'd for these her sons confin'd,  252  And vengeance for their wrongs employ'd her mind;  253  She yields black iron from her fruitful vein,  254  And of it forms an instrument of pain;  [Page 148 ]  255  Then to her children thus, the silence broke,  256  Without reserve she deeply sighing spoke.  257  My sons, descended from a barb'rous sire,  258  Whose evil acts our breasts to vengeance fire,  259  Attentive to my friendly voice incline;  260  Th'aggressor he, and to revenge be thine.  261  The bold proposal they astonish'd hear;  262  Her words possess'd them with a silent fear;  263  Saturn , at last, whom no deceit can blind,  264  To her responsive thus declar'd his mind.  265  Matron, for us the throwing pangs who bore,  266  Much we have suffer'd, but will bear no more;  267  If such as fathers ought our will not be,  268  The name of father is no ty to me;  269  Patient of wrongs if they th'attempt decline,  270  Th'aggressor he, all to revenge be mine.  271  Earth greatly joy'd at what his words reveal'd,  272  And in close ambush him from all conceal'd;  273  Arm'd with the crooked instrument she made,  274  She taught him to direct the sharp-tooth'd blade.  275  Great Heav'n approach'd beneath the veil of Night ,  276  Proposing from his consort, Earth , delight;  277  As in full length the god extended lay,  278  No fraud suspecting in his am'rous play,  279  Out rush'd his son, comploter with his wife,  280  His right hand grasp'd the long, the fatal, knife,  281  His left the channel of the seed of life,  [Page 149 ]  282  Which from the roots the rough-tooth'd metal tore,  283  And bath'd his fingers with his father's gore;  284  He throw'd behind the sourse of Heaven 's pain;  285  Nor fell the ruins of the god in vain;  286  The sanguine drops which from the members fall  287  The fertile earth receives, and drinks them all:  288  Hence, at the end of the revolving year,  289  Sprung mighty Giants , pow'rful with the spear,  290  Shining in arms; the Furys took their birth  291  Hence, and the Wood-Nymphs of the spacious earth.  292  Saturn the parts divided from the wound,  293  Spoils of his parent god, cast from the ground  294  Into the sea; long thro the watry plain  295  They journey'd on the surface of the main:  296  Fruitful at length th'immortal substance grows,  297  Whit'ning it foams, and in a circle flows:  298  Behold a nymph arise divinely fair,  299  Whom to Cythera first the surges bear;  300  Hence is she borne safe o'er the deeps profound  301  To Cyprus , water'd by the waves around:  302  And here she walks endow'd with every grace  303  To charm, the goddess blooming in her face;  304  Her looks demand respect; and where she goes  305  Beneath her tender feet the herbage blows;  306  And Aphrodite , from the foam, her name,  307  Among the race of gods, and men, the same;  308  And Cytherea from Cythera came;  [Page 150 ]  309  Whence, beauteous crown'd, she safely cross'd the sea,  310  And call'd, o Cyprus, Cypria from thee;  311  Nor less by Philomedea known on earth,  312  A name deriv'd immediate from her birth:  313  Her first attendants to th'immortal choir  314  Were Love , the oldest god, and fair Desire :  315  The virgin whisper, and the tempting smile,  316  The sweet alurement that can hearts beguile,  317  Soft blandishments which never fail to move,  318  Friendship, and all the fond deceits in love,  319  Constant her steps pursue, or will she go  320  Among the gods above, or men below.  321  Great Heav'n was wrath thus by his sons to bleed,  322  And call'd them Titans from the barb'rous deed;  323  He told them all, from a prophetic mind,  324  The hours of his revenge were sure behind.  325  Now darksome Night fruitful begun to prove,  326  Without the knowledge of connubial love;  [Page 151 ]  327  From her black womb sad Destiny and Fate ,  328  Death, Sleep , and num'rous Dreams , derive their date:  329  With Momus the dark goddess teems again,  330  And Care the mother of a doleful train;  331  Th' Hesperides she bore, far in the seas  332  Guards of the golden fruit, and fertile trees:  333  From the same parent sprung the rig'rous three,  334  The goddesses of Fate , and Destiny ,  335  Clotho and Lachesis , whose boundless sway,  336  With Atropos , both men and gods obey;  337  To human race they, from their birth, ordain  338  A life of pleasure, or a life of pain;  [Page 152 ]  339  To slav'ry, or to empire, such their pow'r,  340  They fix a mortal at his natal hour;  341  The crimes of men, and gods, the Fates pursue,  342  And give to each alike the vengeance due;  343  Nor can the greatest their resentment fly,  344  They punish 'e're they lay their anger by:  345  And Nemesis from the same fountain rose,  346  From hurtful Night , herself the sourse of woes:  347  Hence Fraud , and loose Desire the bane of life,  348  Old age vexatious, and corroding Strife .  349  From Strife pernicious painful labour rose,  350  Oblivion, Famine , and tormenting Woes ;  351  Hence Combats, Murders, Wars , and Slaughters , rise,  352  Deceits , and Quarrels , and injurious Lys ;  353  Unruly License hence that knows no bounds,  354  And Losses spring, and sad Domestic wounds ;  355  Hence Perjury , black Perjury , began,  356  A crime destructive to the race of man.  357  Old Nereus to the Sea was born of Earth ,  358  Nereus who claims the precedence in birth  [Page 153 ]  359  To their descendants; him old god they call,  360  Because sincere, and affable, to all;  361  In judgement moderation he preserves,  362  And never from the paths of justice swerves.  363  Thaumas the great from the same parents came,  364  Phorcys the strong, and Ceto beauteous dame:  365  To the same sire did Earth Euribia bear,  366  As iron hard her heart, a cruel fair.  367  Doris to Nereus bore a lovely train,  368  Fifty fair daughters, wand'rers of the main;  [Page 154 ]  369  A beauteous mother she, of Ocean born,  370  Whose graceful head the comely'st locks adorn:  371  Proto, Eucrate , nymphs, begin the line,  372  Sao to whom, and Amphitrite join;  373  Eudore, Thetis , and Galene , grace,  374  With Glauce , and Cymothoe , the race;  375  Swift-footed Spio hence derives her birth,  376  With thee, Thalia , ever prone to mirth;  377  And Melite , charming in mien to see,  378  Did the same mother bear, Eulimene ,  379  Agave too, Pasithea and thee;  380  From whom sprung Erato, Eunice you,  381  With arms appearing of a rosy hue;  [Page 155 ]  382  Doto and Proto join the progeny,  383  With them Pherusa and Dunamene ;  384  Nisæa and Actæa boast the same,  385  Protomedia from the fruitful dame,  386  And Doris honour'd with maternal name;  387  And hence does Panope her lineage trace,  388  And Galatea with a lovely face;  389  And hence Hippothoe who sweetly charms,  390  And thou Hipponoe with thy rosy arms;  391  And hence Cymodoce the floods who binds,  392  And with Cymatolege stills the winds;  393  With them the pow'r does Amphitrite share,  394  Of all the main the lovely'st footed fair;  395  Cumo, Heïone , and Halimed  396  With a sweet garland that adorns her head,  397  Boast the same rise, joyful Glauconome ,  398  Pontoporea , and Liagore ;  399  Evagore, Laomedia , join,  400  And thou Polynome , the num'rous line;  401  Autonoe, Lysianassa , name,  402  Sisters descended from the fertile dame;  403  In the bright list Evarne fair we find,  404  Spotless the nymph both in her form and mind,  405  And Psamathe of a majestic mien;  406  And thou divine Menippe there art seen;  407  To these we Neso add, Eupompe thee,  408  And thee Themisto next, and Pronoe ;  [Page 156 ]  409  Nemertes , virgin chast, compleats the race,  410  Not last in honour tho the last in place;  411  Her breast the virtues of her parent fire,  412  Her mind the copy of her deathless sire.  413  From blameless Nereus these, the fruits of joy,  414  And goodly offices the nymphs employ.  415  Of Ocean born, Electre plights her word  416  To Thaumas , and obeys her rightful lord;  417  Iris to whom, a goddess swift, she bears;  418  From them the Harpys , with their comely hairs,  419  Descend, Aëllo who pursues the wind,  420  And with her sister leaves the birds behind;  421  Ocypete the other; when they fly,  422  They seem with rapid wings to reach the sky.  423  Ceto to Phorcys bore the Graiæ , grey  424  From the first moment they beheld the day;  [Page 157 ]  425  Hence gods and men these daughters Graiæ name;  426  Pephredo lovely veil'd from Ceto came,  427  And Enyo with her saffron veil: the same  [Page 158 ]  428  To Phorcys bore the Gorgons , who remain  429  Far in the seat of Night , the distant main,  [Page 159 ]  430  Where, murm'ring at their task, th' Hesperides  431  Watch o'er the golden fruit, and fertile trees:  432  The number of the Gorgons once were three,  433  Stheno, Medusa , and Euryale ;  434  Of which two sisters draw immortal breath,  435  Free from the fears of age as free from death;  436  But thou Medusa felt a pow'rful foe,  437  A mortal thou, and born to mortal woe;  438  Nothing avail'd of love thy blissful hours,  439  In a soft meadow, on a bed of flow'rs,  440  Thy tender dalliance with the ocean's king,  441  And in the beauty of the year, the spring;  442  You by the conqu'ring hand of Perseus bled,  443  Perseus whose sword lay'd low in dust thy head;  444  Then started out, when you began to bleed,  445  The great Chrysaor , and the gallant steed  446  Call'd Pegasus , a name not giv'n in vain,  447  Born near the fountains of the spacious main.  [Page 160 ]  448  His birth will great Chrysaor 's name unfold,  449  When in his hand glitter'd the sword of gold;  450  Mounted on Pegasus he soar'd above,  451  And sought the palace of almighty Jove ;  452  Loaded with light'ning thro the skys he rode,  453  And bore it with the thunder to the god.  454  Chrysaor , love the guide, Calliroe led,  455  Daughter of Ocean , to the genial bed;  456  Whence Geryon sprung, fierce with his triple head;  457  Whom Hercules lay'd breathless on the ground,  458  In Erythea which the waves surround;  459  His oxen lowing round their master stand,  460  While he falls gasping from the conqu'rer's hand:  461  That fatal day beheld Eurytion fall,  462  And with him Orthus in a gloomy stall;  [Page 161 ]  463  By his strong arm the dog and herdsman slain,  464  The hero drove the oxen cross the main;  465  The wide-brow'd herds he to Tirynthus bore,  466  And safely landed on the sacred shore.  467  Calliroe in a cave conceiv'd again,  468  And for Echidna bore maternal pain;  469  A monster she of an undaunted mind,  470  Unlike the gods, nor like the human kind;  471  One half a nymph of a prodigious size,  472  Fair her complexion, and asquint her eyes;  473  The other half a serpent dire to view,  474  Large, and voracious, and of various hue;  475  Deep in a Syrian rock her horrid den,  476  From the immortal gods remote, and men;  477  There, so the council of the gods ordains,  478  Forlorn, and ever young, the nymph remains.  479  In love Echidna with Typhaon join'd,  480  Outragious he, and blust'ring, as the wind;  481  Of these the offsprings prov'd a furious race;  482  Orthus , the produce of the first embrace,  483  Was vigilant to watch his master's herd,  484  The dog of Geryon , and a trusty guard:  485  Next Cerberus , the dog of Pluto , came,  486  Devouring, direful, of a monstrous frame;  [Page 162 ]  487  From fifty heads he barks with fifty tongues,  488  Fierce, and undaunted, with his brasen lungs:  489  The dreadful Hydra rose from the same bed,  490  In Lerna by the fair-arm'd Juno bred,  491  Juno , with hate implacable who strove  492  Against the virtues of the son of Jove ;  493  But Hercules , with Iolaus join'd,  494  Amphitryon 's race, and of a martial mind,  495  Bless'd with the counsel of the warlike maid,  496  Dead at his feet the horrid monster lay'd:  497  From the same parents sprung Chimæra dire,  498  From whose black nostrils issued flames of fire;  499  Strong, and of size immense; a monster she  500  Rapid in flight, astonishing to see;  [Page 163 ]  501  A lion's head on her large shoulders grew,  502  The goat's, and dragon's, terrible to view;  503  A lion she before in mane and throat,  504  Behind a dragon, in the midst a goat;  505  Her Pegasus the swift subdued in flight,  506  Back'd by Bellerophon a gallant knight.  507  From Orthus and Chimæra , foul embrace,  508  Is Sphinx deriv'd, a monster to the race  [Page 164 ]  509  Of Cadmus fatal: from the same dire veins  510  Sprung the stern ranger of Nemean plains,  511  The lion nourish'd by the wife of Jove ,  512  Permited lord of Tretum 's mount to rove;  513  Nemea he, and Apesas , commands,  514  Alarms the people, and destroys their lands;  515  In Hercules at last a foe he found,  516  And from his arm receiv'd a mortal wound.  517  Ceto and Phorcys both renew'd their flame;  518  From which amour a horrid Serpent came;  519  Who keeps, while in a spacious cave he lys,  520  Watchful o'er all the golden fruit his eyes.  [Page 165 ]  521  Tethys and Ocean , born of Heav'n , embrace,  522  Whence springs the Nile , and a long wat'ry race,  523  Alpheus , and Eridanus the strong,  524  That rises deep, and stately rowls along,  [Page 166 ]  525  Strymon, Mæander , and the Ister clear;  526  Nor, Phasis , are thy streams omited here;  527  To the same rise Rhesus his current owes,  528  And Achelous that like silver flows;  529  Hence Nessus takes his course, and Rhodius ,  530  With Haliacmon , and Heptaporus ;  531  To these the Granic and Æsapus join,  532  Hermus to these, and Simoïs divine,  533  Penëus , and the Caic flood that laves  534  The verdant margins with his beauteous waves;  535  The great Sangarius , and the Ladon , name,  536  Parthenius , and Evenus , streams of fame,  537  And you, Ardescus , boast the fruitful line,  538  And lastly you Scamender the divine.  539  From the same parents, fertile pair, we trace  540  A progeny of nymphs, a sacred race;  541  Who, from their birth, o'er all mankind the care  542  With the great king Apollo jointly share;  543  In this is Jove , the god of gods, obey'd,  544  Who grants the rivers all to lend their aid.  545  The nymphs from Tethys , and old Ocean , these,  546  Pitho, Admete , daughters of the seas,  [Page 167 ]  547  Ianthe , and Electra , nymphs of fame,  548  Doris , and Prymno , and the beauteous dame  549  Urania as a goddess fair in face;  550  Hence Hippo , and hence Clymene , we trace,  551  And thou, Rodia , of the num'rous race;  552  Zeuxo to these succeeds, Calliroe ,  553  Clytie, Idya , and Pasithoe ;  554  Plexaure here, and Galaxaure , join,  555  And lovely Dion of a lovely line;  556  Molobosis , and Thoe , add to these,  557  And charming Polydora form'd to please,  558  Cerces whose beautys all from nature rise,  559  And Pluto with her large majestic eyes;  560  Perseïs, Xanthe , in the list we see,  561  And Ianira , and Acaste thee;  562  Menestho , nor Europa , hence remove,  563  Nor Metis , nor Petræa raising love;  564  Crisie , and Asia , boast one antient sire,  565  With fair Calypso object of desire,  566  Telestho saffron-veil'd, Eurynome ,  567  Eudore, Tyche , and Ocyroe ,  568  And thou Amphiro of the source divine,  569  And Styx exceeding all the lovely line:  570  These are the sons first in the list of fame,  571  And daughters, which from antient Ocean came,  572  And fruitful Tethys , venerable dame:  [Page 168 ]  573  Thousands of streams which flow the spacious earth  574  From Tethys , and her sons, deduce their birth;  575  Numbers of tydes she yielded to her lord,  576  Too many for a mortal to record;  577  But they who on, or near, their borders dwell  578  Their virtues know, and can describe them well.  579  The fruits of Thia and Hyperion rise,  580  And with refulgent luster light the skys,  581  The great the glorious Sun transcending bright,  582  And the fair splendid Moon the lamp of night;  583  With them Aurora , when whose dawn appears,  584  Who mortal men, and gods immortal, chears.  585  To Creus , her espous'd, a son of Earth ,  586  Eurybia gave the great Astræus birth;  [Page 169 ]  587  Perses from them, of all most skilful, came,  588  And Pallas first of goddesses in fame.  589  Aurora brought to great Astræus forth  590  The West , the South-wind , and the rapid North ;  591  The morning-star fair Lucifer she bore,  592  And, ornaments of heav'n, ten thousand more.  593  From Styx , the fairest of old Ocean 's line,  594  And Pallas , sprung a progeny divine,  [Page 170 ]  595  Zeal to perform, and Vict'ry in her pace  596  Fair-footed, Valour, Might , a glorious race!  597  They hold a mansion in the realms above,  598  Their seat is always near the throne of Jove ;  599  Where the dread thund'ring god pursues his way,  600  They march, and close behind his steps obey.  601  This honour they by Styx their mother gain'd;  602  Which by her prudence she from Jove obtain'd:  603  When the great pow'r that e'en the gods commands,  604  Who sends the bolts from his almighty hands,  605  Summon'd th'immortals, who obey'd his call,  606  He thus address'd them in th'olympian hall.  607  Ye gods, like gods, with me who dauntless dare  608  To face the Titans in a dreadful war,  609  Above the rest in honour shall ye stand,  610  And ample recompence shall load your hand:  611  To Saturn 's reign who bow'd, and unprefer'd,  612  Void of distinction, and without reward,  613  Great, and magnificently rich, shall shine,  614  As right requires, and suits a pow'r divine.  [Page 171 ]  615  First, as her father counsel'd, Styx ascends,  616  And her brave offsprings to the god commends;  617  Great Jove receiv'd her with peculiar grace,  618  Nor honour'd less the mother than her race;  619  Enrich'd with gifts she left the bright abodes,  620  By Jove ordain'd the solemn oath of gods;  621  Her children, as she wish'd, behind remain,  622  Constant attendants on the thund'rer's train:  623  Alike the god with all maintain'd his word,  624  And rules, in empire strong, of lords the lord.  625  Phoebe with fondness to her Coeus cleav'd,  626  And she, a goddess, by a god conceiv'd;  627  Latona , sable-veil'd, the produce proves,  628  Pleasing to all, of their connubial loves,  629  Sweetly engaging from her natal hour,  630  The most delightful in th'olympian bow'r:  631  From them Asteria sprung, a nymph renown'd,  632  And with the spousal love of Perses crown'd;  [Page 172 ]  633  To whom she bore Hecate , lov'd by Jove ,  634  And honour'd by th'inhabitants above,  635  Profusely gifted from th'almighty hand,  636  With pow'r extensive o'er the sea and land,  637  And great the honour she by Jove 's high leave,  638  Does from the starry vault of heav'n receive.  639  When to the gods the sacred flames aspire,  640  From human off'rings, as the laws require,  641  To Hecate the vows are first prefer'd;  642  Happy of men whose pray'rs are kindly hear'd,  643  Success attends his ev'ry act below,  644  Honour, wealth, pow'r, to him abundant flow.  645  The gods, who all from Earth and Heav'n descend,  646  On her decision for their lots depend;  647  Nor what the earlyest gods, the Titans , claim,  648  By her ordain'd, of honour or of fame,  [Page 173 ]  649  Has Jove revok'd by his supreme command,  650  For her decrees irrevocable stand:  651  Nor is her honour less, nor less her pow'r,  652  Because she only bless'd the nuptial hour;  653  Great is her pow'r on earth, and great her fame,  654  Nor less in Heav'n , and o'er the main the same,  655  Because Saturnian Jove reveres the dame:  656  The man she loves she can to greatness raise,  657  And grant to whom she favours public praise;  658  This shines for words distinguish'd at the bar;  659  One proudly triumphs in the spoils of war;  660  And she alone can speedy vict'ry give,  661  And rich in glory bid the conqu'rer live:  662  And where the venerable rulers meet  663  She sits supreme upon the judgement-seat:  664  In single tryals or of strength, or skill,  665  Propitious she presides o'er whom she will;  666  To honour she extends the beauteous crown,  667  And glads the parent with the son's renown,  668  With rapid swiftness wings the gallant steeds,  669  And in the race the flying courser speeds.  670  Who, urg'd by want, and led by hopes of gain,  671  Pursue their journey cross the dang'rous main,  672  To Hecate they all for safety bow,  673  And to their god and her prefer the vow.  674  With ease the goddess, venerable dame,  675  Gives to the sportsman's hand his wish'd-for game;  [Page 174 ]  676  Or now the weary'd creature faintly flys,  677  And, for a while, eludes the huntsman's eyes,  678  Who stretches sure to seize the panting prey,  679  And bear the glory of the chace away,  680  Till, by the kind protect'ress of the plains,  681  Her strength recovers, and new life she gains,  682  She starts, surprising, and outstrips the wind,  683  And leaves the masters of the chace behind.  684  With Mercury the watchful goddess guards  685  Of goats the stragling flocks, the lowing herds,  686  And bleating folds rich with the pond'rous fleece;  687  By her they lessen, and by her increase.  688  The only daughter of her mother born,  689  And her the gods with various gifts adorn:  690  O'er infants she, so Jove ordain'd, presides,  691  And the upgrowing youth to merit guides;  692  Great is the trust the future man to breed,  693  A trust to her by Saturn 's son decreed.  694  Rhea to Saturn bore, her brother god,  695  Vesta and Ceres ; Juno golden shod,  [Page 175 ]  696  And Pluto hard of heart, whose wide command  697  Is o'er a dark and subterranean land,  698  A pow'rful monarch, hence derive their birth,  699  With Neptune , deity who shakes the earth;  700  Of these great Jove , the ruler of the skys,  701  Of gods and men the sire, in council wise,  702  Is born; and him the universe adores,  703  And the earth trembles when his thunder roars.  [Page 176 ]  704  Saturn from Earth , and Heav'n adorn'd with stars,  705  Had learn'd the rumour of approaching wars,  706  Great as he was a greater should arise  707  To rob him of the empire of the skys,  708  The mighty Jove , his son, in council wise:  709  With dread the fatal prophecy he hear'd,  710  And for his regal honours greatly fear'd,  711  And that the dire decree might fruitless prove,  712  Devour'd his pledges, at their birth, of love:  713  Now Rhea , who her slaughter'd children griev'd,  714  With Jove , the sire of gods and men, conceiv'd;  715  To Earth and Heav'n she for assistance runs,  716  And begs their counsel to revenge her sons,  717  To guard her Jove from wily Saturn 's ire,  718  Secret to keep him from a barb'rous sire:  719  They to their daughter lend a willing ear,  720  And to her speak the hour of vengeance near,  721  Nor hide they from her what the fates ordain  722  Of her great-minded son, and Saturn 's reign:  723  Her safe to Crete the parent gods convey,  724  In Lyctus there, a fertile soil, she lay;  725  At length the tedious months their course had run,  726  When mighty Jove she bore, her youngest son;  727  Wide-spreading Earth receiv'd the child with joy,  728  And train'd the god up from a newborn boy.  729  Rhea to Lyctus safely took her flight,  730  Protected by the sable veil of night;  [Page 177 ]  731  Far in the sacred earth her son she lay'd,  732  On mount Ægæus ever crown'd with shade.  733  When the old king, who once could boast his reign  734  O'er all the gods, and the ætherial plain,  735  Came jealous of the infant's future pow'r,  736  A stone the mother gave him to devour;  737  Greedy he seiz'd th'imaginary child,  738  And swallow'd heedless, by the dress beguil'd;  739  Nor thought the wretched god of ought to fear,  740  Nor knew the day of his disgrace was near;  741  Invincible remains his Jove alive,  742  His throne to shake, and from his kingdom drive  743  The cruel parent, for to him 'tis giv'n  744  To rule the gods, and mount the throne of heav'n.  745  Well thriv'd the deity, nor was it long  746  Before his strength increas'd, and limbs grow'd strong.  747  When the revolving year his course had run,  748  By Earth thy art and Jove his pow'rful son,  749  The crafty Saturn , once by gods ador'd,  750  His injur'd offsprings to the light restor'd:  751  First from within he yielded to the day  752  The stone deceitful, and his latest prey;  753  This Jove , in mem'ry of the wond'rous tale,  754  Fix'd on Parnassus in a sacred vale,  755  In Pytho the divine, a mark to be,  756  That future ages may astonish'd see:  [Page 178 ]  757  And now a greater task behind remains,  758  To free his kindred heav'n-born race from chains,  759  In an ill hour by Saturn rashly bound,  760  Who from the hands of Jove their freedom found;  761  With zeal the gods perform'd a thankful part,  762  The debt of gratitude lay next their heart;  763  Jove owes to them the bolts which dreadful fly,  764  And the bright light'ning which illumes the sky;  765  To him th'exchange for liberty they bore,  766  Gifts deep in earth conceal'd, unknown before;  767  Now arm'd with them he reigns almighty Jove ,  768  The lord of men below and gods above.  769  Clymene, Ocean-born , with beauteous feet,  770  And Japhet , in the bands of wedlock meet;  [Page 179 ]  771  From whose embrace a glorious offspring came,  772  Atlas magnanimous, and great in fame,  [Page 180 ]  773  Menoetius thou with lasting honours crown'd,  774  Prometheus for his artifice renown'd,  [Page 181 ]  775  And Epimetheus of instedfast mind,  776  Lur'd to false joys, and to the future blind,  777  Who, rashly weak by soft Temptations mov'd,  778  The bane of arts and their inventors prov'd,  779  Who took the work of Jove , the virgin fair,  780  Nor saw beneath her charms the latent snare.  781  Blasted by light'ning from the hands of Jove ,  782  Menoetius fell in Erebus to rove;  783  His dauntless mind that could not brook command,  784  And prone to ill, provok'd th'almighty hand.  [Page 182 ]  785  Atlas , so hard necessity ordains,  786  Erect the pond'rous vault of stars sustains;  787  Not far from the Hesperides he stands,  788  Nor from the load retracts his head or hands:  789  Here was he fix'd by Jove in council wise,  790  Who all disposes, and who rules the skys:  791  To the same god Prometheus ow'd his pains,  792  Fast bound with hard inextricable chains  793  To a large column, in the midmost part,  794  Who bore his suff'rings with a dauntless heart;  795  From Jove an eagle flew with wings wide spread,  796  And on his never-dying liver fed;  797  What with his rav'nous beak by day he tore  798  The night supply'd, and furnish'd him with more:  799  Great Hercules to his assistance came,  800  Born of Alcmena lovely-footed dame;  801  And first he made the bird voracious bleed,  802  And from his chains the son of Japhet freed;  803  To this the god consents, th'olympian sire,  804  Who, for his son's renown, suppress'd his ire,  805  The wrath he bore against the wretch who strove  806  In counsel with himself, the pow'rful Jove ;  807  Such was the mighty thund'rer's will, to raise  808  To greatest height the Theban hero's praise.  809  When at Mecona a contention rose,  810  Men and immortals to each other foes,  811  The strife Prometheus offer'd to compose;  [Page 183 ]  812  In the division of the sacrifice,  813  Intending to deceive great Jove the wise,  814  He stuff'd the flesh in the large ox's skin,  815  And bound the entrails, with the fat, within,  816  Next the white bones, with artful care, dispos'd,  817  And in the candid fat from sight enclos'd:  818  The sire of gods and men, who saw the cheat,  819  Thus spoke expressive of the dark deceit.  820  In this division how unjust the parts,  821  O Japhet 's son, of kings the first in arts!  822  Reproachful spoke the god in council wise;  823  To whom Prometheus full of guile replys,  824  O Jove , the greatest of the pow'rs divine,  825  View the division, and the choice be thine.  826  Wily he spoke from a deceitful mind;  827  Jove saw his thoughts, nor to his heart was blind;  828  And then the god, in wrath of foul, began  829  To plot misfortunes to his subject man:  830  The lots survey'd, he with his hands embrac'd  831  The parts which were in the white fat incas'd;  832  He saw the bones, and anger sat confess'd  833  Upon his brow, for anger seiz'd his breast:  834  Hence to the gods the od'rous flames aspire  835  From the white bones which feed the sacred fire.  836  The cloud-compelling Jove , by Japhet 's son  837  Enrag'd, to him in words like these begun.  [Page 184 ]  838  O ! who in male contrivance all transcend,  839  Thine arts thou wilt not yet, obdurate, end.  840  So spoke th'eternal wisdom, full of ire,  841  And from that hour deny'd the use of fire  842  To wretched men, who pass on earth their time,  843  Mindful, Prometheus , of thy artful crime:  844  But Jove in vain conceal'd the splendid flame;  845  The son of Japhet , of immortal fame,  846  Brought the bright sparks clandestine from above  847  Clos'd in a hollow cane; the thund'ring Jove  848  Soon, from the bitterness of soul, began  849  To plot destruction to the peace of man.  850  Vulcan , a god renown'd, by Jove 's command,  851  Form'd a fair virgin with a master hand,  852  Earth her first principal, her native air  853  As modest seeming as her face was fair.  854  The nymph, by Pallas , blue-ey'd goddess, dress'd,  855  Bright shin'd improv'd beneath the candid vest;  856  The rich-wrought veil behind, wond'rous to see,  857  Fruitful with art, bespoke the deity;  858  Her brows to compass did Minerva bring  859  A garlant breathing all the sweets of spring:  860  And next the goddess, glorious to behold,  861  Plac'd on her head a glitt'ring crown of gold,  862  The work of Vulcan by his master hand,  863  The labour of the god by Jove 's command;  [Page 185 ]  864  There seem'd to scud along the finny breed;  865  And there the beasts of land appear'd to feed;  866  Nature and art were there so much at strife,  867  The miracle might well be took for life.  868  Vulcan the lovely bane, the finish'd maid,  869  To the immortal gods and men convey'd;  870  Graceful by Pallas dress'd the virgin trod,  871  And seem'd a blessing or for man or god:  872  Soon as they see th'inevitable snare,  873  They praise the artist, and admire the fair;  874  From her, the fatal guile, a sex derives  875  To men pernicious, and contracts their lives,  876  The softer kind, a false alluring train,  877  Tempting to joys which ever end with pain,  878  Never beheld with the penurious race,  879  But ever seen where lux'ry shews her face.  880  As drones, oppressive habitants of hives,  881  Owe to the labour of the bees their lives,  882  Whose work is always with the day begun,  883  And never ends but with the seting sun,  884  From flow'r to flow'r they rove, and loaded home  885  Return, to build the white the waxen comb,  886  While lazy the luxurious race remain  887  Within, and of their toils enjoy the gain,  888  So woman, by the thund'rer's hard decree,  889  And wretched man, are like the drone and bee:  [Page 186 ]  890  If man the gauling chain of wedlock shuns,  891  He from one evil to another runs;  892  He, when his hairs are winter'd o'er with grey,  893  Will want a helpmate in th'afflicting day;  894  And if possessions large have bless'd his life,  895  He dys, and proves perhaps the source of strife;  896  A distant kindred, far ally'd in blood,  897  Contend to make their doubtful titles good:  898  Or should he, these calamitys to fly,  899  His honour plight, and join the mutual ty,  900  And should the partner of his bosom prove  901  A chast and prudent matron, worthy love;  902  Yet he would find this chast this prudent wife  903  The hapless author of a checquer'd life:  904  But should he, wretched man, a nymph embrace,  905  A stubborn consort, of a stubborn race,  906  Poor hamper'd slave how must he drag the chain!  907  His mind, his breast, his heart, o'ercharg'd with pain!  908  What congregated woes must he endure!  909  What ills on ills which will admit no cure!  910  Th'omnipotence of Jove in all we see,  911  Whom none eludes, and what he wills must be;  912  Not thou, to none injurious, Japhet 's son,  913  With all thy wisdom, could his anger shun;  914  His rage you suffer'd, and confess'd his pow'r  915  Chain'd in hard durance in the penal hour.  [Page 187 ]  916  The brothers Briareus and Cottus lay,  917  With Gyges , bound in chains, remov'd from day,  [Page 188 ]  918  By their hard-hearted sire, who with surprise  919  View'd their vast strength, their form, and monstrous size:  920  In the remotest parts of earth confin'd  921  They sat, and silent sorrows wreck'd their mind,  922  Till by th'advice of Earth , and aid of Jove ,  923  With other gods, the fruits of Saturn 's love  924  With Rhea beauteous dress'd, they broke the chain,  925  And from their dungeons burs'd to light again.  926  Earth told them all, from a prophetic light,  927  How gods encount'ring gods should meet in fight,  928  To them foretold, who stood devoid of fear,  929  Their hour of vict'ry and renown was near;  930  The Titans , and the bold Saturnian race,  931  Should wage a dreadful war, ten years the space.  932  The Titans brave on lofty Othrys stand,  933  And gloriously dare the thund'rer's hand;  934  The gods from Saturn sprung ally their pow'r;  935  (Gods Rhea bore him in a fatal hour:)  936  From high Olympus they like gods engage,  937  And dauntless face, like gods, Titanian rage.  938  In the dire conflict neither party gains,  939  In equal ballance long the war remains;  [Page 189 ]  940  At last by truce each soul immortal rests,  941  Each god on nectar and ambrosia feasts;  942  Their spirits nectar and ambrosia raise,  943  And fire their generous breasts to acts of praise;  944  To whom, the banquet o'er, in council join'd,  945  The sire of gods and men express'd his mind:  946  Gods who from Earth and Heav'n , great rise, descend,  947  To what my heart commands to speak attend:  948  For vict'ry long, and empire, have we strove,  949  Long have ye battel'd in defence of Jove ;  950  To war again, invincible your might,  951  And dare the Titans to the dreadful fight;  952  Of friendship strict observe the sacred charms,  953  Be that the cement of the gods in arms;  954  Grateful remember, when in chains ye lay,  955  From darkness Jove redeem'd ye to the day.  956  He spoke, and Cottus to the god replys;  957  O venerable sire, in council wise,  958  Who freed immortals from a state of woe,  959  Of what you utter well the truth we know:  960  Rescu'd from chains and darkness here we stand,  961  O son of Saturn , by thy pow'rful hand;  962  Nor will we, king, the rage of war decline,  963  Till pow'r, indisputable pow'r, is thine;  964  The right of conquest shall confirm thy sway,  965  And teach the Titans whom they must obey.  [Page 190 ]  966  He ends, the rest assent to what he says;  967  And the gods thank him with the voice of praise;  968  He more than ever feels himself inspir'd,  969  And his mind burns with love of glory fir'd.  970  All rush to battle with impetuous might,  971  And gods and goddesses provoke the fight.  972  The race that Rhea to her lord conceiv'd,  973  And the Titanic gods by Jove reliev'd  [Page 191 ]  974  From Erebus , who there in bondage lay,  975  Ally their arms in this immortal day.  [Page 192 ]  976  Each brother fearless the dire conflict stands,  977  Each rears his fifty heads, and hundred hands;  978  They mighty rocks from their foundations tore,  979  And fiercely brave against the Titans bore.  980  Furious and swift the Titan phalanx drove,  981  And both with mighty force for empire strove:  982  The ocean roar'd from ev'ry part profound,  983  And the earth bellow'd from her inmost ground:  984  Heav'n groans, and to the gods conflicting bends,  985  And the loud tumult high Olympus rends.  986  So strong the darts from god to god were hurl'd,  987  The clamour reach'd the subterranean world;  988  And where, with haughty strides, each warrior trod  989  Hell felt the weight, and sunk beneath the god;  990  All Tartarus could hear the blows from far:  991  Such was the big, the horrid, voice of war!  992  And now the murmur of incitement flys,  993  All rang'd in martial order, thro the skys;  994  Here Jove above the rest conspicuous shin'd,  995  In valour equal to his strength his mind;  996  Erect and dauntless see the thund'rer stand,  997  The bolts red hissing from his vengeful hand;  998  He walks majestic round the starry frame;  999  And now the light'nings from Olympus flame;  1000  The earth wide blazes with the fires of Jove ,  1001  Nor the flash spares the verdure of the grove.  [Page 193 ]  1002  Fierce glows the air, the boiling ocean roars,  1003  And the seas wash with burning waves their shores;  1004  The dazling vapours round the Titans glare,  1005  A light too pow'rful for their eyes to bear!  1006  One conflagration seems to seize on all,  1007  And threatens Chaos with the gen'ral fall.  1008  From what their eyes behold, and what they hear,  1009  The universal wreck of worlds is near:  1010  Should the large vault of stars, the heav'ns, descend,  1011  And with the earth in loud confusion blend,  1012  Like this would seem the great tumultuous jar:  1013  The gods engag'd, such the big voice of war!  1014  And now the batt'ling winds their havock make,  1015  Thick whirls the dust, Earth thy foundations shake;  1016  The arms of Jove thick and terrific fly,  1017  And blaze and bellow, thro the trembling sky;  1018  Winds, thunder, light'ning, thro both armys drove,  1019  Their course impetuous, from the hands of Jove ;  1020  Loud and stupendous is the raging fight,  1021  And now each warriour god exerts his might.  1022  Cottus , and Briareus , who scorn to yield,  1023  And Gyges panting for the martial field,  1024  Foremost the labours of the day increase,  1025  Nor let the horrors of the battel cease:  1026  From their strong hands three hundred rocks they throw,  1027  And, oft' repeated, overwhelm the foe;  [Page 194 ]  1028  They forc'd the Titans deep beneath the ground,  1029  Cast from their pride, and in sad durance bound;  1030  Far from the surface of the earth they ly,  1031  In chains, as earth is distant from the sky;  [Page 195 ]  1032  From earth the distance to the starry frame;  1033  From earth to gloomy Tartarus , the same.  1034  From the high heav'n a brasen anvil cast,  1035  Nine nights and days in rapid whirls would last,  1036  And reach the earth the tenth, whence strongly hurl'd,  1037  The same the passage to th'infernal world,  1038  To Tart'rus ; which a brasen closure bounds,  1039  And whose black entrance threefold night surrounds,  1040  With earth thy vast foundations cover'd o'er;  1041  And there the ocean's endless fountains roar:  1042  By cloud-compelling Jove the Titans fell,  1043  And there in thick, in horrid, darkness dwell:  1044  They ly confin'd, unable thence to pass,  1045  The wall and gates by Neptune made of brass;  1046  Jove 's trusty guards, Gyges and Cottus , stand  1047  There, and with Briareus the pass command.  1048  The entrance there, and the last limits, ly  1049  Of earth, the barren main, the starry sky,  [Page 196 ]  1050  And Tart'rus ; there of all the fountains rise,  1051  A sight detested by immortal eyes:  1052  A mighty chasm, horror and darkness here;  1053  And from the gates the journey of a year:  1054  Here storms in hoarse, in frightful, murmurs play,  1055  The seat of Night , where mists exclude the day.  1056  Before the gates the son of Japhet stands,  1057  Nor from the skys retracts his head or hands;  1058  Where Night and Day their course alternate lead;  1059  Where both their entrance make, and both recede,  1060  Both wait the season to direct their way,  1061  And spread successive o'er the earth their sway:  1062  This chears the eyes of mortals with her light;  1063  The harbinger of Sleep pernicious Night :  1064  And here the sons of Night their mansion keep,  1065  Sad deitys, Death and his brother Sleep ;  1066  Whom, from the dawn to the decline of day,  1067  The sun beholds not with his piercing ray:  1068  One o'er the land extends, and o'er the seas,  1069  And lulls the weary'd mind of man to ease;  1070  That iron-hearted, and of cruel soul,  1071  Brasen his breast, nor can he brook controul,  1072  To whom, and ne'er return, all mortals go,  1073  And even to immortal gods a foe.  1074  Foremost th'infernal palaces are seen  1075  Of Pluto , and Persephone his queen;  [Page 197 ]  1076  A horrid dog, and grim, couch'd on the floor,  1077  Guards, with malicious art, the sounding door;  1078  On each, who in the entrance first appears,  1079  He fawning wags his tail, and cocks his ears;  1080  If any strive to measure back the way,  1081  Their steps he watches, and devours his prey.  1082  Here Styx , a goddess, whom immortals hate,  1083  The first-born fair of Ocean , keeps her state;  1084  From gods remote her silver columns rise,  1085  Roof'd with large rocks her dome that fronts the skys:  1086  Here, cross the main, swift-footed Iris brings  1087  A message seldom from the king of kings;  1088  But when among the gods contention spreads,  1089  And in debate divides immortal heads,  1090  From Jove the goddess wings her rapid flight  1091  To the fam'd river, and the seat of Night ,  1092  Thence in a golden vase the water bears,  1093  By whose cool streams each pow'r immortal swears.  [Page 198 ]  1094  Styx from a sacred font her course derives,  1095  And far beneath the earth her passage drives;  1096  From a stupendous rock descend her waves,  1097  And the black realms of Night her current laves:  1098  Could any her capacious channels drain,  1099  They'd prove a tenth of all the spacious main;  1100  Nine parts in mazes clear as silver glide  1101  Along the earth, or join the ocean's tide;  1102  The other from the rock in billows rowls,  1103  Source of misfortune to immortal souls.  1104  Who with false oaths disgrace th'olympian bow'rs,  1105  Incur the punishment of heav'nly pow'rs:  1106  The perjur'd god, as in the arms of death,  1107  Lethargic lys, nor seems to draw his breath;  1108  Nor him the nectar and ambrosia chear,  1109  While the sun goes his journey of a year;  1110  Nor with the lethargy concludes his pain,  1111  But complicated woes behind remain:  1112  Nine tedious years he must an exile rove,  1113  Nor join the council, nor the feasts, of Jove ;  1114  The banish'd god back in the tenth they call  1115  To heav'nly banquets and th'olympian hall:  1116  The honours such the gods on Styx bestow,  1117  Whose living streams thro rugged channels flow,  1118  Where the begining, and last limits, ly  1119  Of earth, the barren main, the starry sky,  [Page 199 ]  1120  And Tart'rus ; where of all the fountains rise;  1121  A sight detested by immortal eyes.  1122  Th'inhabitants thro brasen portals pass,  1123  Over a threshold of e'erlasting brass,  1124  The growth spontaneous, and foundations deep;  1125  And here th'allys of Jove their captives keep,  1126  The Titans , who to utter darkness fell,  1127  And in the farthest parts of Chaos dwell.  1128  Jove grateful gave to his auxiliar train,  1129  Cottus and Gyges , mansions in the main;  1130  To Briareus , for his superior might  1131  Exerted fiercely in the dreadful fight,  1132  Neptune , who shakes the earth, his daughter gave,  1133  Cymopolia , to reward the brave.  1134  When the great victor god, almighty Jove ,  1135  The Titans from celestial regions drove,  1136  Wide Earth Typhoeus bore, with Tart'rus join'd,  1137  Her youngest born, and blust'ring as the wind;  [Page 200 ]  1138  Fit for most arduous works his brawny hands,  1139  On feet as durable as gods he stands;  1140  From heads of serpents hiss an hundred tongues,  1141  And lick his horrid jaws, untir'd his lungs;  1142  From his dire hundred heads his eye-balls stare,  1143  And fire-like, dreadful to beholders, glare;  1144  Terrific from his hundred mouths to hear,  1145  Voices of ev'ry kind torment the ear;  1146  His utt'rance sounds like gods in council full;  1147  And now he bellows like the lordly bull:  1148  And now he roars like the stern beast that reigns  1149  King of the woods, and terror of the plains;  1150  And now, surprising to be hear'd, he yelps,  1151  Like, from his ev'ry voice, the lion's whelps;  1152  And now, so loud a noise the monster makes,  1153  The loftyest mountain from its basis shakes:  1154  And now Typhoeus had perplex'd the day,  1155  And over men and gods usurp'd the sway,  [Page 201 ]  1156  Had not the pow'rful monarch of the skys,  1157  Of men and gods the sire, great Jove the wise,  1158  Against the foe his hotest vengeance hurl'd,  1159  Which blaz'd and thunder'd thro th'ætherial world;  1160  Thro land and main the bolts red hissing fell,  1161  And thro old Ocean reach'd the gates of Hell .  1162  Th'almighty rising made Olympus nod,  1163  And the earth groan'd beneath the vengeful god.  1164  Hoarse thro the coerule main the thunder rowl'd,  1165  Thro which the light'ning flew, both uncontroul'd;  1166  Fire caught the winds which on their wings they bore,  1167  Fierce flame the earth and heav'n, the seas loud roar,  1168  And beat with burning waves the burning shore;  1169  The tumult of the gods was hear'd afar:  1170  How hard to lay this hurricane of war!  1171  The god who o'er the dead infernal reigns,  1172  E'en Pluto , trembled in his dark domains;  1173  Dire horror seiz'd the rebel Titan band,  1174  In Tartarus who round their Saturn stand:  1175  But Jove at last collected all his might,  1176  With light'ning arm'd, and thunder, for the fight,  [Page 202 ]  1177  With strides majestic from Olympus strode;  1178  What pow'r is able now to face the god!  1179  The flash obedient executes his ire;  1180  The giant blazes with vindictive fire;  1181  From ev'ry head a diff'rent flame ascends;  1182  The monster bellows, and Olympus bends:  1183  The god repeats his blows, beneath each wound  1184  All maim'd the giant falls, and groans the ground.  1185  Fierce flash the light'nings from the hands of Jove ,  1186  The mountains burn, and crackles ev'ry grove.  1187  The melted earth floats from her inmost caves,  1188  As from the furnace run metallic waves:  1189  Under the caverns of the sacred ground,  1190  Where Vulcan works, and restless anvils sound,  1191  Beneath the hand divine the iron grows  1192  Ductile, and liquid from the furnace flows;  1193  So the earth melted: and the giant fell,  1194  Plung'd by the arms of mighty Jove to hell.  1195  Typhoeus bore the rapid winds which fly  1196  With tempests wing'd, and darken all the sky;  [Page 203 ]  1197  But from the bounteous gods derive their birth  1198  The gales which breathe frugiferous to earth,  1199  The South , the North , and the swift Western wind,  1200  Which ever blow to profit human kind:  1201  Those from Typhoeus sprung, an useless train,  1202  To men pernicious, bluster o'er the main;  1203  With thick and sable clouds they veil the deep,  1204  And now destructive cross the ocean sweep:  1205  The mariner with dread beholds from far  1206  The gath'ring storms, and elemental war;  [Page 204 ]  1207  His bark the furious blast and billows rend;  1208  The surges rise, and cataracts descend;  1209  Above, beneath, he hears the tempest roar;  1210  Now sinks the vessel, and he fears no more:  1211  And remedy to this they none can find,  1212  Who are resolved to trade by sea and wind.  1213  On land in whirlwinds, or unkindly show'rs,  1214  They blast the lovely fruits and blooming flow'rs;  1215  O'er sea and land the blust'ring tyrants reign,  1216  And make of earth-born men the labours vain.  1217  And now the gods, who fought for endless fame,  1218  The god of gods almighty Jove proclaim,  1219  As Earth advis'd: nor reigns olympian Jove  1220  Ingrate to them who with the Titans strove;  1221  On those who war'd beneath his wide command  1222  He honours heaps with an impartial hand.  1223  And now the king of gods, Jove, Metis led,  1224  The wisest fair one, to the genial bed;  [Page 205 ]  1225  Who with the blue-ey'd virgin fruitful proves,  1226  Minerva , pledge of their celestial loves;  [Page 206 ]  1227  The sire, from what kind Earth and Heav'n reveal'd,  1228  Artful the matron in himself conceal'd;  1229  From her it was decreed a race should rise  1230  That would usurp the kingdom of the skys:  1231  And first the virgin with her azure eyes,  1232  Equal in strength, and as her father wise,  1233  Is born, the offspring of th'almighty's brain:  1234  And Metis by the god conceiv'd again,  1235  A son decreed to reign o'er heav'n and earth,  1236  Had not the sire destroy'd the mighty birth:  1237  He made the goddess in himself reside,  1238  To be in ev'ry act th'eternal guide.  1239  The Hours to Jove did lovely Themis bear,  1240  Eunomie, Dice , and Irene fair;  [Page 207 ]  1241  O'er human labours they the pow'r possess,  1242  With seasons kind the fruits of earth to bless:  1243  She by the thund'ring god conceiv'd again,  1244  And suffer'd for the Fates the rending pain,  1245  Clotho and Lachesis to whom we owe,  1246  With Atropos , our shares of joy or woe;  1247  This honour they receiv'd from Jove the wise,  1248  The mighty sire, the ruler of the skys.  [Page 208 ]  1249  Eurynome , from Ocean sprung, to Jove  1250  The beauteous Graces bore inspiring love,  1251  Aglaia , and Euphrosyne the fair,  1252  And thou Thalia of a graceful air;  1253  From the bright eyes of these such charms proceed  1254  As make the hearts of all beholders bleed.  1255  He Ceres next, a bounteous goddess, led  1256  To taste the pleasures of the genial bed;  1257  To him fair-arm'd Persephone she bore,  1258  Whom Pluto ravish'd from her native shore:  1259  The mournful dame he of her child bereft,  1260  But the wise sire assented to the theft.  1261  Mnemosyne his breast with love inspires,  1262  The fair-tress'd object of the god's desires;  1263  Of whom the Muses , tuneful nine, are born,  1264  Whose brows rich diadems of gold adorn;  [Page 209 ]  1265  To them uninterrupted joys belong,  1266  Them the gay feast delights, and sacred song.  1267  Latona bore, the fruits of Jove 's embrace,  1268  The lovely'st offsprings of th'æthereal race;  1269  She for Apollo felt the child-bed throw;  1270  And, Artemis , for thee who twang the bow.  1271  Last Juno fills th'almighty monarch's arms,  1272  A blooming consort, and replete with charms;  [Page 210 ]  1273  From her Lucina, Mars , and Hebe , spring;  1274  Their sire of gods the god, of kings the king.  1275  Minerva , goddess of the martial train,  1276  Whom wars delight, sprung from th'almighty's brain;  1277  The rev'rend dame, unconquerable maid,  1278  The battel rouses, of no pow'r afraid.  1279  Juno , proud goddess, with her consort strove,  1280  And soon conceiv'd without the joys of love;  1281  Thee she produc'd without the aid of Jove ,  [Page 211 ]  1282  Vulcan , who far in ev'ry art excel  1283  The gods who in celestial mansions dwell.  1284  To Neptune beauteous Amphitrite bore  1285  Triton , dread god, who makes the surges roar;  1286  Who dwells in seats of gold beneath the main,  1287  Where Neptune and fair Amphitrite reign.  1288  To Mars , who pierces with his spear the shield,  1289  Terror and Fear did Cytherea yield;  [Page 212 ]  1290  Dire brothers who in war disorder spread,  1291  Break the thick phalanx, and increase the dead;  1292  They wait in ev'ry act their father's call,  1293  By whose strong hand the proudest citys fall:  1294  Harmonia , sprung from that immortal bed,  1295  Was to the scene of love by Cadmus led.  1296  Maia , of Atlas born, and mighty Jove ,  1297  Join in the sacred bands of mutual love;  1298  From whom behold the glorious Hermes rise,  1299  A god renown'd, the herald of the skys.  1300  Cadmean Simele , a mortal dame,  1301  Gave to th'almighty's love a child of fame,  1302  Bacchus , from whom our chearful spirits flow,  1303  Mother and son alike immortal now.  [Page 213 ]  1304  The mighty Hercules Alcmena bore  1305  To the great god who makes the thunder roar.  1306  Lame Vulcan made Aglaia fair his bride,  1307  The youngest Grace , and in her blooming pride.  1308  Bacchus , conspicuous with his golden hair,  1309  Thee Ariadne weds, a beauteous fair,  1310  From Minos sprung, whom mighty Jove the sage  1311  Allows to charm her lord exempt from age.  1312  Great Hercules , who with misfortunes strove  1313  Long, is rewarded with a virtuous love,  1314  Hebe , the daughter of the thund'ring god,  1315  By his fair consort Juno golden shod;  1316  Thrice happy he safe from his toils to rise,  1317  And ever young a god to grace the skys!  [Page 214 ]  1318  From the bright Sun , and thee, Perseïs , spring,  1319  Fam'd offsprings, Circe , and Æetes king.  1320  Æetes thee, beauteous Idya , led,  1321  Daughter of Ocean , to the genial bed;  1322  And with th'applause of heav'n your loves were crown'd;  1323  From whom Medea sprung, a fair renown'd.  1324  All hail olympian maids, harmonious nine,  1325  Daughters, of Ægis -bearing Jove , divine,  1326  Forsake the land, forsake the briny main,  1327  The gods and goddesses, celestial train;  1328  Ye Muses each immortal fair record  1329  Who deign'd to revel with a mortal lord,  1330  In whose illustrious offsprings all might trace  1331  The glorious likeness of a godlike race.  1332  Jason , an hero thro the world renow'd,  1333  Was with the joyous love of Ceres crown'd;  [Page 215 ]  1334  Their joys they acted in a fertile soil  1335  Of Crete , which thrice had bore the plowman's toil;  1336  Of them was Plutus born, who spreads his hand,  1337  Dispersing wealth, o'er all the sea and land;  1338  Happy the man who in his favour lives,  1339  Riches to him, and all their joys, he gives.  1340  Cadmus Harmonia lov'd, the fair and young,  1341  A fruitful dame, from golden Venus sprung;  1342  Ino , and Simele, Agave fair,  1343  And thee, Autonoë , thy lover's care,  1344  (Young Aristæus with his comely hair,)  1345  She bore; and Polydore compleats the race,  1346  Born in the Walls of Thebes a stately place.  1347  The brave Chrysaor thee, Calliroe , led,  1348  Daughter of Ocean , to the genial bed;  1349  Whence Geryon sprung fierce with his triple head;  1350  Whom Hercules lay'd breathless on the ground,  1351  In Erythia which the waves surround;  1352  By his strong arm the mighty giant slain,  1353  The hero drove his oxen cross the main.  [Page 216 ]  1354  Two royal sons were to Tithonus born,  1355  Of thee, Aurora , goddess of the morn;  1356  Hemathion from whom and Memnon spring,  1357  Known by his brasen helm was Æthiop 's king.  1358  Pregnant by Cephalus the goddess proves,  1359  A son of high renown rewards their loves;  1360  In form like the possessors of the skys,  1361  Great Phaëthon ; whom with desiring eyes  1362  Fair Aphrodite views: in blooming days  1363  She to her sacred fane the youth conveys;  1364  Inhabitant divine he there remain'd,  1365  His task nocturnal by the fair ordain'd.  1366  When Pelies , haughty prince of wide command,  1367  Of much th'atchiever with an impious hand,  [Page 217 ]  1368  Success attending his injurious mind,  1369  Gave the swell'd fails to fly before the wind,  1370  Æsonides , such gods were thy decrees,  1371  The daughter of Æetes cross the seas  1372  Rap'd from her sire; the hero much endur'd  1373  'E're in his vessel he the fair secur'd;  1374  Her to Iolcus , in her youthful pride,  1375  He bore, and there possess'd the charming bride:  1376  To Jason , her espous'd, the lovely dame  1377  Medeus yields, pledge of the monarch's flame;  1378  Whom Chiron artful by his precepts sway'd:  1379  Thus was the will of mighty Jove obey'd.  1380  The Nereid Psamathe did Phocus bear  1381  To Æacus , herself excelling fair.  1382  To Peleus Thetis , silver-footed dame,  1383  Achilles bore, in war a mighty name.  1384  Fair Cytherea , ever flush'd with charms,  1385  Resign'd them to a mortal hero's arms:  1386  To thee, Anchises , the celestial bride  1387  Æneas bore high in the shades of Ide .  1388  Circe , the daughter of the Sun , inclin'd  1389  To thee, Ulysses , of a patient mind;  [Page 218 ]  1390  Hence Agrius sprung, and hence Latinus came,  1391  A valiant hero, and a spotless name:  1392  The sacred isles were by the brothers sway'd;  1393  And them the Tyrrhenes , men renown'd, obey'd.  1394  Calypso with the sage indulg'd her flame;  1395  From them Nausithous and Nausinous came.  1396  Thus each immortal fair the nine record  1397  Who deign'd to revel with a mortal Lord;  1398  In whose illustrious offsprings all might trace  1399  The glorious likeness of a god-like race:  1400  And now, olympian maids, harmonious nine,  1401  Daughters, of Ægis -bearing Jove , divine,  1402  In lasting song the mortal dames rehearse;  1403  Let the bright belles of earth adorn the verse. 

The end of the Theogony .