Humanitext Reader

Homeric Hymns · Homeric Hymn 32 to Selene §1-20

The Celestial Course of Selene and Her Daughter Pandeia

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

The poet calls upon the Muses to sing of Selene, the goddess of the Moon, describing her brilliant celestial journey, her daughter Pandeia by Zeus, and concluding with a salute to the goddess as he transitions to sing of demigods.

§1μήνην ἀείδειν τανυσίπτερον ἔσπετε, Μοῦσαι, §2ἡδυεπεῖς κοῦραι Κρονίδεω Διός, ἵστορες ᾠδῆς· §3ἧς ἄπο αἴγλη γαῖαν ἑλίσσεται οὐρανόδεικτος §4κρατὸς ἀπʼ ἀθανάτοιο, πολὺς δʼ ὑπὸ κόσμος ὄρωρεν §5αἴγλης λαμπούσης· στίλβει δέ τʼ ἀλάμπετος ἀὴρ §6χρυσέου ἀπὸ στεφάνου, ἀκτῖνες δʼ ἐνδιάονται, §7εὖτʼ ἂν ἀπʼ Ὠκεανοῖο λοεσσαμένη χρόα καλόν, §8εἵματα ἑσσαμένη τηλαυγέα δῖα Σελήνη, §9ζευξαμένη πώλους ἐριαύχενας, αἰγλήεντας, §10ἐσσυμένως προτέρωσʼ ἐλάσῃ καλλίτριχας ἵππους, §11ἑσπερίη, διχόμηνος· ὃ δὲ πλήθει μέγας ὄγμος §12λαμπρόταταί τʼ αὐγαὶ τότʼ ἀεξομένης τελέθουσιν §13οὐρανόθεν· τέκμωρ δὲ βροτοῖς καὶ σῆμα τέτυκται.
Sing of the long-winged Moon, tell me, O Muses, sweet-speaking daughters of Cronian Zeus, skilled in song; from whom a heaven-shown radiance, from her immortal head, enfolds the earth, and a great beauty arises beneath it, as her light shines; and the unlit air sparkles from her golden crown, and her rays dwell in the air, whenever she has washed her beautiful body in Ocean, and clothed herself in far-shining garments, divine Selene, having yoked her thick-necked, gleaming colts, eagerly drives forward her beautiful-maned horses, in the evening, at the mid-month; and her great orbit fills, and her brightest rays then arise from heaven as she waxes; and she is established as a token and a sign for mortal men.
§14τῇ ῥά ποτε Κρονίδης ἐμίγη φιλότητι καὶ εὐνῇ· §15ἣ δʼ ὑποκυσαμένη Πανδείην γείνατο κούρην, §16ἐκπρεπὲς εἶδος ἔχουσαν ἐν ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι.
With her once the son of Cronos mingled in love and bed; and she, becoming pregnant, bore a daughter, Pandeia, who had an outstandingly beautiful form among the immortal gods.
§17χαῖρε, ἄνασσα, θεὰ λευκώλενε, δῖα Σελήνη, §18πρόφρον, ἐυπλόκαμος· σέο δʼ ἀρχόμενος κλέα φωτῶν §19ᾁσομαι ἡμιθέων, ὧν κλείουσʼ ἔργματʼ ἀοιδοί, §20Μουσάων θεράποντες, ἀπὸ στομάτων ἐροέντων.
Hail, O queen, white-armed goddess, divine Selene, gracious, lovely-haired; starting from you, I shall sing the fame of mortal demigods, whose deeds the singers, servants of the Muses, celebrate from their lovely mouths.

Notes

  1. §1ἀείδειν — The infinitive depends on the imperative ἔσπετε ('tell/sing of'), expressing the object or purpose of the command: 'tell [me] to sing' or 'sing of'.
  2. §3ἧς ἄπο — A case of anastrophe where the preposition ἀπό has its accent thrown back and is placed after the relative pronoun ἧς, which refers to the Moon.
  3. §4ὑπὸ κόσμος ὄρωρεν — The preposition ὑπό is used adverbially here, meaning 'underneath [the moonlight]' or 'thereunder', modifying the intransitive verb ὄρωρεν ('arises').
  4. §7εὖτʼ ἂν ... ἐλάσῃ — Forms a temporal clause with the subjunctive ἐλάσῃ (§10), denoting indefinite temporal occurrence ('whenever she drives').
  5. §11πλήθει — Though it could be construed as the dative of the noun πλῆθος, it is syntactically more natural to interpret it as the third-person singular present indicative of the verb πλήθω ('to be full'), with μέγας ὄγμος ('great orbit') as its subject.
  6. §12ἀεξομένης — A present participle in the genitive feminine singular, functioning as a genitive absolute or modifying an implied genitive of Selene, meaning 'as she waxes'.
  7. §18σέο δʼ ἀρχόμενος — The genitive σέο (= σοῦ) is governed by the nominative participle ἀρχόμενος, which agrees with the subject of the main verb ᾁσομαι ('I shall sing'), forming the formulaic expression 'starting from you'.

Cite this passage

Homeric Hymns, Homeric Hymn 32 to Selene §1-20. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg032.humanitext-grc2:1-20

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.