As far as earth from sky
so far the gloom of Tartarus from earth.
Nine nights and days a brick of bronze could fall
from heaven striking earth on ten; so too
Nine nights and days a brick of bronze could fall
from earth to Tartarus and strike the tenth.
Around it runs a fence of bronze, and night
is strung a triple strand as round a neck.
Above, the roots of earth and barren sea.
And there, the Titan gods are cloaked in darkness
and hidden by the will of Zeus, amasser
of clouds, in that huge damp place at edge of earth.
They cannot leave. A gate of bronze erected
by Poseidon blocks it, a wall surrounds.
And there live Gyes, Cottus, and great-
hearted Obriareus, trusted wardens
of Zeus. And there dark earth, and Tarturus
the barren sea and starry heavens, all
arrayed, have their first source and final bounds
Loathsome and damp, it’s hated by the gods.
And there, a great abyss, a chasm so
large that if one had passed the gates, the end
on any side would not be found before
a year, buffeted both this way and that
by gust after relentless gust. The gods
themselves abhor this wonder. There, the fearful
house of dark night sits wrapped in stormy cloud
And there, in front, the son of Iapetus
stands, on his head the width of heaven, his
unmoving, tireless hands, and there where night
and day will greet each other near the gate
of bronze. As one arrives the other departs
the house which never holds the two together
for one’s always abroad and passing over
the earth, while the other rests inside and waits
her turn to begin her pass over earth.
The one will spread all seeing light to all
the other holds both sleep and death in her
arms, noxious night, the one who’s wrapped in cloud.
And there also the spawn of night have houses
both Sleep and Death, both fearsome gods, and never
does shining Helios look down on them
with beams of light, not at dawn nor when the sun
sets. Night will spread across the earth with peace
and over wide sea swells, as sweet as honey
to men; the other’s heart is iron hard
his spirit cold as bronze. Once grabbing hold
he never lets go. Even the gods hate him.
And there, in front, the reverberant home
of Hades and awesome Persephone.
A fearsome dog stands guard before the house,
pitiless, he has a trick, he wags his tail
and droops his ears for those who seek to enter
but allows none to come back out again.
He keeps his watch and devours any who
would leave. And there a goddess much despised
by gods, dread Styx, backflowing Ocean’s daughter,
his oldest, who lives in a house that’s distant
from other gods, a roof of rock all held
by silver pillars all around. It’s rare
the daughter of Thaumas, swift-of-foot, the goddess
Iris will bring to her a message over
the seas wide back. But when some strife or quarrel
rises among the deathless ones, then Zeus
sends Iris to bring the binding oath of gods,
the golden jar containing the famous cold
water that gushes down from soaring rock.
Far under the wide-pathed earth a stream
flows from a rock, a misery to gods,
whoever falsely made an oath and pours
the water, one of those the deathless ones
who hold the snowy peak of Olympus,
he must lie breathless while a year is passed
nor come to taste ambrosia nor nectar
but lie without a breath or voice in bed,
an evil trance possessing him, and then
after a long year of this sickness he
must face another more difficult travail:
nine years deprived of the company of gods
exiled from councils, banished from their feasts,
nine years, the tenth he can again rejoin
the fellowship of those who hold Olympus.
The gods appointed thus the river Styx,
binder of oaths, its ancient waters flowing
through such a rugged place. And there the dark
earth and the murky Tartarus, the fruitless
sea and the starry heavens, all in order,
having there both their springs and limits, dreadful
and damp, a place the gods are want to hate.
And there, the gleaming gates of bronze, and there
unmovable a border grown of itself
with continuous roots and far away
from all the gods the Titans live. There beyond
the gloomy chaos, the allies of Zeus
the famed and thunderous, have houses by Ocean’s
foundation, Cottus and Gyres, Briariaos
who, being noble, became son-in-law
to the surf pounding, earthshaker who gave
Cymopolea his daughter to wed.