From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the great and
 holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the deep-blue
 spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos,

and, when they have washed their tender
 bodies in Permessus or in the Horse's Spring or Olmeius, make their
 fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon and move with vigorous feet.
 Thence they arise and go abroad by night,

veiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely
 voice, praising Zeus the aegis-holder, and queenly Hera of Argos who
 walks on golden sandals, and the daughter of Zeus the aegis-holder
 bright-eyed Athena, and Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in
 arrows,

and Poseidon the
 earth holder who shakes the earth, and revered Themis, and
 quick-glancing Aphrodite, and Hebe with
 the crown of gold, and fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the
 crafty counsellor, Eos, and great Helius, and bright Selene,

Earth, too, and great Oceanus, and
 dark Night, and the holy race of all the other deathless ones that are
 for ever. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was
 shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the
 goddesses said to me—

the
 Muses of Olympus , daughters
 of Zeus who holds the aegis: “Shepherds of the wilderness,
 wretched things of shame, mere bellies, we know how to speak many
 false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to
 utter true things.”
 

 
 So said the ready-voiced daughters of great Zeus, and they plucked and
 gave

me a rod, a shoot of
 sturdy laurel, a marvellous thing, and breathed into me a divine voice
 to celebrate things that shall be and things that were aforetime; and
 they bade me sing of the race of the blessed gods that are eternally,
 but ever to sing of themselves both first and last.

But why all this about oak or
 stone? 
 Come you, let us begin with the Muses who gladden the great spirit of
 their father Zeus in Olympus 
 with their songs, telling of things that are and that shall be and
 that were aforetime with consenting voice. Unwearying flows the sweet
 sound

from their lips, and
 the house of their father Zeus the loud-thunderer is glad at the
 lily-like voice of the goddesses as it spreads abroad, and the peaks
 of snowy Olympus resound, and
 the homes of the immortals. And they, uttering their immortal voice,
 celebrate in song first of all the revered race of the gods

from the beginning, those whom Earth
 and wide Heaven begot, and the gods sprung of these, givers of good
 things. Then next, the goddesses sing of Zeus, the father of gods and
 men, as they begin and end their strain, how much he is the most
 excellent among the gods and supreme in power.

And again, they chant the race of men and strong
 giants, and gladden the heart of Zeus within Olympus ,—the Olympian Muses,
 daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder.
 

 
 Them in Pieria did Mnemosyne (Memory), who reigns over the
 hills of Eleuther, bear of union with the father, the son of
 Cronos,

a forgetting of ills
 and a rest from sorrow. For nine nights did wise Zeus lie with her,
 entering her holy bed remote from the immortals. And when a year was
 passed and the seasons came round as the months waned, and many days
 were accomplished,

she bore nine
 daughters, all of one mind, whose hearts are set upon song, and whose
 spirit is free from care, a little way from the top-most peak of snowy
 Olympus . 
 

 
 There are their bright dancing places and beautiful homes, and beside
 them the Graces and Himerus (Desire) live

in delight. And they, uttering through
 their lips a lovely voice, sing the laws of all and the goodly ways of
 the immortals, uttering their lovely voice. Then went they to
 Olympus , delighting in
 their sweet voice, with heavenly song, and the dark earth
 resounded

about them as they
 chanted and a lovely sound rose up beneath their feet as they went to
 their father. And he was reigning in heaven, himself holding the
 lightning and glowing thunderbolt, when he had overcome by might his
 father Cronos; and he distributed fairly to the immortals their
 portions and declared their privileges.

These things, then, the Muses sang who dwell on
 Olympus , nine daughters
 begotten by great Zeus, Cleio and Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene and
 Terpsichore, and Erato and Polyhymnia and Urania and Calliope, who is the chiefest of
 them all,

for she attends on
 worshipful princes: whomever of heaven-nourished princes the daughters
 of great Zeus honor and behold at his birth, they pour sweet dew upon
 his tongue, and from his lips flow gracious words. All the
 people

look towards him
 while he settles causes with true judgements: and he, speaking surely,
 would soon make wise end even of a great quarrel; for therefore are
 there princes wise in heart, because when the people are being
 misguided in their assembly, they set right the matter again

with ease, persuading them with gentle
 words. And when he passes through a gathering, they greet him as a god
 with gentle reverence, and he is conspicuous amongst the assembled:
 such is the holy gift of the Muses to men. For it is through the Muses
 and far-shooting Apollo that

there are singers and harpers upon the earth; but princes are of
 Zeus, and happy is he whom the Muses love: sweet flows speech from his
 mouth. For although a man has sorrow and grief in his newly-troubled
 soul and lives in dread because his heart is distressed, yet, when a
 singer,

the servant of the
 Muses, chants the glorious deeds of men of old and the blessed gods
 who inhabit Olympus , at once
 he forgets his heaviness and remembers not his sorrows at all; but the
 gifts of the goddesses soon turn him away from these.
 

 
 Hail, children of Zeus! Grant lovely song

and celebrate the holy race of the deathless gods who are
 for ever, those that were born of Earth and starry Heaven and gloomy
 Night and them that briny Sea did rear. Tell how at the first gods and
 earth came to be, and rivers, and the boundless sea with its raging
 swell,

and the gleaming
 stars, and the wide heaven above, and the gods who were born of them,
 givers of good things, and how they divided their wealth, and how they
 shared their honors amongst them, and also how at the first they took
 many-folded Olympus . These
 things declare to me from the beginning, you Muses who dwell in the
 house of Olympus ,

and tell me which of them first came
 to be. In truth at first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed
 Earth, the ever-sure foundation of all the deathless ones who hold the peaks of
 snowy Olympus , and dim
 Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth,

and Eros (Love), fairest among the
 deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise
 counsels of all gods and all men within them. From Chaos came forth
 Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born Aether and Day,

whom
 she conceived and bore from union in love with Erebus. And Earth first
 bore starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, and
 to be an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods. And she brought
 forth long hills, graceful haunts

of the goddess Nymphs who dwell amongst the glens of the hills. She
 bore also the fruitless deep with his raging swell, Pontus , without sweet union of
 love. But afterwards she lay with Heaven and bore deep-swirling
 Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus,

Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne
 and gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. After them was born Cronos
 the wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, and he hated his
 lusty sire.
 

 
 And again, she bore the Cyclopes, overbearing in spirit,

Brontes, and Steropes and
 stubborn-hearted Arges , who gave Zeus the
 thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all else they were like the
 gods,

but one eye only was
 set in the midst of their foreheads. And they were surnamed Cyclopes
 (Orb-eyed) because one orbed eye was set in their foreheads.
 Strength and might and craft were in their works. And again, three
 other sons were born of Earth and Heaven, great and doughty beyond
 telling, Cottus and Briareos and Gyes, presumptuous
 children.

From their
 shoulders sprang a hundred arms, not to be approached, and fifty heads
 grew from the shoulders upon the strong limbs of each, and
 irresistible was the stubborn strength that was in their great forms.
 For of all the children that were born of Earth and Heaven,

these were the most terrible, and
 they were hated by their own father from the first. And he used to
 hide them all away in a secret place of Earth so soon as each was
 born, and would not suffer them to come up into the light: and Heaven
 rejoiced in his evil doing. But vast Earth

groaned within, being straitened, and she thought
 a crafty and an evil wile. Forthwith she made the element of grey
 flint and shaped a great sickle, and told her plan to her dear sons.
 And she spoke, cheering them, while she was vexed in her dear heart:

“My children, gotten
 of a sinful father, if you will obey me, we should punish the vile
 outrage of your father; for he first thought of doing shameful
 things.” So she said; but fear seized them all, and none of them
 uttered a word. But great Cronos the wily took courage and answered
 his dear mother:

“Mother,
 I will undertake to do this deed, for I reverence not our father of
 evil name, for he first thought of doing shameful things.”
 

 
 So he said: and vast Earth rejoiced greatly in spirit, and set and hid
 him in an ambush, and put in his hands

a jagged sickle, and revealed to him the whole plot. And
 Heaven came, bringing on night and longing for love, and he lay about
 Earth spreading himself full upon her. Then the son from his ambush stretched forth his left
 hand and in his right took the great long sickle

with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped off his own
 father's members and cast them away to fall behind him. And not vainly
 did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody drops that gushed
 forth Earth received, and as the seasons moved round

she bore the strong Erinyes and the
 great Giants with gleaming armour, holding long spears in their hands
 and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae all over the boundless earth. And so soon as he had
 cut off the members with flint and cast them from the land into the
 surging sea,

they were swept
 away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around them
 from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. First she drew
 near holy Cythera , and from
 there, afterwards, she came to sea-girt Cyprus , and came forth an awful and lovely goddess,
 and grass

grew up about her
 beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call Aphrodite, and the
 foam-born goddess and rich-crowned Cytherea, because she grew amid the
 foam, and Cytherea because she reached Cythera , and Cyprogenes because she was born in
 billowy Cyprus ,

and Philommedes 
 because she sprang from the members. And with her went Eros, and
 comely Desire followed her at her birth at the first and as she went
 into the assembly of the gods. This honor she has from the beginning,
 and this is the portion allotted to her amongst men and undying
 gods,—

the
 whisperings of maidens and smiles and deceits with sweet delight and
 love and graciousness.
 

 
 But these sons whom he begot himself great Heaven used to call Titans
 (Strainers) in reproach, for he said that they strained and
 did presumptuously

a fearful
 deed, and that vengeance for it would come afterwards. And Night bore
 hateful Doom and black Fate and Death, and she bore Sleep and the
 tribe of Dreams.

And again the
 goddess murky Night, though she lay with none,

bare Blame and painful Woe,

and the Hesperides who guard the rich, golden
 apples and the trees bearing fruit beyond glorious Ocean. Also she
 bore the Destinies and ruthless avenging Fates, Clotho and Lachesis
 and Atropos, who give men at their
 birth both evil and good to have,

and they pursue the transgressions of men and of gods: and these
 goddesses never cease from their dread anger until they punish the
 sinner with a sore penalty. Also deadly Night bore Nemesis
 (Indignation) to afflict mortal men, and after her, Deceit
 and Friendship

and hateful Age
 and hard-hearted Strife. But abhorred Strife bore painful Toil and
 Forgetfulness and Famine and tearful Sorrows, Fightings also, Battles,
 Murders, Manslaughters, Quarrels, Lying Words, Disputes,

Lawlessness and Ruin, all of one
 nature, and Oath who most troubles men upon earth when anyone
 willfully swears a false oath. And Sea begat Nereus, the eldest of his
 children, who is true and lies not: and men call him the Old
 Man

because he is trusty
 and gentle and does not forget the laws of righteousness, but thinks
 just and kindly thoughts. And yet again he got great Thaumas and proud
 Phorcys, being mated with Earth, and fair-cheeked Ceto and Eurybia who
 has a heart of flint within her.

And of Nereus and rich-haired
 Doris, daughter of Ocean the perfect river, were born children, passing lovely amongst goddesses, Ploto,
 Eucrante, Sao, and Amphitrite, and Eudora, and Thetis, Galene and
 Glauce,

Cymothoe, Speo,
 Thoe and lovely Halie, and Pasithea, and Erato, and rosy-armed Eunice,
 and gracious Melite, and Eulimene, and Agaue, Doto, Proto, Pherusa,
 and Dynamene, and Nisaea ,
 and Actaea, and Protomedea,

Doris, Panopea, and comely Galatea, and lovely Hippothoe, and
 rosy-armed Hipponoe, and Cymodoce who with Cymatolege and Amphitrite easily calms the
 waves upon the misty sea and the blasts of raging winds,

and Cymo, and Eione, and rich-crowned
 Alimede, and Glauconome, fond of laughter, and Pontoporea, Leagore,
 Euagore, and Laomedea, and Polynoe, and Autonoe, and Lysianassa, and
 Euarne, lovely of shape and without blemish of form,

and Psamathe of charming figure and
 divine Menippe, Neso, Eupompe, Themisto, Pronoe, and Nemertes who has the nature of
 her deathless father. These fifty daughters sprang from blameless
 Nereus, skilled in excellent crafts.

And Thaumas wedded Electra the daughter of deep-flowing
 Ocean, and she bore him swift Iris and the long-haired Harpies, Aello
 (Storm-swift) and Ocypetes (Swift-flier) who on
 their swift wings keep pace with the blasts of the winds and the
 birds; for quick as time they dart along.

And again, Ceto bore to Phorcys
 the fair-cheeked Graiae, sisters grey from their birth: and both
 deathless gods and men who walk on earth call them Graiae, Pemphredo
 well-clad, and saffron-robed Enyo, and the Gorgons who dwell beyond
 glorious Ocean

in the frontier
 land towards Night where are the clear-voiced Hesperides, Sthenno, and
 Euryale, and Medusa who suffered a woeful fate: she was mortal, but
 the two were undying and grew not old. With her lay the Dark-haired
 One in a soft meadow amid spring
 flowers.

And when Perseus
 cut off her head, there sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse
 Pegasus who is so called because he was born near the springs of
 Ocean; and that other, because he held a golden blade in his hands.
 Now Pegasus flew away and left the earth, the mother of
 flocks,

and came to the
 deathless gods: and he dwells in the house of Zeus and brings to wise
 Zeus the thunder and lightning. But Chrysaor was joined in love to
 Callirrhoe, the daughter of glorious Ocean, and begot three-headed
 Geryones. Him mighty Heracles slew

in sea-girt Erythea by his shambling oxen on that day
 when he drove the wide-browed oxen to holy Tiryns , and had crossed the ford
 of Ocean and killed Orthus and Eurytion the herdsman in the dim stead
 out beyond glorious Ocean.

And
 in a hollow cave she bore another monster, irresistible, in no wise
 like either to mortal men or to the undying gods, even the goddess
 fierce Echidna who is half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks,
 and half again a huge snake, great and awful, with speckled skin,
 eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the holy earth. And there
 she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock far from the deathless
 gods and mortal men. There, then, did the gods appoint her a glorious
 house to dwell in: and she keeps guard in Arima beneath the earth,
 grim Echidna,

a nymph who dies
 not nor grows old all her days.
 

 
 Men say that Typhaon the terrible, outrageous and lawless, was joined
 in love to her, the maid with glancing eyes. So she conceived and
 brought forth fierce offspring; first she bore Orthus the hound of
 Geryones,

and then again
 she bore a second, a monster not to be overcome and that may not be
 described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh, the brazen-voiced hound of
 Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong. And again she bore a
 third, the evil-minded Hydra of Lerna, whom the goddess, white-armed
 Hera nourished,

being angry
 beyond measure with the mighty Heracles. And her Heracles, the son of
 Zeus, of the house of Amphitryon, together with warlike Iolaus,
 destroyed with the unpitying sword through the plans of Athena the
 spoil driver. She was the mother of Chimaera who breathed raging
 fire,

a creature fearful,
 great, swift footed and strong, who had three heads, one of a
 grim-eyed lion, another of a goat, and another of a snake, a fierce
 dragon; in her forepart she was a lion; in her hinderpart, a dragon;
 and in her middle, a goat, breathing forth a fearful blast of blazing
 fire.

Her did Pegasus and
 noble Bellerophon slay; but Echidna was subject in love to Orthus and
 brought forth the deadly Sphinx which destroyed the Cadmeans, and the
 Nemean lion, which Hera, the good wife of Zeus, brought up and made to
 haunt the hills of Nemea , a
 plague to men.

There he preyed
 upon the tribes of her own people and had power over Tretus of
 Nemea and Apesas: yet
 the strength of stout Heracles overcame him. And Ceto was joined in
 love to Phorcys and bore her youngest, the awful snake who
 guards

the apples all of
 gold in the secret places of the dark earth at its great bounds. This
 is the offspring of Ceto and Phorcys.
 

 
 And Tethys bore to Ocean eddying rivers, Nilus, and Alpheus, and
 deep-swirling Eridanus ,
 Strymon, and Meander, and the fair stream of Ister,

and Phasis , and Rhesus, and the silver eddies of
 Achelous, Nessus, and Rhodius, Haliacmon, and Heptaporus, Granicus , and Aesepus, and holy
 Simois, and Peneus, and Hermus, and Caicus ' fair stream, and great Sangarius, Ladon , Parthenius,

Euenus, Ardescus, and divine
 Scamander. Also she brought forth a holy company of daughters who with the lord Apollo and
 the Rivers have youths in their keeping—to this charge Zeus
 appointed them—Peitho, and Admete, and Ianthe, and Electra,

and Doris, and Prymno, and
 Urania divine in form, Hippo, Clymene, Rhodea, and Callirrhoe, Zeuxo
 and Clytie, and Idyia, and Pasithoe, Plexaura, and Galaxaura, and
 lovely Dione, Melobosis and Thoe and handsome Polydora,

Cerceis lovely of form, and soft eyed
 Pluto, Perseis, Ianeira, Acaste, Xanthe , Petraea the fair, Menestho, and Europa,
 Metis , and Eurynome, and
 Telesto saffron-clad, Chryseis and Asia and charming Calypso,

Eudora, and Tyche, Amphirho, and Ocyrrhoe, and
 Styx who is the chiefest of them all. These are the eldest daughters
 that sprang from Ocean and Tethys; but there are many besides. For
 there are three thousand neat-ankled daughters of Ocean who are
 dispersed far and wide,

and in
 every place alike serve the earth and the deep waters, children who
 are glorious among goddesses. And as many other rivers are there,
 babbling as they flow, sons of Ocean, whom queenly Tethys bare, but
 their names it is hard for a mortal man to tell,

but people know those by which they severally
 dwell.
 

 
 And Theia was subject in love to Hyperion and bore great Helius
 (Sun) and clear Selene ( Moon ) and Eos (Dawn) who shines upon
 all that are on earth and upon the deathless Gods who live in the wide
 heaven.

And Eurybia, bright
 goddess, was joined in love to Crius and bore great Astraeus, and
 Pallas , and Perses who
 also was eminent among all men in wisdom. And Eos bore to Astraeus the
 strong-hearted winds, brightening Zephyrus, and Boreas, headlong in
 his course,

and Notus,—a
 goddess mating in love with a god. And after these Erigeneia bare the star Eosphorus
 (Dawn-bringer), and the gleaming stars with which heaven is
 crowned. And Styx the
 daughter of Ocean was joined to Pallas and bore Zelus (Emulation) and
 trim-ankled Nike (Victory) in the house. Also she brought
 forth

Cratos
 (Strength) and Bia (Force), wonderful children.
 These have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor path except
 that wherein God leads them, but they dwell always with Zeus the
 loud-thunderer. For so did Styx the deathless daughter of Ocean plan

on that day when the Olympian
 Lightning god called all the deathless gods to great Olympus , and said that whosoever of
 the gods would fight with him against the Titans, he would not cast
 him out from his rights, but each should have the office which he had
 before amongst the deathless gods.

And he declared that he who was without office or right
 under Cronos, should be raised to both office and rights as is just.
 So deathless Styx came first
 to Olympus with her children
 through the wit of her dear father. And Zeus honored her, and gave her
 very great gifts,

for he
 appointed her to be the great oath of the gods, and her children to
 live with him always. And as he promised, so he performed fully unto
 them all. But he himself mightily reigns and rules.
 

 
 Again, Phoebe came to the desired embrace of Coeus.

Then the goddess through the love of
 the god conceived and brought forth dark-gowned Leto, always mild,
 kind to men and to the deathless gods, mild from the beginning,
 gentlest in all Olympus . Also
 she bore Asteria of happy name, whom Perses once

led to his great house to be called his dear
 wife. And she conceived and bore Hecate whom Zeus the son of Cronos
 honored above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the
 earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honor also in starry
 heaven,

and is honored
 exceedingly by the deathless gods. For to this day, whenever any one
 of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for favor according
 to custom, he calls upon Hecate. Great honor comes full easily to him
 whose prayers the goddess receives favorably,

and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power
 surely is with her. For as many as were born of Earth and Ocean
 amongst all these she has her due portion. The son of Cronos did her
 no wrong nor took anything away of all that was her portion among the
 former Titan gods:

but she
 holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning,

privilege both in earth, and in
 heaven, and in sea.

Also,
 because she is an only child, the goddess receives not less
 honor,

but much more still,
 for Zeus honors her. Whom she will she greatly aids and
 advances:

she sits by
 worshipful kings in judgement,

and in the assembly whom she will is distinguished among the people.
 And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys
 men,

then the goddess is at
 hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she
 will.

Good is she also when
 men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and
 profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins
 the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. And
 she is good to stand by horsemen, whom she will:

and to those whose business is in the grey
 discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and the loud-crashing
 Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great catch, and
 easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will. She is good
 in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock.

The droves of kine and wide herds of goats and
 flocks of fleecy sheep, if she will, she increases from a few, or
 makes many to be less. So, then, albeit her mother's only child, she is honored amongst all the deathless
 gods.

And the son of Cronos
 made her a nurse of the young who after that day saw with their eyes
 the light of all-seeing Dawn. So from the beginning she is a nurse of
 the young, and these are her honors.
 

 
 But Rhea was subject in love to Cronos and bore splendid children,
 Hestia, Demeter, and
 gold-shod Hera

and strong Hades,
 pitiless in heart, who dwells under the earth, and the loud-crashing
 Earth-Shaker, and wise Zeus, father of gods and men, by whose thunder
 the wide earth is shaken. These great Cronos swallowed as
 each

came forth from the
 womb to his mother's knees with this intent, that no other of the
 proud sons of Heaven should hold the kingly office amongst the
 deathless gods. For he learned from Earth and starry Heaven that he
 was destined to be overcome by his own son,

strong though he was, through the contriving of
 great Zeus. Therefore he kept no blind
 outlook, but watched and swallowed down his children: and unceasing
 grief seized Rhea. But when she was about to bear Zeus, the father of
 gods and men,

then she besought
 her own dear parents, Earth and starry Heaven, to devise some plan
 with her that the birth of her dear child might be concealed, and that
 retribution might overtake great, crafty Cronos for his own father and
 also for the children whom he had swallowed down. And they readily
 heard and obeyed their dear daughter,

and told her all that was destined to happen touching
 Cronos the king and his stout-hearted son. So they sent her to Lyctus,
 to the rich land of Crete ,
 when she was ready to bear great Zeus, the youngest of her children.
 Him did vast Earth receive from Rhea

in wide Crete to
 nourish and to bring up. To that place came Earth carrying him swiftly
 through the black night to Lyctus first, and took him in her arms and hid him
 in a remote cave beneath the secret places of the holy earth on
 thick-wooded Mount Aegeum; but to the mightily ruling son of Heaven,
 the earlier king of the gods,

she gave a great stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then he took it
 in his hands and thrust it down into his belly: wretch! he knew not in
 his heart that in place of the stone his son was left behind,
 unconquered and untroubled,

and
 that he was soon to overcome him by force and might and drive him from
 his honors, himself to reign over the deathless gods.
 

 
 After that, the strength and glorious limbs of the prince increased
 quickly, and as the years rolled on, great Cronos the wily was
 beguiled by the deep suggestions of Earth,

and brought up again his offspring, vanquished by
 the arts and might of his own son, and he vomited up first

the stone which he had swallowed
 last. And Zeus set it fast in the wide-pathed earth at goodly
 Pytho under the glens of
 Parnassus , to be a sign
 thenceforth and a marvel to mortal men. And he set free
 from their deadly bonds the brothers of his father, sons of Heaven
 whom his father in his foolishness had bound. And they remembered to
 be grateful to him for his kindness, and gave him thunder and the
 glowing thunderbolt

and
 lightning: for before that, huge Earth had hidden these. In them he
 trusts and rules over mortals and immortals.
 

 
 Now Iapetus took to wife the neat-ankled maid Clymene, daughter of
 Ocean, and went up with her into one bed. And she bore him a
 stout-hearted son, Atlas:

also
 she bore very glorious Menoetius and clever Prometheus, full of
 various wiles, and scatter-brained Epimetheus who from the first was a
 mischief to men who eat bread; for it was he who first took of Zeus
 the woman, the maiden whom he had formed. But Menoetius was
 outrageous, and farseeing Zeus

struck him with a lurid thunderbolt and sent him down to Erebus
 because of his mad presumption and exceeding pride. And Atlas through
 hard constraint upholds the wide heaven with unwearying head and arms,
 standing at the borders of the earth before the clear-voiced
 Hesperides;

for this lot
 wise Zeus assigned to him. And ready-witted Prometheus he bound with
 inextricable bonds, cruel chains, and drove a shaft through his
 middle, and set on him a long-winged eagle, which used to eat his
 immortal liver; but by night the liver grew

as much again everyway as the long-winged bird
 devoured in the whole day. That bird Heracles, the valiant son of
 shapely-ankled Alcmene, slew; and delivered the son of Iapetus from
 the cruel plague, and released him from his affliction—not
 without the will of Olympian Zeus who reigns on high,

that the glory of Heracles the
 Theban-born might be yet greater than it was before over the plenteous
 earth. This, then, he regarded, and honored his famous son; though he
 was angry, he ceased from the wrath which he had before because
 Prometheus matched himself in wit with the almighty son of
 Cronos.

For when the gods
 and mortal men had a dispute at Mecone, even then Prometheus was
 forward to cut up a great ox and set portions before them, trying to
 deceive the mind of Zeus. Before the rest he set flesh and inner parts
 thick with fat upon the hide, covering them with an ox
 paunch;

but for Zeus he put
 the white bones dressed up with cunning art and covered with shining
 fat. Then the father of men and of gods said to him: “Son of
 Iapetus, most glorious of all lords, good sir, how unfairly you have
 divided the portions!”

So said Zeus whose wisdom is
 everlasting, rebuking him. But wily Prometheus answered him, smiling
 softly and not forgetting his cunning trick: “Zeus, most
 glorious and greatest of the eternal gods, take which ever of these
 portions your heart within you bids.”

So he said, thinking trickery. But Zeus, whose
 wisdom is everlasting, saw and failed not to perceive the trick, and
 in his heart he thought mischief against mortal men which also was to
 be fulfilled. With both hands he took up the white fat and was angry
 at heart, and wrath came to his spirit

when he saw the white ox-bones craftily tricked out: and
 because of this the tribes of men upon earth burn white bones to the
 deathless gods upon fragrant altars. But Zeus who drives the clouds
 was greatly vexed and said to him: “Son of Iapetus, clever above
 all!

So, sir, you have not
 yet forgotten your cunning arts!” So spake Zeus in anger, whose
 wisdom is everlasting; and from that time he was always mindful of the
 trick, and would not give the power of unwearying fire to the
 Melian race of
 mortal men who live on the earth.

But the noble son of Iapetus outwitted him and stole the far-seen
 gleam of unwearying fire in a hollow fennel stalk. And Zeus who
 thunders on high was stung in spirit, and his dear heart was angered
 when he saw amongst men the far-seen ray of fire.

Forthwith he made an evil thing for
 men as the price of fire; for the very famous Limping God formed of
 earth the likeness of a shy maiden as the son of Cronos willed. And
 the goddess bright-eyed Athena girded and clothed her with silvery
 raiment, and down from her head

she spread with her hands an embroidered veil, a wonder to see; and
 she, Pallas Athena, put about her head lovely garlands, flowers of
 new-grown herbs. Also she put upon her head a crown of gold which the
 very famous Limping God made himself

and worked with his own hands as a favor to Zeus his
 father. On it was much curious work, wonderful to see; for of the many
 creatures which the land and sea rear up, he put most upon it,
 wonderful things, like living beings with voices: and great beauty
 shone out from it.

But when he had made the
 beautiful evil to be the price for the blessing, he brought her out,
 delighting in the finery which the bright-eyed daughter of a mighty
 father had given her, to the place where the other gods and men were.
 And wonder took hold of the deathless gods and mortal men when they
 saw that which was sheer guile, not to be withstood by men.

For from her is the race of women and
 female kind: of her is the deadly race and tribe of women who live
 amongst mortal men to their great trouble, no helpmeets in hateful
 poverty, but only in wealth. And as in thatched hives bees

feed the drones whose nature is to do
 mischief—by day and throughout the day until the sun goes down
 the bees are busy and lay the white combs, while the drones stay at
 home in the covered hives and reap the toil of others into their own
 bellies—

even so Zeus
 who thunders on high made women to be an evil to mortal men, with a
 nature to do evil. And he gave them a second evil to be the price for
 the good they had: whoever avoids marriage and the sorrows that women
 cause, and will not wed, reaches deadly old age

without anyone to tend his years, and though he
 at least has no lack of livelihood while he lives, yet, when he is
 dead, his kinsfolk divide his possessions amongst them. And as for the
 man who chooses the lot of marriage and takes a good wife suited to
 his mind, evil continually contends with good;

for whoever happens to have mischievous children,
 lives always with unceasing grief in his spirit and heart within him;
 and this evil cannot be healed. So it is not possible to deceive or go
 beyond the will of Zeus: for not even the son of Iapetus, kindly
 Prometheus,

escaped his
 heavy anger, but of necessity strong bands confined him, although he
 knew many a wile.
 

 
 But when first their father was vexed in his heart with Obriareus and
 Cottus and Gyes, he bound them in cruel bonds, because he was jealous
 of their exceeding manhood and comeliness

and great size: and he made them live beneath the
 wide-pathed earth, where they were afflicted, being set to dwell under
 the ground, at the end of the earth, at its great borders, in bitter
 anguish for a long time and with great grief at heart. But the son of
 Cronos and the other deathless gods

whom rich-haired Rhea bore from union with Cronos,
 brought them up again to the light at Earth's advising. For she
 herself recounted all things to the gods fully, how with these they
 might gain victory and a glorious cause to vaunt themselves.

For the Titan gods and as many as
 sprang from Cronos had long been fighting together in stubborn war
 with heart-grieving toil, the lordly Titans from high Othrys, but the
 gods, givers of good, whom rich-haired Rhea bore in union with Cronos,
 from Olympus .

So they, with bitter wrath, were
 fighting continually with one another at that time for ten full years,
 and the hard strife had no close or end for either side, and the issue
 of the war hung evenly balanced. But when he had provided those three
 with all things fitting,

nectar
 and ambrosia which the gods themselves eat, and when their proud
 spirit revived within them all after they had fed on nectar and
 delicious ambrosia, then it was that the father of men and gods spoke
 amongst them: “Hear me, bright children of Earth and
 Heaven,

that I may say what
 my heart within me bids. A long while now have we, who are sprung from
 Cronos and the Titan gods, fought with each other every day to get
 victory and to prevail. But show your great might and unconquerable
 strength, and

face the Titans in
 bitter strife; for remember our friendly kindness, and from what
 sufferings you are come back to the light from your cruel bondage
 under misty gloom through our counsels.”
 

 
 So he said. And blameless Cottus answered him again: “

Divine one, you speak that which we
 know well: no, even of ourselves we know that your wisdom and
 understanding is exceeding, and that you became a defender of the
 deathless ones from chill doom. And through your devising we have come
 back again from the murky gloom and from our merciless
 bonds,

enjoying what we
 looked not for, O lord, son of Cronos. And so now with fixed purpose
 and deliberate counsel we will aid your power in dreadful strife and
 will fight against the Titans in hard battle.” So he said: and
 the gods, givers of good things, applauded when

they heard his word, and their spirit longed for
 war even more than before, and they all, both male and female, stirred
 up hated battle that day, the Titan gods, and all that were born of
 Cronos together with those dread, mighty ones of overwhelming
 strength

whom Zeus brought
 up to the light from Erebus beneath the earth. A hundred arms sprang
 from the shoulders of all alike, and each had fifty heads growing from
 his shoulders upon stout limbs. These, then, stood against the Titans
 in grim strife,

holding huge
 rocks in their strong hands. And on the other part the Titans eagerly
 strengthened their ranks, and both sides at one time showed the work
 of their hands and their might. The boundless sea rang terribly
 around, and the earth crashed loudly: wide Heaven was shaken
 and

groaned, and high
 Olympus reeled from its
 foundation under the charge of the undying gods, and a heavy quaking
 reached dim Tartarus and the deep sound of their feet in the fearful
 onset and of their hard missiles. So, then, they launched their
 grievous shafts upon one another,

and the cry of both armies as they shouted reached to starry heaven;
 and they met together with a great battle-cry.
 

 
 Then Zeus no longer held back his might; but straight his heart was
 filled with fury and he showed forth all his strength. From Heaven and
 from Olympus

he came immediately, hurling his
 lightning: the bolts flew thick and fast from his strong hand together
 with thunder and lightning, whirling an awesome flame. The life-giving
 earth crashed around in burning, and the vast wood crackled loud with
 fire all about.

All the land
 seethed, and Ocean's streams and the unfruitful sea. The hot vapor
 lapped round the earthborn Titans: flame unspeakable rose to the
 bright upper air: the flashing glare of the thunderstone and lightning
 blinded their eyes for all that they were strong.

Astounding heat seized Chaos: and to
 see with eyes and to hear the sound with ears it seemed even as if
 Earth and wide Heaven above came together; for such a mighty crash
 would have arisen if Earth were being hurled to ruin, and Heaven from
 on high were hurling her down;

so great a crash was there while the gods were meeting together in
 strife. Also the winds brought rumbling earthquake and duststorm,
 thunder and lightning and the lurid thunderbolt, which are the shafts
 of great Zeus, and carried the clangor and the warcry into the midst
 of the two hosts. A horrible uproar

of terrible strife arose: mighty deeds were shown and the
 battle inclined. But until then, they kept at one another and fought
 continually in cruel war. And amongst the foremost Cottus and Briareos
 and Gyes insatiate for war

raised fierce fighting: three hundred rocks, one upon another, they
 launched from their strong hands and overshadowed the Titans with
 their missiles, and hurled them beneath the wide-pathed earth, and
 bound them in bitter chains when they had conquered them by their
 strength for all their great spirit,

as far beneath the earth as heaven is above earth; for so
 far is it from earth to Tartarus. For a brazen anvil falling down from
 heaven nine nights and days would reach the earth upon the tenth: and
 again, a brazen anvil falling from earth nine nights and
 days

would reach Tartarus
 upon the tenth. Round it runs a fence of bronze, and night spreads in
 triple line all about it like a neck-circlet, while above grow the
 roots of the earth and unfruitful sea. 
 

 
 There by the counsel of Zeus who drives the clouds the Titan
 gods

are hidden under misty
 gloom, in a dank place where are the ends of the huge earth. And they
 may not go out; for Poseidon fixed gates of bronze upon it, and a wall
 runs all round it on every side. There Gyes and Cottus and
 great-souled Obriareus

live,
 trusty warders of Zeus who holds the aegis. And there, all in their
 order, are the sources and ends of gloomy earth and misty Tartarus and
 the unfruitful sea and starry heaven, loathsome and dank, which even
 the gods abhor.

It is a great
 gulf, and if once a man were within the gates, he would not reach the
 floor until a whole year had reached its end, but cruel blast upon
 blast would carry him this way and that. And this marvel is awful even
 to the deathless gods. There stands the awful home of murky
 Night

wrapped in dark
 clouds. In front of it the son of Iapetus stands immovably
 upholding the wide heaven upon his head and unwearying hands, where
 Night and Day draw near and greet one another as they pass the great
 threshold

of bronze: and
 while the one is about to go down into the house, the other comes out
 at the door. And the house never holds them both within; but always
 one is without the house passing over the earth, while the other stays
 at home and waits until the time for her journeying comes;

and the one holds all-seeing light
 for them on earth, but the other holds in her arms Sleep the brother
 of Death, even evil Night, wrapped in a vaporous cloud. And there the
 children of dark Night have their dwellings, Sleep and Death, awful
 gods.

The glowing Sun never
 looks upon them with his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven, nor
 as he comes down from heaven. And the former of them roams peacefully
 over the earth and the sea's broad back and is kindly to men; but the
 other has a heart of iron, and his spirit within him

is pitiless as bronze: whomever of
 men he has once seized he holds fast: and he is hateful even to the
 deathless gods.
 

 
 There, in front, stand the echoing halls of the god of the lower-world,
 strong Hades, and of awful Persephone. A fearful hound guards the
 house in front,

pitiless, and he
 has a cruel trick. On those who go in he fawns with his tail and both
 his ears, but suffers them not to go out back again, but keeps watch
 and devours whomever he catches going out of the gates of strong Hades
 and awful Persephone.

And there
 dwells the goddess loathed by the deathless gods, terrible Styx,
 eldest daughter of backflowing Ocean. She lives apart from the gods in her glorious
 house vaulted over with great rocks and propped up to heaven all round
 with silver pillars.

Rarely does
 the daughter of Thaumas, swift-footed Iris, come to her with a message
 over the sea's wide back. But when strife and quarrel arise among the
 deathless gods, and when any one of them who live in the house of
 Olympus lies, then Zeus
 sends Iris to bring in a golden jug the great oath of the
 gods

from far away, the
 famous cold water which trickles down from a high and beetling rock.
 Far under the wide-pathed earth a branch of Oceanus flows through the
 dark night out of the holy stream, and a tenth part of his water is
 allotted to her.

With nine
 silver-swirling streams he winds about the earth and the sea's wide
 back, and then falls into the main ; but the tenth flows out from a
 rock, a sore trouble to the gods. For whoever of the deathless gods
 that hold the peaks of snowy Olympus pours a libation of her water and is
 forsworn,

must lie
 breathless until a full year is completed, and never come near to
 taste ambrosia and nectar, but lie spiritless and voiceless on a
 strewn bed: and a heavy trance overshadows him. But when he has spent
 a long year in his sickness,

another penance more hard follows after the first. For nine years he
 is cut off from the eternal gods and never joins their councils or
 their feasts, nine full years. But in the tenth year he comes again to
 join the assemblies of the deathless gods who live in the house of
 Olympus .

Such an oath, then, did the gods
 appoint the eternal and primeval water of Styx to be: and it spouts
 through a rugged place.
 

 
 And there, all in their order, are the sources and ends of the dark
 earth and misty Tartarus and the unfruitful sea and starry
 heaven,

loathsome and dank,
 which even the gods abhor. And there are shining gates and an
 immovable threshold of bronze having unending roots, and it is grown
 of itself. And beyond, away from all the gods,
 live the Titans, beyond gloomy Chaos.

But the glorious allies of loud-crashing Zeus have their
 dwelling upon Ocean's foundations, even Cottus and Gyes; but Briareos,
 being goodly, the deep-roaring Earth-Shaker made his son-in-law,
 giving him Cymopolea his daughter to wed.

But when Zeus had driven the
 Titans from heaven, huge Earth bore her youngest child Typhoeus of the
 love of Tartarus, by the aid of golden Aphrodite. Strength was with
 his hands in all that he did and the feet of the strong god were
 untiring. From his shoulders

grew a hundred heads of a snake, a fearful dragon, with dark,
 flickering tongues, and from under the brows of his eyes in his
 marvellous heads flashed fire, and fire burned from his heads as he
 glared. And there were voices in all his dreadful heads

which uttered every kind of sound
 unspeakable; for at one time they made sounds such that the gods
 understood, but at another, the noise of a bull bellowing aloud in
 proud ungovernable fury; and at another, the sound of a lion,
 relentless of heart; and at another, sounds like whelps, wonderful to
 hear;

and again, at
 another, he would hiss, so that the high mountains re-echoed. And
 truly a thing past help would have happened on that day, and he would
 have come to reign over mortals and immortals, had not the father of
 men and gods been quick to perceive it. But he thundered hard and
 mightily: and the earth around

resounded terribly and the wide heaven above, and the sea and
 Ocean's streams and the nether parts of the earth. Great Olympus reeled beneath the divine
 feet of the king as he arose and earth groaned thereat. And through
 the two of them heat took hold on the dark-blue sea,

through the thunder and lightning,
 and through the fire from the monster, and the scorching winds and
 blazing thunderbolt. The whole earth seethed, and sky and sea: and the
 long waves raged along the beaches round and about at the rush of the
 deathless gods: and there arose an endless shaking.

Hades trembled where he rules over
 the dead below, and the Titans under Tartarus who live with Cronos,
 because of the unending clamor and the fearful strife. 
 

 
 So when Zeus had raised up his might and seized his arms, thunder and
 lightning and lurid thunderbolt,

he leaped from Olympus and
 struck him, and burned all the marvellous heads of the monster about
 him. But when Zeus had conquered him and lashed him with strokes,
 Typhoeus was hurled down, a maimed wreck, so that the huge earth
 groaned. And flame shot forth from the thunderstricken lord

in the dim rugged glens of the
 mount, when he was smitten. A great part of huge
 earth was scorched by the terrible vapor and melted as tin melts when
 heated by men's art in channelled crucibles; or as iron, which is hardest of all
 things, is shortened

by glowing
 fire in mountain glens and melts in the divine earth through the
 strength of Hephaestus. Even so,
 then, the earth melted in the glow of the blazing fire. And in the
 bitterness of his anger Zeus cast him into wide Tartarus. And from
 Typhoeus come boisterous winds which blow damply,

except Notus and Boreas and clear
 Zephyr. These are a god-sent kind, and a great blessing to men; but
 the others blow fitfully upon the sea. Some rush upon the misty sea
 and work great havoc among men with their evil, raging
 blasts;

for varying with
 the season they blow, scattering ships and destroying sailors. And men
 who meet these upon the sea have no help against the mischief. Others
 again over the boundless, flowering earth spoil the fair fields of men
 who dwell below,

filling them
 with dust and cruel uproar. But when the blessed gods had finished
 their toil, and settled by force their struggle for honors with the
 Titans, they pressed far-seeing Olympian Zeus to reign and to rule
 over them, by Earth's prompting. So he divided their dignities amongst
 them.

Now Zeus, king of the gods,
 made Metis his wife first,
 and she was wisest among gods and mortal men. But when she was about
 to bring forth the goddess bright-eyed Athena, Zeus craftily deceived
 her

with cunning words and
 put her in his own belly, as Earth and starry Heaven advised. For they
 advised him so, to the end that no other should hold royal sway over
 the eternal gods in place of Zeus; for very wise children were
 destined to be born of her,

first the maiden bright-eyed Tritogeneia, equal to her father in
 strength and in wise understanding; but afterwards she was to bear a
 son of overbearing spirit king of gods and men. But Zeus put her into
 his own belly first,

that the
 goddess might devise for him both good and evil.
 

 
 Next he married bright Themis who bore the Horae (Hours), and
 Eunomia (Order), Dikë (Justice), and blooming
 Eirene (Peace), who mind the works of mortal men, and the
 Moerae (Fates) to whom wise Zeus gave the greatest
 honor,

Clotho, and
 Lachesis, and Atropos who give mortal men evil and good to have. And
 Eurynome, the daughter of Ocean, beautiful in form, bore him three
 fair-cheeked Charites (Graces), Aglaea, and Euphrosyne, and
 lovely Thaleia,

from whose eyes
 as they glanced flowed love that unnerves the limbs: and beautiful is
 their glance beneath their brows. Also he came to the bed of
 all-nourishing Demeter, and she bore white-armed Persephone whom
 Aidoneus carried off from her mother; but wise Zeus gave her to him.

And again, he loved
 Mnemosyne with the beautiful hair: and of her the nine gold-crowned
 Muses were born who delight in feasts and the pleasures of song. And
 Leto was joined in love with Zeus who holds the aegis,

and bore Apollo and Artemis
 delighting in arrows, children lovely above all the sons of Heaven.
 Lastly, he made Hera his blooming wife: and she was joined in love
 with the king of gods and men, and brought forth Hebe and Ares and
 Eileithyia. But Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to
 bright-eyed Tritogeneia,

the
 awful, the strife-stirring, the host-leader, the unwearying, the
 queen, who delights in tumults and wars and battles. But Hera without
 union with Zeus—for she was very angry and quarrelled with her
 mate—bare famous Hephaestus, who is skilled in crafts more than
 all the sons of Heaven.

But
 Hera was very angry and quarrelled with her mate. And because of this
 strife she bore without union with Zeus who holds the aegis a glorious
 son, Hephaestus, who excelled all the sons of Heaven in crafts.

But Zeus lay with the
 fair-cheeked daughter of Ocean and Tethys apart from Hera . . .
 deceiving Metis 
 (Thought) although she was full wise. But he seized her with
 his hands and put her in his belly, for fear that she might bring
 forth something stronger than his thunderbolt:

therefore did Zeus, who sits on high and dwells
 in the aether, swallow her down suddenly. But she straightway
 conceived Pallas Athena: and the father of men and gods gave her birth
 by way of his head on the banks of the river Trito. And she remained
 hidden beneath the inward parts of Zeus,

even Metis , Athena's mother, worker of righteousness, who
 was wiser than gods and mortal men. There the goddess
 (Athena) received that whereby she excelled in strength all
 the deathless less ones who dwell in Olympus , she who made the host-scaring weapon of
 Athena.

And with it
 (Zeus) gave her birth, arrayed in arms of war.

And of Amphitrite and the
 loud-roaring Earth-Shaker was born great, wide-ruling Triton, and he
 owns the depths of the sea, living with his dear mother and the lord
 his father in their golden house, an awful god. Also Cytherea bore to
 Ares the shield-piercer Panic and Fear,

terrible gods who drive in disorder the close ranks of
 men in numbing war, with the help of Ares, sacker of towns; and
 Harmonia whom high-spirited Cadmus made his wife.
 

 
 And Maia , the daughter of
 Atlas, bore to Zeus glorious Hermes, the herald of the deathless gods,
 for she went up into his holy bed.

And Semele, daughter of Cadmus was joined with him in
 love and bore him a splendid son, joyous Dionysus,—a mortal
 woman an immortal son. And now they both are gods. And Alcmena was
 joined in love with Zeus who drives the clouds and bore mighty
 Heracles.

And Hephaestus, the
 famous Lame One, made Aglaea, youngest of the Graces, his buxom wife.
 And golden-haired Dionysus made brown-haired Ariadne, the daughter of
 Minos, his buxom wife: and the son of Cronos made her deathless and
 unageing for him.

And mighty
 Heracles, the valiant son of neat-ankled Alcmena, when he had finished
 his grievous toils, made Hebe the child of great Zeus and goldshod
 Hera his shy wife in snowy Olympus . Happy he! For he has finished his great
 work

and lives amongst the
 undying gods, untroubled and unaging all his days. And Perseis, the
 daughter of Ocean, bore to unwearying Helios Circe and Aeetes the
 king. And Aeetes, the son of Helios who shows light to men,

took to wife fair-cheeked Idyia,
 daughter of Ocean the perfect stream, by the will of the gods: and she
 was subject to him in love through golden Aphrodite and bore him
 neat-ankled Medea.
 

 
 And now farewell, you dwellers on Olympus , and you islands and continents, and you
 briny sea within.

Now sing the
 company of goddesses, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus , daughter of Zeus who holds
 the aegis,—even those deathless ones who lay with mortal men and
 bore children like gods. Demeter, bright goddess, was joined in sweet
 love

with the hero Iasion
 in a thrice-ploughed fallow in the rich land of Crete , and bore Plutus, a kindly
 god who goes everywhere over land and the sea's wide back, and he
 makes rich the man who finds him and into whose hands he comes,
 bestowing great wealth upon him.

And Harmonia, the daughter of golden Aphrodite, bore to Cadmus Ino
 and Semele and fair-cheeked Agave and Autonoe whom long haired
 Aristaeus wedded, and Polydorus also in rich-crowned Thebes . And the daughter of
 Ocean, Callirrhoe

was joined in
 the love of rich Aphrodite with stout-hearted Chrysaor and bore a son
 who was the strongest of all men, Geryones, whom mighty Heracles
 killed in sea-girt Erythea for the sake of his shambling oxen. And Eos
 bore to Tithonus brazen-crested Memnon,

king of the Ethiopians, and the Lord Emathion. And to
 Cephalus she bore a splendid son, strong Phaethon, a man like the
 gods, whom, when he was a young boy in the tender flower of glorious
 youth with childish thoughts, laughter-loving Aphrodite

seized and caught up and made a
 keeper of her shrine by night, a divine spirit. And the son of Aeson
 by the will of the gods led away from Aeetes the daughter of Aeetes
 the heaven-nurtured king, when he had finished the many grievous
 labours

which the great
 king, overbearing Pelias, that outrageous and presumptuous doer of
 violence, put upon him. But when the son of Aeson had finished them,
 he came to Iolcus after long toil bringing the coy-eyed girl with him
 on his swift ship, and made her his buxom wife.

And she was subject to Iason, shepherd of the
 people, and bore a son Medeus whom Cheiron the son of Philyra brought
 up in the mountains. And the will of great Zeus was fulfilled.
 

 
 But of the daughters of Nereus, the Old man of the Sea, Psamathe the
 fair goddess,

was loved by
 Aeacus through golden Aphrodite and bore Phocus. And the silver-shod
 goddess Thetis was subject to Peleus and brought forth lion-hearted
 Achilles, the destroyer of men. And Cytherea with the beautiful crown
 was joined in sweet love with the hero Anchises and bore
 Aeneas

on the peaks of Ida
 with its many wooded glens. And Circe the daughter of Helius,
 Hyperion's son, loved steadfast Odysseus and bore Agrius and Latinus
 who was faultless and strong: also she brought forth Telegonus by the
 will of golden Aphrodite.

And
 they ruled over the famous Tyrsenians, very far off in a recess of the
 holy islands. And the bright goddess Calypso was joined to Odysseus in
 sweet love, and bore him Nausithous and Nausinous.

These are the immortal goddesses who
 lay with mortal men and bore them children like gods. But now,
 sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus , daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis, sing of
 the company of women.