Day 69: The Last Lines

Lines 599-611
ἄσβεστος δ' ἄρ ἐνῶνρτο γέλος μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν,
ὡς ἴδον Ἥφαιστον διὰ δώματα ποιπνύοντα.

ὡς τότε μὲν πρόπαν ἦμαρ ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα
δαίνυντ', οὐδέ τι θυμὸς ἐδεύετο δαιτὸς ἐίσης,
οὐ μὲν φόριγγος περικαλλέος, ἢν ἔχ' Ἀπόλλων,
Μουσάων θ' αἳ ἄειδον ἀμειβόμεναι ὀπὶ καλῇ.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατέδυ λαμπρόν φάος ἠελίοιο,
οἱ μὲν κακκείοντες ἔβαν οἰκόνδε ἕκαστος,
ἦχι ἑκάστῳ δῶμα περικυτὸς ἀμφιγυήεις
Ἥφαιστος ποίησεν ἰδυίῃσι πραπίδεσσιν,
Ζεὺς δὲ πρὸς ὃν λέχος ἤι' Ὀλύμπιος ἀστεροπητής,
ἔνθα πάρος κοιμᾶθ', ὅτε μιν γλυκὺς ὕπνος ἱκάνοι·
ἔνθα καθεῦδ' ἀναβάς, παρὰ δὲ χρυσόθρονος Ἥρη.


And this then roused undying laughter among the blessed gods
When they saw Hephaestus puffing and panting throughout the house.

So then they feasted the entire day on to the setting sun,
Nor did any spirit want for their portion of the feast,
Neither for that charming lyre, which Apollo keeps, nor the Muses,
They sang, and in a gorgeous voice they called and answered.
When the gleaming light of the sun then set
Desiring sleep they each went to their homes,
When for each skillful Hephaestus had fashioned a famous house
With a knowing mind, and Zeus the bed toward which went
The Olympian who hurls the lightning bolt, then before he laid down
Sweet sleep overcame him, then going up he slumbered
Beside Hera of the golden throne.


Well now, to my own great astonishment I have completed Clyde Pharr's 'Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners'. Thus Book 1 ends here and so soon unfortunately must this blog. There will be one more post which will give a translation of the entirety of Book I of the Iliad which I will be putting up in about two weeks and then that will be that. I will probably put some sort of comment on the last post but I would like to take the time here to thank the people who have followed this blog and checked in on it from time to time. You have provided me with a nice motivation to finish this project which I am very grateful for. So, once again, thank you.