Athena in the Velletri type: a Roman marble head mounted on a modern bust. Detail shown.Photograph by Jamie Heath, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. · Source · CC BY-SA 2.0.
Hymns of Callimachus · Hymn 05
Athena: The Bath of Pallas
εἰς λουτρὰ τῆς Παλλάδος
Callimachus · 142 lines · Athena
PurificationWisdomProtection
Prayer and ritual
These hymns may be spoken as complete prayers to the Gods. Within the Temple’s practice, a ritual is a direct theurgical act; hymnody gathers the mind and turns it toward the Divine, helping the initiate enter reverent communion with the Gods.
Use a hymn on its own in place of another prayer, or add it to the prayer portion of a suitable ritual. Choose according to the deity addressed and the petition expressed in the hymn. When combining them, preserve the ritual’s prescribed sequence and let the hymn give voice to its purpose.
The petition of this hymn
For the reverent reception of Athena, the protection of one’s community, and wisdom in approaching the divine.
This hymn may stand as an extended prayer welcoming Athena and seeking her care for a community. It may also supplement an existing purification or protective rite: the bathing procession and its prescriptions belong to the ancient poem, while the present recommendation concerns recitation and recollection.
English hieratic rendering
Hymn 05 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.
1All you who bear the bath-water of Pallas, come forth together,
2come forth: just now I heard the sacred horses
3snorting, and the goddess is ready to proceed.
4Hasten now, fair-haired daughters of Pelasgus, hasten.
5Never did Athena wash her mighty arms
6before driving the dust from her horses’ flanks,
7not even when she came bearing all her armor
8spattered with gore, returning from the unjust earthborn Giants.
9First of all she loosed the horses’ necks from beneath the chariot,
10and in the springs of Ocean washed away
11their sweat and splashes, and cleansed all the foam
12that had hardened upon their bit-biting mouths.
13Come, daughters of Achaea, and bring neither perfumes nor alabaster vessels,
14(I hear the sound of the axles’ pipes),
15neither perfumes, bath-attendants, nor alabaster vessels for Pallas,
16for Athena does not love compounded ointments;
17bring no mirror either, for her face is ever fair.
18Not even when the Phrygian judged the quarrel upon Ida
19did the great goddess gaze into polished brass,
20nor into the translucent eddy of Simois;
21nor did Hera. But Cypris took the shining bronze
22and often twice rearranged the very same lock of hair.
23Athena ran twice sixty double courses,
24like the Lacedaemonian stars beside Eurotas,
25and skillfully rubbed herself with plain ointment,
26taken from the fruit of her own planting.
27O maidens, the flush rose upon her, such a color
28as the morning rose or the seed of the pomegranate bears.
29Therefore now also bring only manly oil,
30with which Castor, with which Heracles too anoints himself.
31Bring her a comb all of gold, that she may comb out
32her hair, having cleansed her gleaming locks.
33Come forth, Athena: here stands the company dear to your heart,
34maidens, daughters of the mighty sons of Acestor.
35O Athena, the shield of Diomedes too is borne in procession,
36for this was the older custom of the Argives,
37taught by Eumedes, your favored priest.
38Once, perceiving that the people were preparing
39a plotted death for him, he fled bearing your sacred image,
40and made his home upon Mount Creion.
41Mount Creion was his home; you, divine one, he placed
42among the rugged rocks now called Pallatides.
43Come forth, Athena, sacker of cities, golden-helmeted,
44delighting in the thunder of horses and shields.
45Today, water-bearers, do not dip your vessels; today, Argos,
46drink from the fountains, and not from the river.
47Today, women in service, carry your pitchers either to Physadeia
48or to Amymone, the daughter of Danaus.
49For Inachus, mingling his waters with gold and flowers,
50will come from the mountains where cattle graze,
51bearing a fair bath for Athena. But you, Pelasgian man,
52take heed lest even unwillingly you behold the Queen.
53Whoever sees Pallas, guardian of the city, naked,
54shall behold this Argos for the very last time.
55Sovereign Athena, come forth; meanwhile I shall tell
56these maidens a tale, no tale of my own, but of others.
57Children, once at Thebes Athena loved one Nymph
58far beyond all her other companions,
59the mother of Tiresias, and never was she apart from her.
60Whether she drove toward ancient Thespiae,
61or toward Coroneia, or into Haliartus,
62passing with her horses through the fields of the Boeotians,
63or toward Coroneia, where her fragrant grove
64and altars stand beside the river Coralius,
65often the goddess set her upon her own chariot.
66Neither the Nymphs’ converse nor their circling dances
67were sweet when Chariclo did not lead them.
68Yet even her many tears awaited,
69though she was a companion dear to Athena’s heart.
70For once, unfastening the brooches of their robes,
71at the fair-flowing Spring of the Horse on Helicon,
72they bathed; midday stillness held the mountain.
73Both were bathing, and it was the hour of noon,
74and a deep stillness possessed that mountain.
75Tiresias, alone with his hounds, his cheeks only beginning
76to darken with a beard, ranged about the sacred place.
77Thirsting beyond measure, he came to the flowing spring,
78unhappy youth; unwillingly he saw what was not permitted.
79Though angry, Athena nevertheless spoke to him:
80“Who led you, whose eyes shall not be carried away again,
81O son of Eueres, what divine power led you upon this grievous road?”
82So she spoke, and night took the boy’s eyes.
83He stood speechless, for anguish fastened
84his knees, and helplessness held his voice.
85The Nymph cried out: “What have you done to my son,
86sovereign? Are such as these the friendships of goddesses?
87You have taken away my child’s eyes. Child never to be forgotten,
88you saw Athena’s breast and flanks,
89but shall not see the sun again. Alas, unhappy me!
90O mountain, O Helicon, where I may no longer go,
91great payment you have exacted for a little: having lost a few
92roe-deer and gazelles, you possess my child’s eyes.”
93Ah, then taking her dear child in both arms,
94the mother raised the mournful lament of nightingales,
95weeping heavily. The goddess pitied her companion,
96and Athena spoke this word to her:
97“Divine woman, take back every word
98that you spoke in anger. I did not make your child blind.
99For it brings Athena no delight to snatch away
100the eyes of children. Yet the laws of Cronus’s son declare:
101whoever beholds an immortal, when the god does not choose it,
102shall see at a great price.
103Divine woman, what has been done cannot now be taken back,
104for the thread of the Fates spun thus for him
105when first you bore him. Now receive,
106O son of Eueres, the portion that is owed to you.
107How many burnt offerings in days to come shall the daughter of Cadmus kindle,
108how many Aristaeus, praying to behold their only
109son, youthful Actaeon, merely blind!
110He too shall be a companion in the chase of great Artemis;
111yet neither their running together nor their shared
112archery in the mountains shall save him then,
113when, though unwillingly, he sees the gracious bath
114of the goddess. His own hounds shall then feast
115upon their former master; and his mother shall gather
116her son’s bones, passing through every thicket.
117She shall call you most blessed and fortunate,
118for receiving your blind son home from the mountains.
119Therefore, dear companion, lament no more: for him other
120honors in abundance shall await him from me, because of you.
121I shall make him a seer sung by generations yet to come,
122far excelling all the others.
123He shall know the birds, which are auspicious, which fly
124without a sign, and whose wings bear no good omen.
125Many oracles shall he pronounce to the Boeotians, many to Cadmus,
126and afterward to the mighty descendants of Labdacus.
127I shall give him a great staff, to lead his feet where they must go,
128and I shall grant his life a long-delayed end.
129Alone, when he dies, he shall move in full understanding
130among the dead, honored by great Hagesilas.”
131So she spoke and nodded assent. Whatever Pallas nods upon
132is fulfilled, for to Athena alone among his daughters
133Zeus granted that she should bear all that is her father’s.
134O bath-attendants, no mother bore the goddess,
135but the head of Zeus. The head of Zeus does not assent to
136falsehood, nor does the daughter of Zeus speak falsely.
137Now Athena truly comes. Receive
138the goddess, O maidens charged with this task,
139with auspicious speech, with prayers, with sacred cries of joy.
140Hail, goddess, and take care of Inachian Argos.
141Hail as you drive forth, and may you drive your horses
142back here again; preserve the whole inheritance of the Danaans.
✦
Ancient Greek & pronunciation
Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.
Every line beneath the Greek uses English pronunciation spellings. Say each hyphenated syllable in sequence and emphasize the syllable in CAPITALS. For example, οὐρανόθεν is oo-rah-NOH-thehn. Read adjacent vowels separately: theh-AH has two syllables; oo-rah-NEE-een has four. Hyphens guide the voice; they do not mark pauses.
Spelling
Sound to make
ah · eh · ee · oh · oo
father · met · see · go without its final glide · moon. Keep these vowels clear in unstressed syllables too.
th · dh
The unvoiced th in thin · the voiced th in this. Thus DHEE begins with the sound in “thee.”
kh
The ch in Scottish loch or German Bach: let air pass at the back of the mouth, without closing it into a k.
hy
The breathy beginning of a carefully spoken Hugh. Raise the middle of the tongue toward the roof of the mouth and let air pass without voice. In shy, sound s followed by hy; do not use the English sh sound or the English word “shy.”
gh
Make the kh sound above, then add voice. Keep the passage open; this is a flowing sound, not a hard g.
y · g
y as in yes, with gentle friction · always a hard g as in get.
r
Tap the tongue lightly behind the upper teeth, or use a light roll.
ks · ps
Sound both consonants, even at the beginning of a word: ks as in backs, ps as in lips.
n-g · m-b · n-d
Sound the nasal and the following consonant. In AHN-geh-leh, the n-g group is like finger, with the g audible.
Always sound s as in hiss, even at the end of DHEE-kees; z is voiced, as in zero. All other consonants have their usual English sounds. Initial consonant groups may be unfamiliar: sound every written consonant, without inserting an extra vowel. A word without capitals carries no written stress in the Greek. Where two syllables have capitals, both written accents are retained. An apostrophe marks a vowel already elided in the Greek; do not add it back. A hyphen at the end of a Greek verse joins the unfinished word to the next verse.
These spellings follow the Modern Greek liturgical reading used throughout this library. Breathings and iota subscripts are silent; separately pronounced vowels remain separate. The few Greek consonants without an exact English equivalent use the sound cues above. Ancient vowel length, pitch accent and metre are not reconstructed.
Hymn notes
Sacred meaning
The public procession opens into the encounter of Athena, Chariclo, and Tiresias, where bodily sight gives way to another mode of knowing. Athena’s promised gifts transform the seer’s future without undoing the event, and her infallible assent derives from her birth from Zeus. The hymn closes by receiving the goddess with auspicious speech and asking her to preserve the shared inheritance of the people.
Textual note
This poem uses Doric forms and elegiac couplets, both preserved in the Greek. Verse 63 repeats the approach to Coroneia; Mair explicitly calls the text uncertain and retains it as a bold repetition, so it has not been deleted. Verse 136 contains an editorial restoration of missing letters: Mair prints ψεύδεα ⟨κοὐδὲ Διὸς ψεύδετ⟩αι ⟨ἁ⟩ θυγάτηρ. The angle brackets mark Mair’s supplements, not securely transmitted ancient words; the English renders the restored reading. At 93 and 104 Mair’s main editorial readings are retained. The procession’s ritual statements and the account of Actaeon remain part of the ancient voice; devotional-use guidance is newly composed.
Text and attribution
Greek text: A. W. Mair, εἰς Λουτρά τῆς Παλλάδος (1921), Perseus Digital Library. Greek source. The English hieratic rendering and suggested devotional use are new editorial work. The applications are guidance for this library, not additional lines of the ancient poem.
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