Cleanthes’s Hymn to Zeus

ca. B.C. 300.

Translation by F. W. Newman*
Almighty alway! many-nam’d!
most glorious of the deathless!
Jove, primal spring of nature, who
with Law directest all things!
Hail! for to bow salute to Thee,
to every man is holy.
For we from Thee an offspring are,
to whom, alone of mortals
That live and move along the Earth
the Mimic Voice is granted:
Therefore to Thee I hymns will sing,
and always chant thy greatness.
Subject to Thee is yonder Sky,
which round the Earth for ever
Majestic rolls at Thy command,
and gladly feels Thy guidance.
So mighty is the weapon, clench’d
within Thy hands unconquer’d,
The double-edg’d and fiery bolt
of ever living lightning.
For Nature through her every part
beneath its impulse shudders,
Whereby the universal Scheme
Thou guidest, which, through all things
Proceeding, intermingles deep
with greater lights and smaller.
When Thou so vast in essence art,
A king supreme for ever,
Nor upon Earth is any work
done without Thee, O Spirit!
Nor at the æther’s utmost height
divine, nor in the Ocean,
Save whatsoe’er the infatuate
work out from hearts of evil.
But Thou by wisdom knowest well
to render Odd things even;
Thou orderest Disorder, and
th’ Unlovely lovely makest.
_____
*“Hymn to Jupiter,” in The Soul, 3rd ed. (1852; Works, 2: 85-7).
For so hast Thou in one combin’d
the noble with the baser,
That of the Whole a single Scheme
arises, everlasting,
Which men neglect and overlook,
as many as are evil;
Unhappy! who good things to get
are evermore desiring,
While to the common Law of God
Nor eyes nor ears they open;
Obedient to which, they might
good life enjoy with wisdom.
But they, in guise unseemly, rush
this way and that, at random:
One part, in glory’s chase engag’d
with ill-contending passion,
Some, searching every path of gain,
of comeliness forgetful,
Others, on soft indulgence bent
and on the body’s pleasure,
While things right contrary to these
their proper action hastens.
But, Jove all-bounteous! who, in clouds
enwrapt, the lightning wieldest;
Mayst thou from baneful Ignorance
the race of men deliver!
This, Father! scatter from the soul,
and grant that we the wisdom
May reach, in confidence of which
thou justly guidest all things;
That we, by Thee in honour set,
with honour may repay Thee,
Raising to all thy works a hymn
perpetual; as beseemeth
A mortal soul: since neither man
nor god has higher glory,
Than rightfully to celebrate
Eternal Law all-ruling.

The Francis William Newman Society © 2008

 Cleanthes’s Hymn to Zeus
ca. B.C. 300.

Translation by Tom Davidson*

Most glorious of all the Undying! many-named girt round with awe,
Jove, author of Nature, applying to all things the rudder of the law;
Hail! Hail! for it justly rejoices the races whose life is a span
To lift unto Thee their voices—the author and framer of man.
For to us Thy sons didst Thou give the echo of speech at our birth
Alone of the things that live and mortal move upon earth.
Wherefore thou shalt hear me extolling and always singing thy praise,
For Thee the great Universe rolling on its path round the world obeys,—
Obeys Thee wherever Thou guidest and gladly is bound in Thy bands;
So great is the power Thou confidest, with strong immovable hands.
To Thy mighty ministering servant, the bolt of the thunder that flies
Two-edged like a sword and fervent, that is living and never dies.
All Nature in fear and dismay doth quake in the path of its stroke,
What time Thou preparest a way for the new word Thy lips have spoke,
That blends with lights smaller and greater, and pervadeth and thrilleth all things,
Such, Jove, is Thy power and Thy nature, in the Universe highest of kings.
On earth, of all deeds that are done, O God, there is none without Thee,
In the holy æther not one, nor one on the face of the sea,—
Save the deeds that evil men, driven by their own blind folly, have planned:
But the things that have grown uneven are made even again by Thy hand;
And things unseemly grow seemly, the unfriendly are friendly to Thee;
All things, good and evil, supremely thou has blent into one by decree.
For the whole thy decree is one ever, a word that endureth for aye.
That mortals rebellious endeavor to flee from and shun to obey:
Ill-fated, that, worn with proneness for the lordship of goodly things,
Neither hear nor behold in its oneness the law that Divinity brings;
Which these with reason obeying might attain unto glorious life,
No longer aimlessly straying in the ways of ignoble strife;
Like the men with a zeal unblest, that are wearied with pursuit of fame,
Or those, with a baser quest, that are turned to lucre and shame.
There are men too that pamper and pleasure the flesh with delicate stings,
Yet all these desire beyond measure to be other than all these things.
O Jove, All-giver, dark-shrouded, great lord of the thunderbolt’s breath,
Deliver the men that are clouded with ignorance dismal as death.
O Father, dispel from their soul the darkness, and grant them the light
Of Reason, thy stay when the whole wide world thou rulest with right;
That we, being honored, may honor Thy name with the music of hymns,
Extolling the deeds of the donor, unceasing, as rightly beseems
Mankind; for no worthier trust is awarded to gods or to man
Than forever to glory with justice in the law that endures and is one.
_____
* “Hymn to Jupiter,” in “Kleanthês,” The Radical 2 (August 1867): 726-31, 730-31.

The Francis William Newman Society © 2008