Muse

Of Strymon and the Muse of song,

’Tis Ares’ self, this issue strong

In the Hall of thy lovers, O child of Song;

You must have studied under the Muse, Zeus’ daughter, and under Apollo, - with such a sense of order [ kosmos] do you sing the return of the Achaeans with all their sufferings and adventures.

A servant presently led in the famous bard Demodokos, whom the muse had dearly loved, but to whom she had given both good and evil, for though she had endowed him with a divine gift of song, she had robbed him of his eyesight.

The company then laid their hands upon the good things that were before them, but as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, the muse inspired Demodokos to sing the feats [ kleos] of heroes, and most especially a matter whose kleos at that time reached wide heaven, to wit, the quarrel [ neikos] between Odysseus and Achilles, and the fierce words that they heaped on one another as they sat together at a banquet.

Muse, tell me about Pan, the dear son of Hermes, with his goat's feet and two horns —a lover of merry noise.

Sing, clear-voiced Muse, of Hephaestus famed for inventions.

Muse, sing of Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, lord of Cyllene and Arcadia rich in flocks, the luck-bringing messenger of the immortals whom Maia bare, the rich-tressed nymph, when she was joined in love with Zeus,

Muse, tell me the deeds of golden Aphrodite the Cyprian, who stirs up sweet passion in the gods and subdues the tribes of mortal men and birds that fly in air and all the many creatures that the dry land rears, and all that the sea:

Muse, sing of Artemis, sister of the Far-shooter, the virgin who delights in arrows, who was fostered with Apollo.