WORKS.
79
I pass'd to Chalcis, where around the grave
Of king Amphidamus, in combat brave,
His valiant sons had solemn games decreed,
And heralds loud proclaim'd full many a meed:
There, let me boast, that victor in the lay
I bore a tripod ear'd, my prize, away:
This to the maids of Helicon I vow'd
Where first their tuneful inspiration flow'd.[1]
Thus far in ships does my experience rise;
Yet bold I speak the wisdom of the skies;
Th' inspiring Muses to my lips have given
The lore of song, and strains that breathe of heaven.
When from the summer tropic fifty days
Have roll'd,[2] when summer's time of toil decays:
Of king Amphidamus, in combat brave,
His valiant sons had solemn games decreed,
And heralds loud proclaim'd full many a meed:
There, let me boast, that victor in the lay
I bore a tripod ear'd, my prize, away:
This to the maids of Helicon I vow'd
Where first their tuneful inspiration flow'd.[1]
Thus far in ships does my experience rise;
Yet bold I speak the wisdom of the skies;
Th' inspiring Muses to my lips have given
The lore of song, and strains that breathe of heaven.
When from the summer tropic fifty days
Have roll'd,[2] when summer's time of toil decays:
- ↑ Where first their tuneful inspiration flow'd.] That is, on mount Helicon. Both Le Clerc and Robinson unaccountably refer the term ενθα, where, to Chalcis: and regard this passage as contradictory to that in the proem to the Theogony: whereas the one confirms the other.}}
- ↑ When from the summer-tropic fifty days
Have roll'd.] If no verses be wanting here, Hesiod truly needs not boast of his skill in nautical affairs. For what can be more absurd than to confine all navigation within fifty days, and those beginning from the summer-solstice; especially as the summer solstice fell on the 3d of July? I should suppose that there was a deficiency of two verses to this effect:
