Humanitext Reader

Homeric Hymns · Homeric Hymn 15 to Heracles §1-9

The Labors of Heracles and His Deification on Olympus

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

The poet praises the life and deification of Heracles, the son of Zeus and Alcmene. Although he once endured many hardships under Eurystheus, he now dwells on Olympus with Hebe, and the poet prays for virtue and wealth.

§1Ἡρακλέα, Διὸς υἱόν, ἀείσομαι, ὃν μέγʼ ἄριστον §2γείνατʼ ἐπιχθονίων Θήβῃς ἔνι καλλιχόροισιν §3Ἀλκμήνη μιχθεῖσα κελαινεφέι Κρονίωνι· §4ὃς πρὶν μὲν κατὰ γαῖαν ἀθέσφατον ἠδὲ θάλασσαν §5πλαζόμενος πομπῇσιν ὕπʼ Εὐρυσθῆος ἄνακτος §6πολλὰ μὲν αὐτὸς ἔρεξεν ἀτάσθαλα, πολλὰ δʼ ἀνέτλη· §7νῦν δʼ ἤδη κατὰ καλὸν ἕδος νιφόεντος Ὀλύμπου §8ναίει τερπόμενος καὶ ἔχει καλλίσφυρον Ἥβην.
Heracles, the son of Zeus, I will sing, whom Alcmene bore as by far the best of earthly men in Thebes of beautiful dances, having united with the dark-clouded son of Cronos; who formerly, wandering over the boundless earth and sea under the commands of king Eurystheus, himself performed many reckless deeds, and many did he endure; but now already on the beautiful seat of snowy Olympus he dwells in joy and has fair-ankled Hebe as his wife.
§9χαῖρε, ἄναξ, Διὸς υἱέ· δίδου δʼ ἀρετήν τε καὶ ὄλβον.
Hail, lord, son of Zeus; and grant both virtue and wealth.

Notes

  1. §2ἐπιχθονίων — A partitive genitive modifying and limiting the superlative adjective μέγʼ ἄριστον (by far the best) in the preceding line (§1), meaning 'among earthly men.' It is placed across the line boundary.
  2. §5πομπῇσιν ὕπʼ — An instance of anastrophe where the preposition ὑπό is placed after the noun πομπῇσιν (dative, indicating cause or means). The accent is shifted back to the first syllable (ὕπʼ with elision). It denotes wandering 'under the sendings' or 'by the commands' of King Eurystheus.
  3. §6ἀτάσθαλα — The neuter plural accusative of the adjective ἀτάσθαλος (reckless, presumptuous). Used substantively here as the direct object (or cognate accusative) of the transitive verb ἔρεξεν (performed), meaning 'reckless deeds.'

Cite this passage

Homeric Hymns, Homeric Hymn 15 to Heracles §1-9. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg015.humanitext-grc2:1-9

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.