The Odyssey of Homer, with the Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice/Hymns/Hymn 17

by Homer

XVII. TO PAN.

Sing to me, O Muse, concerning the dear son of Mercury, goat-footed, two-horned, lover of the dance,^[1] who goes through woody Pisa in company with the nymphs who are accustomed to the dance, who also step along the tracks^[2] of the lofty rock, calling upon Pan, the god of shepherds, with beauteous hair, [yet] squalid,^[3] who has been allotted every snow-capped height, and the summits and rocky heads of mountains. And he goes hither and thither through the dense thickets, sometimes allured by the gentle streams, but sometimes again he passes over the sun-traversed mountains, ascending the loftiest height that overlooks the flocks, and oftentimes he runs over the long hoary mountain-ranges, and oftentimes he passes through the feet of the hills, slaying wild beasts, looking sharply about. And then he drives his sheep into their cave,^[4] returning from the chase, playing a sweet song on the reeds. Him not even the bird, which pouring forth her song among the leaves of flowery spring, pours forth a sweet lay, would surpass in song. And with him^[5] then the sweet-songed mountain-nymphs, coming frequently on foot to the dark-watered fountain, raise the song, and the echo sounds around the height of the mountain. And the god going hither and thither in the midst of the dances, moves frequently with his feet. But on his back he wears the blood-stained skin of a lynx, delighting his mind with sweet lays in the soft meadow, where the crocus and fragrant hyacinth flourishing are mingled with abundant grass. And they hymn the blessed gods and mighty Olympus, as,^[6] for instance, beneficial Mercury above all, how he is the swift messenger of all the gods. And he indeed came into many-rilled Arcadia, the mother of sheep, where there is a temple of Cyllenius^[7] in his honour. Here he, although a god, tended shabby-fleeced sheep with^[8] a mortal man. For soft desire, which had come upon him, flourished, that he should mingle in love with the fair-haired nymph Dryope. And he accomplished joyful nuptials,^[9] and in her dwelling she bore a dear son to Mercury, a marvel to behold forthwith,^[10] goat-footed, two-horned, fond of the dance, sweetly laughing. And she fled, leaping up, and the nurse left the child; for she was smitten with dread^[11] as she beheld his unpleasant, hairy visage. But him, beneficial Mercury, having received, took in his arms, and the god rejoiced greatly in his mind. And swiftly he went to the dwellings of the immortals, having covered the boy in the thick skins of a mountain hare. And he seated him with Jove and the other immortals, and showed his son. But all the immortals were delighted in mind, and above others Bacchus Dionysus. And they called him Pan, because he delighted the minds of all.^[12] And do thou thus hail, O king, and I will beseech thee in song. But I will be mindful of thee and of another song.

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1. Chapman is more literal: "amorous of noise."
2. I read κέλευθα from a MS. with Hermann.
3. "On Pan, the bright-hair'd god of pastoral,
   Who yet is lean and loveless."Chapman.
   
   
4. This is partly the emendation of Bernard Martin, partly of Ruhnken. But Hermann prefers τότε δ' ἕσπερος ἔκλαγεν οἷος, "circa vesperam solus fistula canit Pan, a venatione redux; ibi conveniunt deinde nymphæ." This certainly seems almost required by the following words, δονάκων ὑπὸ μοῦσαν ἀθύρων. And the solitude of Pan well agrees with the words of Theocritus, i. 16, Τὸν Πᾶνα δεδοίκαμες, ἧ γὰρ ἀπ' ἄγρας Τανίκα κεκμακὼς ἀμπαύεται· ἐντί δὲ πικρὸς, καὶ οἱ ἀεὶ δριμεῖα χολὰ ποτὶ ῥινι κάθηται. For descriptions of Pan, see Moll. on Longus Past. ii. 17. Lucian Diall. Deorr. 4, and 22, and Lilius Gyrald. Syntagm. xv. p. 451, sq. ed. Amst. "Artists of modern times evidently took their idea for the graphic representation of the devil from the ancient figures of Pan." Townley Marbles, vol. i. p. 211.
5. i. e. Pan, σφιν being here the singular number. See Herm. on Orph. p. 792, 797.
6. Surely we should read οἷον, "Mercury alone above others."
7. Κυλληνίου is the elegant reading of three Paris MSS. Cf. in Cer. 37, and Herm. on Orph. p. 801.
8. Παρὰ rather means, "in the service of a mortal man."
9. A customary euphemism where the gallantries of the gods are described.
10. i. e. from his very birth. πρόσθεν is used in nearly the same manner in Hymn xxiv. 7, of the birth of Minerva.
11. Probably as much terrified as the mother of Mother Shipton is traditionally reported to have been on a similar occasion.
12. This etymology is, if possible, nearly as bad as any to be found in Plato's Cratylus. It is, at all events, quite as frigid.