Homer : The Underworld ( Odyssey - Rhapsody 11 )

Then I saw Minos son of Jove with his golden sceptre in his hand sitting in judgement on the dead, and the ghosts were gathered sitting and standing round him in the spacious house of Hades, to learn his sentences upon them.

Αfter him I saw huge Orion in a meadow full of asphodel driving the ghosts of the wild beasts that he had killed upon the mountains, and he had a great bronze club in his hand, unbreakable for ever and ever.

And I saw Tityus son of Gaia stretched upon the plain and covering some nine acres of ground. Two vultures on either side of him were digging their beaks into his liver, and he kept on trying to beat them off with his hands, but could not; for he had violated Jove's mistress Leto as she was going through Panopeus on her way to Pytho.

I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus, who stood in a lake that reached his chin; he was dying to quench his thirst, but could never reach the water, for whenever the poor creature stooped to drink, it dried up and vanished, so that there was nothing but dry ground--parched by the spite of heaven. There were tall trees, moreover, that shed their fruit over his head--pears, pomegranates, apples, sweet figs and juicy olives, but whenever the poor creature stretched out his hand to take some, the wind tossed the branches back again to the clouds.

And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone with both his hands. With hands and feet he tried to roll it up to the top of the hill, but always, just before he could roll it over on to the other side, its weight would be too much for him, and the pitiless stone {98} would come thundering down again on to the plain. Then he would begin trying to push it up hill again, and the sweat ran off him and the steam rose after him.

ἔνθ΄ ἦ τοι Μίνωα ἴδον͵ Διὸς ἀγλαὸν υἱόν͵ χρύσεον σκῆπτρον ἔχοντα θεμιστεύοντα νέκυσσιν͵ ἥμενον· οἱ δέ μιν ἀμφὶ δίκας εἴροντο ἄνακτα͵ ἥμενοι ἑσταότες τε͵ κατ΄ εὐρυπυλὲς Ἄϊδος δῶ.

Tὸν δὲ μέτ΄ Ὠρίωνα πελώριον εἰσενόησα θῆρας ὁμοῦ εἰλεῦντα κατ΄ ἀσφοδελὸν λειμῶνα͵ τοὺς αὐτὸς κατέπεφνεν ἐν οἰοπόλοισιν ὄρεσσι͵ χερσὶν ἔχων ῥόπαλον παγχάλκεον͵ αἰὲν ἀαγές.

καὶ Τιτυὸν εἶδον͵ Γαίης ἐρικυδέος υἱόν͵ κείμενον ἐν δαπέδῳ. ὁ δ΄ ἐπ΄ ἐννέα κεῖτο πέλεθρα͵ γῦπε δέ μιν ἑκάτερθε παρημένω ἧπαρ ἔκειρον͵ δέρτρον ἔσω δύνοντες· ὁ δ΄ οὐκ ἀπαμύνετο χερσί. Λητὼ γὰρ ἕλκησε͵ Διὸς κυδρὴν παράκοιτιν͵ Πυθώδ΄ ἐρχομένην διὰ καλλιχόρου Πανοπῆος.

καὶ μὴν Τάνταλον εἰσεῖδον χαλέπ΄ ἄλγε΄ ἔχοντα͵ ἑσταότ΄ ἐν λίμνῃ· ἡ δὲ προσέπλαζε γενείῳ. στεῦτο δὲ διψάων͵ πιέειν δ΄ οὐκ εἶχεν ἑλέσθαι· ὁσσάκι γὰρ κύψει΄ ὁ γέρων πιέειν μενεαίνων͵ τοσσάχ΄ ὕδωρ ἀπολέσκετ΄ ἀναβροχέν͵ ἀμφὶ δὲ ποσσὶ γαῖα μέλαινα φάνεσκε͵ καταζήνασκε δὲ δαίμων. δένδρεα δ΄ ὑψιπέτηλα κατὰ κρῆθεν χέε καρπόν͵ ὄγχναι καὶ ῥοιαὶ καὶ μηλέαι ἀγλαόκαρποι συκέαι τε γλυκεραὶ καὶ ἐλαῖαι τηλεθόωσαι· τῶν ὁπότ΄ ἰθύσει΄ ὁ γέρων ἐπὶ χερσὶ μάσασθαι͵ τὰς δ΄ ἄνεμος ῥίπτασκε ποτὶ νέφεα σκιόεντα.

καὶ μὴν Σίσυφον εἰσεῖδον κρατέρ΄ ἄλγε΄ ἔχοντα͵ λᾶαν βαστάζοντα πελώριον ἀμφοτέρῃσιν. ἦ τοι ὁ μὲν σκηριπτόμενος χερσίν τε ποσίν τε λᾶαν ἄνω ὤθεσκε ποτὶ λόφον· ἀλλ΄ ὅτε μέλλοι ἄκρον ὑπερβαλέειν͵ τότ΄ ἀποστρέψασκε Κραταιΐς· αὖτις ἔπειτα πέδονδε κυλίνδετο λᾶας ἀναιδής. αὐτὰρ ὅ γ΄ ἂψ ὤσασκε τιταινόμενος͵ κατὰ δ΄ ἱδρὼς ἔρρεεν ἐκ μελέων͵ κονίη δ΄ ἐκ κρατὸς ὀρώρει.

Homer Bilingual Anthology : THE UNDERWORLD - 18

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