Humanitext Reader

Callimachus · Hymn to Demeter §70-138

Erysichthon's Insatiable Hunger and Closing Prayer

Passage 2 of 2 · Greek

Summary

The tragedy of Erysichthon unfolds as his insatiable hunger drives him to consume all his family's livestock and wealth until he is reduced to begging. The hymn concludes with a ritual prayer praising Demeter's seasonal blessings and her sacred procession.

§70τόσσα Διώνυσον γὰρ ἃ καὶ Δάματρα χαλέπτελ· §71καὶ γὰρ τᾷ Δάματρι συνωργίσθη Διόνυσος.
For those things which anger Demeter also anger Dionysus just as much; for Dionysus was angered along with Demeter.
§72οὔτε νιν εἰς ἐράνως οὔτε ξυνδείπνια πέμπον §73αἰδόμενοι γονέες, προχανὰ δʼ εὑρίσκετο πᾶσα.
His parents, feeling shame, did not send him to banquets or joint dinners, and every excuse was devised.
§74ἦνθον Ἰτωνιάδος νιν Ἀθαναίας ἐπʼ ἄεθλα §75Ὀρμενίδαι καλέοντες· ἀπʼ ὦν ἀρνήσατο μάτηρ §76οὐκ ἔνδοι, χθιζὸς γὰρ ἐπὶ Κραννῶνα βέβακε §77τέλθος ἀπαιτησῶν ἑκατὸν βόας. ἦνθε Πολυξώ, §78μάτηρ Ἀκτορίωνος, ἐπεὶ γάμον ἄρτυε παιδί, §79ἀμφότερον Τριόπαν τε καὶ υἱέα κικλήσκοισα.
When the sons of Ormenos came to invite him to the games of Itonian Athena, his mother refused: "He is not at home; for yesterday he went to Krannon to demand a debt of a hundred oxen." Polyxo came, the mother of Aktorion, as she was preparing a marriage for her son, inviting both Triopas and his son.
§80τὰν δὲ γυνὰ βαρύθυμος ἀμείβετο δάκρυ χέοισα §81νεῖταί τοι Τριόπας, Ἐρυσίχθονα δʼ ἤλασε κάπρος §82Πίνδον ἀνʼ εὐάγκειαν, ὁ δʼ ἐννέα φάεα κεῖται. §83δειλαία φιλότεκνε, τί δʼ οὐκ ἐψεύσαο, μᾶτερ;
But the heavy-hearted woman answered her, shedding tears: "Triopas will indeed come; but a boar has struck Erysichthon on well-glenned Pindus, and he has been lying for nine days." Wretched, child-loving mother, what lie did you not tell!
§84δαίνυεν εἰλαπίναν τις· ἐν ἀλλοτρίοις Ἐρυσίχθων. §85ἄγετό τις νύμφαν· Ἐρυσίχθονα δίσκος ἔτυψεν, §86ἢ ἔπεσʼ ἐξ ἵππων, ἢ ἐν Ὄθρυϊποίμνἰ ἀμιθρεῖ.
If someone was giving a feast: "Erysichthon is abroad." If someone was marrying a bride: "Erysichthon has been struck by a discus," or "he fell from his horses," or "he is counting his flocks on Othrys." Then, lurking in the inner rooms, a banqueter all day long, he ate countless things of all kinds.
§87ἐνδόμυχος δἤπειτα πανάμερος εἰλαπιναστὰς §88ἤσθιε μυρία πάντα· κακὰ δʼ ἐξάλλετο γαστὴρ §89αἰεὶ μᾶλλον ἔδοντι, τὰ δʼ ἐς βυθὸν οἷα θαλάσσας §90ἀλεμάτως ἀχάριστα κατέρρεεν εἴδατα πάντα.
But his evil belly leaped ever more as he ate, and all the food flowed down fruitlessly and thanklessly, as if into the depth of the sea.
§91ὡς δὲ Μίμαντι χιών, ὡς ἀελίῳ ἔνι πλαγγών, §92καὶ τούτων ἔτι μεῖζον ἐτάκετο μέσφʼ ἐπὶ νευράς· §93δειλαίῳ ἶνές τε καὶ ὀστέα μῶνον ἔλειφθεν.
And like snow on Mimas, like a wax doll in the sun, and even more than these, he wasted away down to his sinews; for the wretched man, only sinews and bones were left.
§94κλαῖε μὲν ἁ μάτηρ, βαρὺ δʼ ἔστενον αἱ δύʼ ἀδελφαὶ §95χὡ μαστὸς τὸν ἔπωνε καὶ αἱ δέκα πολλάκι δῶλαι.
His mother wept, and his two sisters groaned deeply, and the breast that nursed him, and the ten handmaidens groaned often.
§96καὶ δʼ αὐτὸς Τριόπας πολιαῖς ἐπὶ χεῖρας ἔβαλλε, §97τοῖα τὸν οὐκ ἀίοντα Ποσειδάωνα καλιστρέων· §98ψευδοπάτωρ ἰδὲ τόνδε τεοῦ τρίτον, εἴπερ ἐγὼ μὲν §99σεῦ τε καὶ Αἰολίδος Κανάκας γένος, αὐτὰρ ἐμεῖο §100τοῦτο τὸ δείλαιον γένετο βρέφος·
And Triopas himself laid hands upon his gray hair, calling thus upon Poseidon, who heard him not: "O false father, behold this third descendant of yours, if indeed I am the offspring of you and Canace daughter of Aeolus, and this wretched child was born of me.
αἴθε γὰρ αὐτὸν §101βλητὸν ὑπʼ Ἀπόλλωνος ἐμαὶ χέρες ἐκτερέιξαν·
Would that my hands had buried him, smitten by Apollo!
§102νῦν δὲ κακὰ βούβρωστις ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖσι κάθηται.
But now a wicked ravenous hunger sits in his eyes.
§103ἤ οἱ ἀπόστασον χαλεπὰν νόσον ἠέ νιν αὐτὸς §104βόσκε λαβών· ἁμαὶ γὰρ ἀπειρήκαντι τράπεζαι.
Either remove from him this grievous disease, or you yourself take and feed him; for our tables are exhausted.
§105χῆραι μὲν μάνδραι, κενεαὶ δέ μοι αὔλιες ἤδη §106τετραπόδων, ἤδη γὰρ ἀπαρνήσαντο μάγειροι.
Desolate are the folds, and empty already of four-footed beasts are my stalls, for the cooks have already refused them.
§107ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐρῆας μεγαλᾶν ὑπέλυσαν ἁμαξᾶν, §108καὶ τὰν βῶν ἔφαγεν, τὰν Ἑστίᾳ ἔτρεφε μάτηρ, §109καὶ τὰν ἀεθλοφόρον καὶ τὸν πολεμήιον ἵππον, §110καὶ τὰν αἴλουρον, τὰν ἔτρεμε θηρία μικκά.
Nay, they even unyoked the mules from the great wagons, and he ate the heifer which his mother was rearing for Hestia, and the prize-winning horse and the war-horse, and the cat, which the small beasts used to dread.
§111μέσφʼ ὅκα μὲν Τριόπαο δόμοις ἔνι χρήματα κεῖτο, §112μῶνοι ἄρʼ οἰκεῖοι θάλαμοι κακὸν ἠπίσταντο.
As long as wealth remained in the house of Triopas, only the inner chambers knew of the evil.
§113ἀλλʼ ὅκα τὸν βαθὺν οἶκον ἀνεξήραναν ὀδόντες, §114καὶ τόχʼ ὁ τῶ βασιλῆος ἐνὶ τριόδοισι καθῆστο §115αἰτίζων ἀκόλως τε καὶ ἔκβολα λύματα δαιτός.
But when his teeth dried up the deep house, then the king's son sat in the crossroads, begging for crumbs and the cast-out refuse of the feast.
§116Δάματερ, μὴ τῆνος ἐμὶν φίλος, ὅς τοι ἀπεχθής, §117εἴη μηδʼ ὁμότοιχος· ἐμοὶ κακογείτονες ἐχθροί.
Demeter, may he who is hateful to you not be my friend, nor may he share a wall with me; evil neighbors are hostile to me.
§118ᾄσατε παρθενικαί, καὶ ἐπιφθέγξασθε τεκοῖσαι §119Δάματερ μέγα χαῖρε πολυτρόφε πουλυμέδιμνε. §120χὠς αἱ τὸν κάλαθον λευκότριχες ἵπποι ἄγοντι §121τέσσαρες, ὣς ἁμὶν μεγάλα θεὸς εὐρυάνασσα §122λευκὸν ἔαρ, λευκὸν δὲ θέρος καὶ χεῖμα φέροισα §123ἡξεῖ καὶ φθινόπωρον, ἔτος δʼ εἰς ἄλλο φυλαξεῖ.
Sing, maidens, and mothers, join in the cry: "Demeter, greatly hail, nourisher of many, of many bushels!" And as the four white-haired horses draw the basket, so shall the great goddess of wide dominion come bringing us bright spring, bright summer and winter, and autumn, and protect us for another year.
§124ὡς δʼ ἀπεδίλωτοι καὶ ἀνάμπυκες ἄστυ πατεῦμες, §125ὣς πόδας, ὣς κεφαλὰς παναπηρέας ἕξομες αἰεί.
And as we walk through the city unshod and without headbands, so shall we ever keep our feet and our heads entirely unharmed.
§126ὡς δʼ αἱ λικνοφόροι χρυσῶ πλέα λίκνα φέροντι, §127ὣς ἁμὲς τὸν χρυσὸν ἀφειδέα πασαίμεσθα.
And as the winnowing-fan bearers carry fans full of gold, so may we possess gold ungrudgingly.
§128μέσφα τὰ τᾶς πόλιος πρυτανήια τὰς ἀτελέστως, §129τὰς δὲ τελεσφορέας ποτὶ τὰν θεὸν ἄχρις ὁμαρτεῖν, §130αἵτινες ἑξήκοντα κατώτεραι·
While the uninitiated women shall follow as far as the city hall, those who are initiated may go as far as the temple of the goddess, such as are under sixty.
αἱ δὲ βαρεῖαι §131χἄτις Ἐλειθυίᾳ τείνει χέρα χἄτις ἐν ἄλγει. §132ὣς ἅλις, ὡς αὐτᾶν ἱκανὸν γόνυ· ταῖσι δὲ Δηὼ §133δωσεῖ πάντʼ ἐπίμεστα καὶ ὡς ποτὶ ναὸν ἵκωνται.
But those who are heavy, and whoever stretches out her hand to Eileithyia, and whoever is in pain, for them it is enough as far as their knees are able; and to them Deo will give all things in abundance, just as if they had reached the temple.
§134χαῖρε θεὰ καὶ τάνδε σάω πόλιν ἔν θʼ ὁμονοίᾳ §135ἔν τʼ εὐηπελίᾳ, φέρε δʼ ἀγρόθι νόστιμα πάντα·
Hail, goddess, and save this city both in harmony and in prosperity, and bring all returning things from the fields.
§136φέρβε βόας, φέρε μᾶλα, φέρε στάχυν, οἶσε θερισμόν, §137φέρβε καὶ εἰράναν, ἵνʼ ὃς ἄροσε τῆνος ἀμάσῃ.
Feed the oxen, bring the sheep, bring the ear of corn, bring the harvest, and feed peace too, so that he who sowed may also reap.
§138ἵλαθί μοι τρίλλιστε μέγα κρείοισα θεάων.
Be propitious to me, O thrice-entreated, great ruler among goddesses.

Notes

  1. 70τόσσα Διώνυσον γὰρ ἃ καὶ Δάματρα χαλέπτελ — The word χαλέπτελ at the end is a scribal error (or dialectal corruption) and is commonly emended to the third-person singular present indicative active χαλέπτει. Taking the relative pronoun ἃ as the subject, it establishes a correlative construction: 'as many things as anger Demeter (ἃ καὶ Δάματρα [χαλέπτει]) also anger Dionysus to the same degree (τόσσα)'.
  2. 98ψευδοπάτωρ ἰδὲ τόνδε τεοῦ τρίτον — The word τρίτον is used with the ellipsis of the noun ἔκγονον (descendant), referring to the 'third descendant' (i.e., grandson) from the perspective of Poseidon. The following conditional clause εἴπερ... αὐτὰρ... ('if indeed... but...') highlights the bitter contrast that although Triopas is Poseidon's son, his own grandson Erysichthon is suffering, prompting Triopas to call Poseidon a 'false father' (ψευδοπάτωρ).
  3. 128μέσφα τὰ τᾶς πόλιος πρυτανήια τὰς ἀτελέστως — The word μέσφα functions as a preposition governing the accusative ('as far as'), qualifying the neuter plural noun τὰ πρυτανήια (the city hall). The feminine plural accusative article τὰς modifies the substantivized modifier (or used with the adverbial ἀτελέστως to mean 'the uninitiated women'), which stands in sharp contrast with τὰς δὲ τελεσφορέας ('but those who are initiated') in the following clause.
  4. 132ὣς ἅλις, ὡς αὐτᾶν ἱκανὸν γόνυ — A comparative or concessive construction involving the repetition of ὣς (or ὡς). The first clause ὣς ἅλις means 'thus it is enough', while the second ὡς αὐτᾶν ἱκανὸν γόνυ functions as a subordinate clause meaning 'as far as their knees are sufficient (able to carry them)'. The structure expresses a religious exemption for infirm women: 'it is enough to go only as far as their physical strength (knees) allows'.

Cite this passage

Callimachus, Hymn to Demeter §70-138. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0533.tlg020.humanitext-grc3:70-138

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