The First Gods
In the beginning there was only Chaos, the Abyss,
But then Gaia, the Earth, came into being,
Her broad bosom the ever-firm foundation of all,
And Tartaros, dim in the underground depths,
120
And Eros, loveliest of all the Immortals, who
Makes their bodies (and men's bodies) go limp,
Mastering their minds and subduing their wills.
From the Abyss were born Erebos and dark Night.
And Night, pregnant after sweet intercourse
125
With Erebos, gave birth to Aether and Day.
Earth's first child was Ouranos, starry Heaven,
Just her size, a perfect fit on all sides.
And a firm foundation for the blessed gods.
And she bore the Mountains in long ranges, haunted
130
By the Nymphs who live in the deep mountain dells.
Then she gave birth to the barren, raging Sea
Without any sexual love. But later she slept with
Ouranos and bore Ocean with its deep currents,
And also: Koios, Krios, Hyperion, lapetos,
Theia, Rheia, Themis, Mnemosyne,
135
Gold-crowned Phoibe and lovely Tethys.
The Castration of Ouranos
After them she bore a most terrible child,
Kronos, her youngest, an arch-deceiver,
And this boy hated his lecherous father.
She bore the Cyclopes too, with hearts of stone,
140
Brontes, Steropes and ponderous Arges,
Who gave Zeus thunder and made the thunderbolt.
In every other respect they were just like gods,
But a lone eye lay in their foreheads' middle.
They were nicknamed Cyclopes because they had
145
A single goggle eye in their foreheads' middle.
Strong as the dickens, and they knew their craft.
And three other sons were born to Gaia and Ouranos,
Strong, hulking creatures that beggar description,
Kottos, Briareos, and Gyges, outrageous children.
150
A hundred hands stuck out of their shoulders,
Grotesque, and fifty heads grew on each stumpy neck.
These monsters exuded irresistible strength.
They were Gaia's most dreaded offspring,
And from the start their father feared and loathed them.
155
Ouranos used to stuff all of his children
Back into a hollow of Earth soon as they were born,
Keeping them from the light, an awful thing to do,
But Heaven did it, and was very pleased with himself.
Vast Earth groaned under the pressure inside,
160
And then she came up with a plan, a really wicked trick.
She created a new mineral, grey flint, and formed
A huge sickle from it and showed it to her dear boys.
And she rallied them with this bitter speech:
"Listen to me, children, and we might yet get even
165
With your criminal father for what he has done to us.
After all, he started this whole ugly business."
They were tongue-tied with fear when they heard this.
But Kronos, whose mind worked in strange ways,
170
Got his pluck up and found the words to answer her:
"I think I might be able to bring it off, Mother.
I can't stand Father; he doesn't even deserve the name.
And after all, he started this whole ugly business.
"This response warmed the heart of vast Earth.
175
She hid young Kronos in an ambush and placed in his hands
The jagged sickle. Then she went over the whole plan with him.
And now on came great Ouranos, bringing Night with him.
And, longing for love, he settled himself all over Earth.
From his dark hiding-place, the son reached out
180
With his left hand, while with his right he swung
The fiendishly long and jagged sickle, pruning the genitals
Of his own father with one swoop and tossing them
Behind him, where they fell to no small effect.
Earth soaked up all the bloody drops that spurted out,
185
And as the seasons went by she gave birth to the Furies
And to great Giants gleaming in full armor, spears in hand,
And to the Meliai, as ash-tree nymphs are generally called.
The Birth of Aphrodite
The genitalia themselves, freshly cut with flint, were thrown
Clear of the mainland into the restless, white-capped sea,
190
Where they floated a long time.
A white foam from the god:-flesh
Collected around them, and in that foam a maiden developed
And grew. Her first approach to land was near holy Kythera,
And from there she floated on to the island of Kypros.
There she came ashore, an awesome, beautiful divinity.
195
Tender grass sprouted up under her slender feet.
Aphrodite
Is her name in speech human and divine, since it was in foam
She was nourished. But she is also called Kythercia since
She reached Kythera, and Kyprogenes because she was born
On the surf-line of Kypros, and Philommedes because she loves
The organs of sex, from which she made her epiphany.
200
Eros became her companion, and ravishing Desire waited on her
At her birth and when she made her debut among the Immortals.
From that moment on, among both gods and humans,
She has fulfilled the honored function that includes
Virginal sweet-talk, lovers' smiles and deceits
205
And all of the gentle pleasures of sex.
But great Ouranos used to call the sons he begot
Titans, a reproachful nickname, because he thought
They,had over-reached themselves and done a monstrous deed
For which vengeance later would surely be exacted.
210
And Night bore hateful Doom and black Fate
And Death, and Sleep and the brood of Dreams.
And sleeping with no one, the ebony goddess Night
Gave birth to Blame and agonizing Grief,
And to the Hesperides who guard the golden apples
215
And the fruit-bearing trees beyond glorious Ocean.
And she generated the Destinies and the merciless,
Avenging Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos,
Who give mortals at birth good and evil to have,
And prosecute transgressions of mortals and gods.
220
These goddesses never let up their dread anger
Until the sinner has paid a severe penalty.
And deadly Night bore Nemesis too, more misery
For mortals; and after her, Deception and Friendship
And ruinous Old Age, and hard-hearted Eris.
225
And hateful Eris bore agonizing Toil,
Forgetfulness, Famine, and tearful Pains,
Battles and Fights, Murders and Manslaughters,
Quarrels, Lying Words and Words Disputatious,
Lawlessness and Recklessness, who share one nature,
230
And Oath, who most troubles men upon Earth
When anyone willfully swears a false oath.
The Birth of the Olympians
Later, Kronos forced himself upon Rheia,
And she gave birth to a splendid brood:
Hestia and Demeter and gold-sandalled Hera,
Strong, pitiless Hades, the underworld lord,
460
The booming Earth-shaker, Poseidon, and finally
Zeus, a wise god, our Father in heaven
Under whose thunder the wide world trembles.
And Kronos swallowed them all down as soon as each
Issued from Rheia's holy womb onto her knees,
465
With the intent that only he among the proud Ouranians
Should hold the title of King among the Immortals.
For he had learned from Earth and starry Heaven
That it was fated for him, powerful though he was,
To be overthrown by his child, through the scheming of Zeus.
470
Well, Kronos wasn't blind. He kept a sharp watch
And swallowed his children.
Rheia's grief was unbearable.
When she was about to give birth to Zeus our Father
She petitioned her parents, Earth and starry Heaven,
475
To put together some plan so that the birth of her child
Might go unnoticed, and she would make devious Kronos
Pay the Avengers of her father and children.
They listened to their daughter and were moved by her words,
And the two of them told her all that was fated
480
For Kronos the King and his stout-hearted son.
They sent her to Lyktos, to the rich land of Crete,
When she was ready to bear the youngest of her sons,
Mighty Zeus. Vast Earth received him when he was born
To be nursed and brought up in the wide land of Crete.
485
She came first to Lyktos, travelling quickly by night,
And took the baby in her hands and hid him in a cave,
An eerie hollow in the woods of dark Mount Aigaion.
Then she wrapped up a great stone in swaddling clothes
And gave it to Kronos, Ouranos' son, the great lord and king
490
Of the earlier gods. He took it in his hands and rammed it
Down into his belly, the poor fool! He had no idea
That a stone had been substituted for his son, who,
Unscathed and content as a babe, would soon wrest
His honors from him by main force and rule the Immortals.
It wasn't long before the young lord was flexing
495
His glorious muscles. The seasons followed each other,
And great devious Kronos, gulled by Earth's
Clever suggestions, vomited up his offspring,
[Overcome by the wiles and power of his son]
The stone first, which he'd swallowed last.
500
Zeus took the stone and set it in the ground at Pytho
Under Parnassos' hollows, a sign and wonder for men to come.
And he freed his uncles, other sons of Ouranos
Whom their father in a fit of idiocy had bound.
They remembered his charity and in gratitude
505
Gave him thunder and the flashing thunderbolt
And lightning, which enormous Earth had hidden before.
Trusting in these he rules mortals and Immortals.
Prometheus
Then lapetos led away a daughter of Ocean,
Klymene, pretty ankles, and went to bed with her.
510
And she bore him a child, Atlas, stout heart,
And begat ultragiorious Menoitios, and Prometheus,
Complex, his mind a shimmer, and witless Epimetheus,
Who was trouble from the start for enterprising men,
First to accept from Zeus the fabricated woman,
515
The Maiden. Outrageous Menoitios broadbrowed Zeus
Blasted into Erebos with a sulphurous thunderbolt
On account of his foolishness and excessive violence.
Atlas, crimped hard, holds up the wide sky
At earth's limits, in front of the shrill-voiced Hesperides,
520
Standing with indefatigable head and hands,
For this is the part wise Zeus assigned him.
And he bound Prometheus with ineluctable fetters,
Painful bonds, and drove a shaft through his middle,
And set a long-winged eagle on him that kept gnawing
525
His undying liver, but whatever the long-winged bird
Ate the whole day through, would all grow back by night.
That bird the mighty son of pretty-ankled Alkmene,
Herakles, killed, drove off the evil affliction
530
From lapetos' son and freed him from his misery-
Not without the will of Zeus, high lord of Olympos,
So that the glory of Theban-born Herakles
Might be greater than before on the plentiful earth.
He valued that and honored his celebrated son.
535
And he ceased from the anger that he had before
Because Prometheus matched wits with mighty Kronion.
That happened when the gods and mortal men were negotiating
At Mekone. Prometheus cheerfully butchered a great ox
And served it up, trying to befuddle Zeus' wits.
540
For Zeus he set out flesh and innards rich with fat
Laid out on the oxhide and covered with its paunch.
But for the others he set out the animal's white bones
Artfully dressed out and covered with shining fat.
And then the Father of gods and men said to him:
545
"Son of lapetos, my celebrated lord,
How unevenly you have divided the portions.
"Thus Zeus, sneering, with imperishable wisdom.
And Prometheus, whose mind was devious,
Smiled softly and remembered his trickery:
550
"Zeus most glorious, greatest of the everlasting gods,
Choose whichever of these your heart desires."
This was Prometheus' trick. But Zeus, eternally wise,
Recognized the fraud and began to rumble in his heart
Trouble for mortals, and it would be fulfilled.
555
With both his hands he picked up the gleaming fat.
Anger seethed in his lungs and bile rose to his heart
When he saw the ox's white bones artfully tricked out.
And that is why the tribes of men on earth
Burn white bones to the immortals upon smoking altars.
560
But clou bsp;
565
To the ashwood mortals who live on the earth.
But that fine son of lapetos outwitted him
And stole the far-seen gleam of weariless fire
In a hollow fennel stalk, and so bit deeply the heart Of Zeus,
the high lord of thunder, who was angry
570
When he saw the distant gleam of fire among men,
And straight off he gave them trouble to pay for the fire.
Pandora
The famous Lame God plastered up some clay
To look like a shy virgin, just like Zeus wanted,
And Athena, the Owl-Eyed Goddess,
575
Got her all dressed up in silvery clothes
And with her hands draped a veil from her head,
An intricate thing, wonderful to look at.
And Pallas Athena circled her head
With a wreath of luscious springtime flowers
580
And crowned her with a golden tiara
That the famous Lame God had made himself,
Shaped it by hand to please father Zeus,
Intricately designed and a wonder to look at.
Sea monsters and other fabulous beasts
585
Crowded the surface, and it sighed with beauty,
And you could almost hear the animals' voices.
He made this lovely evil to balance the good,
Then led her off to the other gods and men
Gorgeous in the finery of the owl-eyed daughter
590
Sired in power. And they were stunned,
Immortal gods and mortal men, when they saw
The sheer deception, irresistible to men.
From her is the race of female women,
The deadly race and population of women,
595
A great infestation among mortal men,
At home with wealth but not with poverty.
It's the same as with bees in their overhung hives
Feeding the drones, evil conspirators.
600
The bees work every day until the sun goes down,
Busy all day long making pale honeycombs,
While the drones stay inside, in the hollow hives,
Stuffing their stomachs with the work of others.
That's just how Zeus, the high lord of thunder,
605
Made women as a curse for mortal men,
Evil conspirators. And he added another evil
To offset the good. Whoever escapes marriage
And women's harm, comes to deadly old age
Without any son to support him. He has no lack
610
While he lives, but when he dies distant relatives
Divide up his estate. Then again, whoever marries
As fated, and gets a good wife, compatible,
Has a life that is balanced between evil and good,
A constant struggle. But if he marries the abusive kind,
615
He lives with pain in his heart all down the line,
Pain in spirit and mind, incurable evil.
There's no way to get around the mind of Zeus.
Not even Prometheus, that fine son of lapetos
Escaped his heavy anger. He knows many things,
620
But he is caught in the crimp of ineluctable bonds.
The Titanomachy
When their father Ouranus first grew angry
With Obriareus, and with his brothers,
Kottos and Gyges, he clamped down on them hard.
Indignant because of their arrogant maleness,
625
Their looks and bulk, he made them live underground.
So there they lived in subterranean pain,
Settled at the outermost limits of earth,
Suffering long and hard, grief in their hearts.
But the Son of Kronos, and the other Immortals
630
Born of Rheia and Kronos, took Earth's advice
And led them up back into the light, for she
Told them the whole story of how with their help
They would win glorious honor and victory.
For a long time they fought, hearts bitter with toil,
Going against each other in the shock of battle,
635
The Titans and the gods who were born from Kronos.
The proud Titans fought from towering Othrys,
And from Olympos the gods, the givers of good
Born of rich-haired Rheia after lying with Kronos.
They battled each other with pain in their hearts
640
Continuously for ten full years, never a truce,
No respite from the hostilities on either side,
The war's outcome balanced between them.
Then Zeus gave those three all that they needed
Of ambrosia and nectar, food the gods themselves eat,
645
And the fighting spirit grew in their breasts
When they fed on the sweet ambrosia and nectar.
Then the father of gods and men addressed them:
"Hear me, glorious children of Earth and Heaven,
While I speak my mind. For a long time now
650
The Titans and those of us born from Kronos
Have been fighting daily for victory and dominance.
Show the Titans your strength, the invincible might
Of your @ands, oppose them in this grisly conflict
Remembering our kindness. After suffering so much
655
You have come back to the light from your cruel dungeon,
Returned by my will from the moldering gloom."
Thus Zeus, and the blameless Kottos replied:
"Divine One, what a thing to say. We already realize
That your thoughts are supreme, your mind surpassing,
660
That you saved the Immortals from war's cold light.
We have come from under the moldering gloom
By your counsel, free at last from bonds none too gentle,
0 Lord, Son of Kronos, and from suffering unfooked for.
Our minds are bent therefore, and our wills fixed
665
On preserving your power through the horror of war.
We will fight the Titans in the crush of battle."
He spoke, and the gods who are givers of good
Heard him and cheered, and their hearts yearned for war
Even more than before. They joined grim battle again
670
That very day, all of them, male and female alike,
The Titans and the gods who were born from Kronos,
And the three Zeus sent from the underworld to light,
Dread and strong, and arrogant with might.