[Back] [Blueprint] [Next]






561


by Leto to Zeus. But Apollo knew not that he was keeping the youth for envious Zephyrus. And the earth, doing a pleasure to the weeping king, brought forth a flower to console Apollo, even that flowera which bears the name of the splendid youth.

And at last by the halls of the sonb of Atreus, builded near, he stood, glorying in his marvellous graces. Not so fair was the lovely sonc whom Thyoned bare to Zeus: forgive me, Dionysus! even if thou art of the seed of Zeus, he, too, was fair as his face was beautiful. And Helen unbarred the bolts of her hospitable bower and suddenly went to the court of the house, and, looking in front of the goodly doors, soon as she saw, so soon she called him and led him within the house, and bade him sit on a new-wrought chair of silver. And she could not satifgy her eyes with gazing, now deeming that she looked on the golden youth that attends on Cythereiae — and late she recognized that it was not Eros; she saw no quiver of arrows — and often in the beauty of his face and eyes she looked to see the kingf of the vine: but no blooming fruit of the vine did she behold spread upon the meeting of his gracious brows. And after long time, amazed, she uttered her voice and said:

ãStranger, whence art thou? declare thy fair lineage even unto us. In beauty thou art like unto

NOTES

a The hyacinth was feigned to have sprung from the blood of Hyacinthus or of Aias, and to bear on its petals either (Susan note Greek letter), i.e. the initial of (Susan note Grk), or the letters AI, i.e. the initials of AIAI = Alas! Or of Aias; Ovid, Met. xiii. 394 f.:

                           rubefactaque sanguine tellus
purpureum viridi genuir de caespite florem,
qui prius Oebalio fuerat de vulnere natus.
littera communis [=A] mediis pueroque viroqua
inscripta est foliis, haec nominis [Aias], illa querellae [Aiai Susan note re accent?].

It is the ãlettered hyacinthä of Theocr. x. 28 and Miltonâs ãsanguine flower inscribed with woe.ä Lycid. 106. The flower seems to be not our hyacinth but a species of larkspur, Delphinium Ajacis. For the myth see Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris i. p. 313 ff.

b Menelaus.

c Dionysus.

d Semele.

e Aphrodite.

f Dionysus.








[Back] [Blueprint] [Next]



The corresponding page of Greek text with line numbers will be here below at some point ("We" have to learn how to do an efficient way to format ancient Greek text on the web!)