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36
HESIOD.
the rule of wrong and the rule of right, and forcibly contrasts the effects of each on the prosperity of communities. Here are the results of injustice:—
"Lo! with crooked judgments runs th' avenger stern
Of oaths forsworn, and eke the murmuring voice
Of Justice rudely dragged, where base men lead
Thro' greed of gain, and olden rights misjudge
With verdict perverse. She with mist enwrapt
Follows, lamenting homes and haunts of men,
To deal out ills to such as drive her forth,
By custom of wrong judgment, from her seats."—D.
Of oaths forsworn, and eke the murmuring voice
Of Justice rudely dragged, where base men lead
Thro' greed of gain, and olden rights misjudge
With verdict perverse. She with mist enwrapt
Follows, lamenting homes and haunts of men,
To deal out ills to such as drive her forth,
By custom of wrong judgment, from her seats."—D.
And here, by contrast, are the fruits of righteousness and justice, practised by cities and nations:—
"Genial peace
Dwells in their borders, and their youth increase.
Nor Zeus, whose radiant eyes behold afar,
Hangs forth in heaven the signs of grievous war.
Nor scathe nor famine on the righteous prey:
Earth foodful teems, and banquets crown the day.
Rich wave their mountain oaks; the topmost tree
The rustling acorn fills, its trunk the murmuring bee.
Burdened with fleece their panting flocks; the race
Of woman soft reflects the father's face:
Still flourish they, nor tempt with ships the main;
The fruits of earth are poured from every plain."
—E. 303-314.
Dwells in their borders, and their youth increase.
Nor Zeus, whose radiant eyes behold afar,
Hangs forth in heaven the signs of grievous war.
Nor scathe nor famine on the righteous prey:
Earth foodful teems, and banquets crown the day.
Rich wave their mountain oaks; the topmost tree
The rustling acorn fills, its trunk the murmuring bee.
Burdened with fleece their panting flocks; the race
Of woman soft reflects the father's face:
Still flourish they, nor tempt with ships the main;
The fruits of earth are poured from every plain."
—E. 303-314.
In the lines italicised the old poet anticipates that criterion of honest wedlock which Horace shapes into the line, "The father's features in his children smile" (Odes, iv. 5-23, Con.); and Catullus into the beautiful wish for Julia and Manlius, that their offspring
