Homeric
Hymn to Aphrodite
Translated
by Gregory Nagy
Muse,
tell me the things done by golden Aphrodite,
the
one from Cyprus, who arouses sweet desire for gods
and
who subdues the races of mortal humans,
and
birds as well, who fly in the sky, as well as all beasts
5 —all
those that grow on both dry land and the sea [pontos].
They
all know the things done by the one with the beautiful garlands, the one from
Kythera.[1]
But
there are three whose phrenes
she cannot win over or deceive.
The
first is the daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, bright-eyed Athena.
For
she takes no pleasure in the things done by golden Aphrodite.
10 What does please her
is wars and what is done by Ares,
battles
and fighting, as well as the preparation of splendid pieces of craftsmanship.
For
she was the first to teach mortal humans to be craftsmen
in
making war-chariots and other things on wheels, decorated with bronze.
And
she it is who teaches maidens, tender of skin, inside the palaces,
15 the skill of making
splendid pieces of craftsmanship, putting it
firmly
into each one’s mind [phrên].
The
second is the renowned Artemis, she of the golden shafts: never
has
she been subdued in lovemaking [philotês] by Aphrodite, lover of smiles [to whom
smiles are phila].
For
she takes pleasure in the bow and arrows, and the killing of wild beasts in the
mountains,
as
well as lyres, groups of singing dancers, and high-pitched shouts of
celebration.
20 Also shaded groves
and the city of dikaioi
men.
The
third one not to take pleasure in the things done by Aphrodite is that young
Maiden full of aidôs,
Hestia,[2]
who was the first-born child of Kronos, the one with the crooked mêtis,
as
well as the last and youngest,[3]
through the Will [boulê]
of Zeus, holder of the aegis.
She
was the Lady who was wooed by Poseidon and Apollo.
25 But she was quite
unwilling, and she firmly refused.
She
had sworn a great oath, and what she said became what really happened.
She
swore, as she touched the head of her father Zeus, the aegis-bearer,[4]
that
she would be a virgin for all days to come, that illustrious goddess.
And
to her Father Zeus gave a beautiful honor, as a compensating substitute for
marriage.
30 She is seated in the
middle of the house, getting the richest portion.[5]
And
in all the temples of the gods she has a share in the tîmê.
Among
all the mortals, she is the senior goddess.
These
are the three [goddesses] that she [Aphrodite] could not persuade in their phrenes.
As
for all the rest, there is nothing that has escaped Aphrodite:
35 none of the blessed
gods nor any of mortal humans.
She
even led astray the noos
of Zeus, the one who delights in the thunder,
the
one who is the very greatest and the one who has the very greatest tîmê as his share.
But
even his well-formed phrenes
are deceived by her,
whenever she wants,
as
she mates him with mortal women with the greatest of ease,
40 unbeknownst to Hera,
his sister and wife,
who
is the best among all the immortal goddesses in her great beauty.
She
was the most glorious [kudos-filled]
female to be born to Kronos, the one with the crooked mêtis,
and
to her mother, Rhea. And Zeus, the one whose resources are inexhaustible [a-phthi-ta],
made
her his honorable wife, one who knows the ways of affection.
45 But even upon her
[Aphrodite] Zeus put sweet desire in her thûmos
—desire
to make love to a mortal man, so that
not
even she may go without mortal lovemaking
and
get a chance to gloat at all the other gods,
with
her sweet laughter, Aphrodite, lover of smiles,
50 boasting that she can make
the gods sleep with mortal women,
who
then bear mortal sons to immortal fathers,
and
how she can make the goddesses sleep with mortal men.
And
so he [Zeus] put sweet desire in her thûmos—desire for Anchises.
At
that time, he [Anchises] was herding cattle at the steep peaks of Mount Ida,
famous for its many springs.
55 To look at him and
the way he was shaped was like looking at the immortals.
When
Aphrodite, lover of smiles, saw him,
she
fell in love with him. A terrible desire seized her in her phrenes.
She
went to Cyprus, entering her temple fragrant with incense,
to
Paphos.[6]
That is where her sacred precinct is, and her altar, fragrant with incense.
60 She went in and
closed the shining doors.
Then
the Kharites [‘Graces’] bathed her and
anointed her with oil
—the
kind that gives immortality, glistening on the complexion of the gods, who last
for all time.
Immortal
it was, giver of pleasures, and it had the fragrance of incense.
Then
she wrapped all her beautiful clothes around her skin.
65 She was decked out
in gold, Aphrodite, lover of smiles.
She
rushed toward Troy, leaving behind fragrant Cyprus.
Making
her way with the greatest of ease, high up among the clouds.
She
arrived at Mount Ida, famous for its many springs, nurturing mother of beasts.
She
went straight for the herdsmen’s homestead, up over the mountain.
Following her came
70 gray wolves and
lions with fierce looks, fawning on her;
bears
too, and nimble leopards, who cannot have their fill of devouring deer,
came
along. Seeing them, she was delighted in her thûmos, inside her phrenes,
and
she put desire where their hearts were. So they all
went
off in pairs and slept together in shaded nooks.
75 She in the meantime
came to the well-built shelters
and
found him [Anchises] left all alone at the herdsmen’s homestead,
that
hero [hêrôs]
Anchises, who had the beauty of the gods.
All
the others [the other herdsmen] went after the herds, along the grassy
pastures,
while
he was left all alone at the herdsmen’s homestead,
80 pacing back and
forth, playing tunes on
his lyre that pierce the
inside.
She
stood before him, the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite,
looking
like an unwed maiden in size of length[7]
and appearance.
She
did not want him to notice [verb of noos] her with his eyes and be frightened of her.
When
Anchises saw her he was filled with wonder as he took note
85 of her appearance
and size of length and splendid clothes.
For
she wore a robe that was more resplendent than the brightness of fire.
She
had twisted brooches, and shiny earrings in the shape of flowers.
Around
her tender throat were the most beautiful necklaces.
It
[her robe] was a thing of beauty, golden, decorated with every sort of design.
Like the moon
90 it glowed all around
her tender breasts, a marvel to behold.
Seized
with love, Anchises said to her:
“Hail,
my Lady, you who come here to this home, whichever of the blessed ones you are,
Artemis
or Leto or golden Aphrodite
or
Themis of noble birth or bright-eyed Athena.
95 Or perhaps you are
one of the Kharites,
you who have come here. They are the ones
who
keep company with all the gods and are called immortal.
Or
you are one of those Nymphs who range over beautiful groves,
or
one of those Nymphs who inhabit this beautiful mountain,
and
the fountainheads of rivers and grassy meadows.
100 For you, on some high peak, in a
spot with a view going all round,
I
will set up an altar, and I will perform for you beautiful sacrifices
every
year as the season [hôrâ] comes round. And I wish that you in turn may have a
kindly-disposed thûmos
towards me.
Grant
that I become a man who is distinguished among the Trojans.
Make
the genealogy that comes after me become a flourishing one. And make me
105 live a very long life and see
the light of the sun,
blessed
[olbios] in the midst
of the people. And let me arrive at the threshold of old age.”[8]
Then
Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, answered him:
“Anchises,
most glorious of earth-born men!
I
am no goddess. Why do you liken me to the female immortals?
110 No, I am a mortal. The mother
that bore me was a woman.
My
father is Otreus, famed for his name.[9]
Maybe you have heard of him.
He
rules over all of Phrygia, with its strong-walled fortresses.
But
I know your language as well as my own.[10]
The
nursemaid who brought me up in the palace was a Trojan.[11]
Ever since I was a small child,
115 she brought me up, having taken
me from my philê
mother.
That
is why I know your language as well as my own.
But
then, the one with the golden wand, the Argos-killer [Hermes], abducted me,
taking
me from a festival of song and dance in honor of Artemis, the one with the
golden arrows.
There
were many of us nymphs there, maidens worth many cattle as bride-price.
120 We were having a good time, and
a crowd so large that you couldn’t count them was standing around us in a
circle.
Then
it was that the one with the golden wand, the Argos-killer, abducted me.
He
carried me over many fields of mortal humans
and
over vast stretches of land unclaimed and unsettled, where wild beasts,
eaters
of raw flesh, roam about, in and out of their shaded lairs.
125 I thought that my feet would
never again touch the earth, grower of grain.
And
he [Hermes] said that I, in your bed, the bed of Anchises, would be called your
lawfully-wedded
wife, and that I would give you splendid children.
But
once he [Hermes] pointed this out and made note of it, straightaway
he
went back, that powerful Argos-killer, to that separate group, the immortals.
130 I in the meantime reached you
here, and there is an overpowering compulsion that I have in me.
In
the name of Zeus, in the name of your parents, I appeal to you as I touch your
knees.
Your
parents must be noble, for base ones could never have conceived such a one as
you.[12]
Take
me, virgin that I am, inexperienced in making love [philotês ],
and
show me to your father and to your caring mother
135 and to your brothers, those born
from the same parents.
I
will not be an unseemly in-law for them, but a seemly one indeed.
And
send a messenger quickly to the Phrygians, trainers of swift horses,
to
tell my father and my mother, however much she grieves.
They
will send you plenty of gold, and woven clothing as well.
140 Take these abundant and splendid
things as dowry.
After
you have done so, prepare a lovely wedding-feast
that
gives tîmê
to both humans and immortals.”
After
she said these things, she put sweet desire in his thûmos,
and
Anchises was seized with love. He said these words, calling out to her:
145 “If you are mortal, and if
a woman was the mother who gave birth to you,
and
if Otreus is your father, famed for his name, as you say he is,
and
if you have come here because of the Immortal Conductor [of psûkhai],
Hermes,
and if you are to be called my wife for all days to come,
then
it is impossible for any god or any mortal human
150 to hold me back, right here,
from joining with you in making love [philotês],
right
now, on the spot—not even if the one who shoots from afar, Apollo
himself,
takes
aim from his silver bow and shoots his arrows that bring misery.
Then,
O lady who looks like the gods, I would willingly,
once
I have been in your bed, go down into the palace of Hades below.”
155 So saying, he took her by the
hand. And Aphrodite, lover of smiles,
went
along, with her face turned away and her eyes downcast,
towards
the bed, all nicely made, which had already been arranged for the lord,[13]
all
nicely made with soft covers.[14]
And on top lay skins of
bears
and lions, who roar with their deep voices,
160 which he himself had killed on
the lofty mountainsides.
And
when they went up into the sturdy bed,
he
first took off the jewelry shining on the surface of her body
—the
twisted brooches and the shiny earrings in the shape of flowers.
Then
he undid her girdle and her resplendent garments.
165 He stripped them off and put
them on a silver-studded stool,
Anchises
did. And then, by the will of the gods and by fate [aisa],
he
lay next to the immortal female, mortal male that he was. He did not know what
he was really doing.
But
when the time comes for herdsmen to drive back to the fold
their
cattle and sturdy sheep, back from the flowery pastures,
170 then it was that she [Aphrodite]
poured sweet sleep over Anchises,
sweet
and pleasurable. She in the meantime put back on her beautiful clothes, which
covered again the surface of her body.
Now
that her skin was again beautifully covered over, the resplendent goddess
stood
by the bed, and the well-built roof-beam
—her
head reached that high up.[15]
And beauty shone forth from her cheeks
175 —an immortal beauty, the
kind that marks the one with the beautiful garlands, the goddess from Kythera.
Then
she woke him from his sleep and called out to him, saying:
“Rise
up, son of Dardanos! Why do you sleep such a sleep without awakening?
See
if I look like
what
you noticed [verb of noos]
when you first saw me with your eyes.”
180 So she spoke, and he, fresh out
of his sleep, straightaway heeded her word.
As
soon as he saw the neck and the beautiful eyes of Aphrodite,
he
was filled with fright and he turned his eyes away, in another direction.
Then
he hid his beautiful face with a cloak [khlaina],
and,
praying to her, addressed her with winged words:
185 “The first time I ever
laid eyes on you, goddess,
I
knew you were a god. But you did not speak to me accurately.
Now
I appeal to you by touching your knees, in the name of Zeus the holder of the
aegis,
don’t
let me become disabled [without menos],[16]
don’t let me live on like that among humans!
Please,
take pity! I know that no man is full of life, able,[17]
190 if he sleeps with immortal
goddesses.”
He
was answered by the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite:
“Anchises,
most glorious of mortal humans!
Take
heart, and do not be too afraid in your phrenes.
You
should have no fear of that I would do any kind of bad thing to you,
195 or that any of the the other
blessed ones would. For you are philos indeed to the gods.
And
you will have a philos
son, who will be king among the Trojans.
And
following him will be generations after generations for all time to come.
His
name will be Aineias [Aeneas], since it was an unspeakable [ainos][18]
akhos that took hold
of me—grief that I had fallen into the bed of a mortal man.
200 And yet, of all mortal humans,
the closest to the gods by far
are
those who come from your family line,[19]
both in looks and in constitution.[20]
Why,
there was blond Ganymede, whom Zeus the master of mêtis
abducted
on account of his beauty, so that he may be together with the immortal ones,
as
wine-pourer for the gods in the palace of Zeus,[21]
205 a wonder to behold, given his
share of tîmê
by all the immortals,
pouring
red nectar from a golden mixing-bowl.
Tros
[Ganymede’s father] was gripped in his phrenes by a penthos that is beyond forgetting. He did not
know
where
the miraculous gust of wind took his philos son, abducting him.
He
[Tros] mourned him [Ganymede] without pause, for all days,
210 and Zeus took pity on him: he
gave him a compensation for his son,
a
set of high-stepping horses whom the gods use for their travels.
These
horses he [Zeus] gave him [Tros] as a gift to keep. And he [Tros] was told all
the details of what happened,
at
the behest of Zeus, by the Argos-killer, the Conductor [of psûkhai].
He
was told that he [Ganymede] would be immortal and ageless, just like the gods.
215 And when he [Tros] heard the
message of Zeus,
he
no longer lamented but was happy within his phrenes,
and
merrily did he ride around, in a chariot drawn by horses with feet swift as a
gust of wind,
In
much the same way was Tithonos abducted by Eos [the Dawn Goddess], she of the
golden embroidery.[22]
He
too belonged to your family line, looking like the immortal ones.
220 Then she went with a request to
the Son of Kronos [Zeus], him of the dark clouds,
asking
that he [Tithonos] become immortal and live for all days to come.[23]
Zeus
nodded yes to her and brought to fulfillment the words of her wish.
Too
bad that her thinking was disconnected! The Lady Eos did not notice [verb of noos] in her phrenes
that
she should have asked for adolescence [hêbê] and a stripping away of baneful old
age.
225 Well, for a while he [Tithonos]
held on to adolescence [hêbê] ,
enjoying
Eos, the one with the gold embroidery,[24]
the one early-born.
He
lived at the streams of the Okeanos, and the ends of the earth.
But
when the first strands of gray hair started growing
from
his beautiful head and his noble chin,
230 then the Lady Eos stopped coming
to his bed.
But
she nourished him, keeping him in her palace,
with
grain and ambrosia. And she gave him beautiful clothes.
But
when hateful old age was pressing hard on him, with all its might,
and
he couldn’t move his limbs, much less lift them up,
235 then in her thûmos she thought up this plan, a very good
one indeed:
she
put him in her chamber, and she closed the shining doors over him.
From
there his voice pours out—it seems never to end—and he has no
strength at all,
the
kind he used to have in his limbs when they could still bend.
I
would not choose that you [Anchises] be that way, amongst the immortal ones,
240 immortal and living for all days
to come.[25]
If
you could only stay the way you are, in looks and constitution,
staying
alive as my lawfully-wedded husband,
then
akhos would not have
to envelop me and my sturdy phrenes.[26]
But
now wretched old age will envelop you,
245 pitilessly, just as it catches
up with every man.
It
is baneful, it wears you down, and even the gods shrink back from it.
As
for me, I will have a great disgrace [oneidos], in the eyes of the immortal ones,
a
disgrace that will last for all days to come, without end, all on account of
you.
My
trysts and stratagems [mêtis
pl.] with which I used to get all
250 the immortal gods mated with
mortal women,
used
to be feared by them [the gods]. For my power of noos used to subdue all of them.
But
now my mouth can never again boast
about
this among the immortals. I have gone very far off the track,
in
a wretched and inexcusable way. I have strayed from my noos.
255 I got myself a child beneath my
girdle, having slept with a male mortal.
As
for him [the child], the moment he sees the light of the sun,
Nymphs,
living in the mountains and wearing low-slung girdles, will raise him
—Nymphs
that live on this great and fertile mountain.
They
associate neither with mortals nor with immortals,
260 they live for a long time, and
they eat immortal food.
They
put on a beautiful song and dance, even by the standards of the immortals.
They
mate with Seilênoi[27]
or with the sharp-sighted Argos-killer,
making
love [philotês]
in the recesses of lovely caves.
When
they are born, firs and oaks with lofty boughs
265 spring out of the earth, that
nurturer of men.
Beautiful
trees, flourishing on high mountains,
they
stand there pointing to the sky, and people call them the sacred places
of
the immortal ones. Mortals may not cut them down with iron.
But
when the fate [moira]
of death is at hand for them,
270 these beautiful trees become
dry, to start with,
and
then their bark wastes away, and then the branches drop off,
and,
at the same time, the psûkhê goes out of them, as it leaves the light of the sun.
These
[the Nymphs] will raise my son, keeping him in their company.
And
when adolescence [hêbê],
full of loveliness, first takes hold of him,[28]
275 the goddesses [the Nymphs] will
take him here to you and show you your child.
As
for you, in order that I may tell you in the proper order everything that I
have in my phrenes,
I
too will come back to you as the fifth anniversary approaches, bringing you
your son.
And
the moment you see this young seedling [Aineias/Aeneas] with your eyes,
you
will be happy to look at him. For he will be very godlike.
280 And straightaway you shall take
him to windy Ilion.
And
if any mortal human asks you
what
mother got your philos
son beneath her girdle,
keep
in mind [root mnê-] to tell him as I command you.
Say
that he is the offspring of one of the flower-faced Nymphs
285 who live on this beautiful
mountain, shaded over by forests.
But
if you say out loud and boast, with a thûmos bereft of phrenes,
that
you made love [philotês]
to the Lady of Kythera, the one with the beautiful garlands,
then
Zeus in his anger will smite you with a smoking thunderbolt.
Now
then, everything has been said to you. You take note [verb of noos] in your phrenes.
290 And refrain from naming me.
Avoid the mênis
of the gods.”
So
saying, she bolted away towards the windy sky.
I
wish you kharis
[‘I wish you pleasure and happiness from our relationship, starting
now’], goddess, you who rule over beautifully-colonized Cyprus.
Having
started with you, I will now go on to the rest of my performance.
[1]Cyprus and Kythera were both particularly famous for their cults of Aphrodite. This is acknowledged regularly, even on the pan-Hellenic level.
[2]Hestia [Ionic Histiê] means ‘hearth, fireplace’.
[3]A reference to the myth, as we find it in the Theogony of Hesiod (495-497), that tells how Kronos swallowed his children, only to disgorge them later. The first-born Hestia was the first to be swallowed and the last to be disgorged. It is a common theme in the myths of many societies that fire is simultaneously very old and very young.
[4]This gesture reflects the custom of touching a philon part of a philos person in order to perform a philon act corresponding to the phila words addressed to that person.
[5]The hearth is the focus of sacrificial offerings.
[6]Paphos is a city on the island of Cyprus.
[7]Ordinarily, gods would be larger-than-life-size.
[8]Anchises may be formulating his request in an “incorrect” order of preference.
[9]The name seems to mean: “he who impels, he who gives impulse.”
[10]The Phrygian tongue would be foreign to Greeks.
[11]From the standpoint of this poem, it seems that Trojans are “Greeks.”
[12]By implication, the disguised Aphrodite is saying that Anchises surely must have some divine ancestry himself. She almost gives herself away here.
[13]The epithet anax ‘lord’ is appropriate both to persons of royal ancestry and to cult-heroes.
[14]The word khlaina ‘cloak, cover’ seems to be used consistently in contexts where an ainos is at work.
[15]The goddess here resumes her divine dimensions.
[16]A euphemism, replacing words that are clearly better left unsaid.
[17]Again, a matter of euphemism.
[18]This is the adjective ainos [‘unspeakable, causing nervousness, fear, terror, terrible’], not the noun ainos [designates a mode of discourse that contains within it more than one message, and where only one of the messages is true]. What we see here is a “folk etymology”: Aphrodite is deriving the name Aineias from ainos.
[19]This reflects, I think, on the name Ankhisês, which I take to be a conflation of the epithets ankhitheos ‘close to the gods’ and isotheos ‘equal to the gods’. Both of these epithets reflect the theme of god-hero antagonism.
[20]In other words, it is in these two respects that Anchises and the other males in his family line come closest to the gods.
[21]So the gods too, like the Greeks, have wine-pourers; as we shall now see, however, what is poured for the gods is not exactly wine.
[22]Alternatively, ‘she of the golden throne’.
[23]Eos botches the wording of her request. As we shall now see, the ruined formula produces ruinous results.
[24]Alternatively, ‘her of the golden throne’.
[25]Aphrodite repeats the botched formula of Eos.
[26]But, as she has already said, Aphrodite will have sorrow from this affair.
[27]These are satyr-like beings.
[28]What seems to be meant is the very first signs that differentiate pre-adolescents from children.