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Homeric Hymns · Hymn 33 to the Dioscuri §1-19

Praise of the Dioscuri as Saviors of Sailors

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

The poet calls upon the Muses to sing of the Dioscuri (Castor and Polydeuces), born of Leda and Zeus. They are depicted as saviors who rescue sailors from shipwreck by calming violent winter storms at sea, ending with a traditional farewell and a promise of future song.

§1ἀμφὶ Διὸς κούρους, ἑλικώπιδες ἔσπετε Μοῦσαι, §2Τυνδαρίδας, Λήδης καλλισφύρου ἀγλαὰ τέκνα, §3Κάστορά θ’ ἱππόδαμον καὶ ἀμώμητον Πολυδεύκεα,
Sing, Muses with eyes that flash, of the sons of Zeus, the Tyndaridae, splendid children of lovely-ankled Leda, Castor the tamer of horses, and blameless Polydeuces.
§4τοὺς ὑπὸ Ταϋγέτου κορυφῇ ὄρεος μεγάλοιο §5μιχθεῖσ’ ἐν φιλότητι κελαινεφέι Κρονίωνι §6σωτῆρας τέκε παῖδας ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων §7ὠκυπόρων τε νεῶν, ὅτε τε σπέρχωσιν ἄελλαι §8χειμέριαι κατὰ πόντον ἀμείλιχον·
Them beneath the peak of the great mountain Taygetus she bore, having mingled in love with the dark-clouded son of Cronos, as savior children of earthly men and of swift-sailing ships, when wintry storms sweep down upon the merciless sea.
οἳ δ’ ἀπὸ νηῶν §9εὐχόμενοι καλέουσι Διὸς κούρους μεγάλοιο §10ἄρνεσσιν λευκοῖσιν, ἐπ’ ἀκρωτήρια βάντες §11πρύμνης·
And they from the ships pray and call upon the sons of great Zeus, with white lambs, going up to the edge of the stern.
τὴν δ’ ἄνεμός τε μέγας καὶ κῦμα θαλάσσης §12θῆκαν ὑποβρυχίην· οἳ δ’ ἐξαπίνης ἐφάνησαν §13ξουθῇσι πτερύγεσσι δι’ αἰθέρος ἀίξαντες, §14αὐτίκα δ’ ἀργαλέων ἀνέμων κατέπαυσαν ἀέλλας, §15κύματα δ’ ἐστόρεσαν λευκῆς ἁλὸς ἐν πελάγεσσι, §16σήματα καλά, πόνου ἀπονόσφισιν· οἳ δὲ ἰδόντες §17γήθησαν, παύσαντο δ’ ὀιζυροῖο πόνοιο.
But the great wind and the wave of the sea put the ship under water; yet they suddenly appear, darting through the air with swift wings, and immediately they stay the blasts of the terrible winds and calm the waves in the gulfs of the white sea, fair signs, a release from toil; and they, seeing this, rejoice, and cease from their miserable toil.
§18χαίρετε, Τυνδαρίδαι, ταχέων ἐπιβήτορες ἵππων· §19αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν ὑμέων τε καὶ ἄλλης μνήσομ’ ἀοιδῆς.
Hail, Tyndaridae, riders of swift horses; but I will remember you and another song also.

Notes

  1. §1ἔσπετε — Second aorist active imperative plural of the verb ἐννέπω (to tell, relate), an epic variant corresponding to Attic ἐνέπετε. Accompanied by the accusative phrase with ἀμφὶ, it forms the traditional formula 'sing of the sons of Zeus'.
  2. §7ὠκυπόρων τε νεῶν — Objective genitive governed by σωτῆρας (saviors) in §6, coordinated with ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων. Although σωτήρ is a noun, it retains verbal force here, taking genitive arguments to mean 'saviors of...'.
  3. §11τὴν — Feminine singular accusative demonstrative pronoun acting as a direct object, which contextually refers to 'the ship' (supplied from the preceding genitive πρύμνης 'of the stern' or the semantic context of the ships in §8). It is the object of θῆκαν in §12.
  4. §12θῆκαν ὑποβρυχίην — θῆκαν is the 3rd person plural first aorist of τίθημι (unaugmented for ἔθηκαν). The adjective ὑποβρυχίην (underwater, submerged) functions as a predicative adjunct to the object τὴν, creating a double accusative construction meaning 'they rendered the ship submerged' (i.e., sank it).
  5. §16σήματα καλά — An accusative in apposition to the action of the preceding clause (the calming of the waves). It characterizes the miraculous intervention of the gods as 'fair signs'.

Cite this passage

Homeric Hymns, Hymn 33 to the Dioscuri §1-19. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg033.humanitext-grc2:1-19

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