Friday, January 12, 2024

Athena, Unswayed by Aphrodite. Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 7 - 15

 Verum tres sunt deae, quarum animum flectere, suaque; fraude convellere haudquaquam potis est: nempe caesiam Minervam Iovis Filiam. Non enim illi aureae Veneris placuere opera: sed bella semper ac Martis opera grata sunt, praeliaque et pugnae, acres tractare splendidas. Prima enim artifices in terra docuit viros scuta construere, variosque ferro currus. Haec quoque teneras virgines intra limen docuit praeclara illa opera conficere, unicuique inflammans animum.

τρισσὰς δ᾽ οὐ δύναται πεπιθεῖν φρένας οὐδ᾽ ἀπατῆσαι:

κούρην τ᾽ αἰγιόχοιο Διός, γλαυκῶπιν Ἀθήνην:

οὐ γὰρ οἱ εὔαδεν ἔργα πολυχρύσου Ἀφροδίτης,

ἀλλ᾽ ἄρα οἱ πόλεμοί τε ἅδον καὶ ἔργον Ἄρηος

ὑσμῖναί τε μάχαι τε καὶ ἀγλαὰ ἔργ᾽ ἀλεγύνειν.

πρώτη τέκτονας ἄνδρας ἐπιχθονίους ἐδίδαξε

ποιῆσαι σατίνας τε καὶ ἅρματα ποικίλα χαλκῷ.

ἣ δέ τε παρθενικὰς ἁπαλόχροας ἐν μεγάροισιν

ἀγλαὰ ἔργ᾽ ἐδίδαξεν ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θεῖσα ἑκάστῃ.

----Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, 7- 15 Translated into Latin by Raphael Regio Volterranus (1541)


 But Aphrodite is not able to persuade three goddesses, nor can she beguile them.

One is the aegis-wearing daughter of Zeus, the bright-eyed Athena.

She doesn’t enjoy the works of golden Aphrodite;

Instead she runs after battles and Ares’ sphere of influence--

Conflicts and skirmishes and the equipment that goes with it.

She was the first to teach men the art of woodcraft outdoors,

And how to make chariots and carriages out of different types of metal.

Yet she also taught tender maidens splendid works indoors,

Granting a different type of knowledge to each person.


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