Often
upon the mountain peaks,
when
the
gods find pleasure in the torch lit festival,
holding a golden
vessel, a large drinking cup
of the
sort that sheperds hold, and with hands putting into it the milk of lions,
you
made a cheese,
large and firm, for the
Slayer of Argos.
‘often’: this is not a rare event; it happens a lot
‘mountain peaks’: refers to the sacred mountains of the gods
including but not limited to Mount
Olympus and Mount Ida
‘the gods’: the Olympians; they had to be pleased in order
to have peace
‘torch lit festival’: alludes to the torch of fire during
the Olympic games
‘golden vessel’: the cup of Dionysus, the god of grape
harvest and wine. The cup is most likely
filled with the poison and help of man.
‘the sort that shepherds hold’: Hermes is often referred to
as Poimandres, the shepherd of
man. He is the man that Zeus ensured the safety of Dionysus to after he was born.
‘milk of lions’: Dionysus saw the lion as one of the most
noble and honorable creatures
to walk the earth. He often chose a lion to transform into to kill/scare his enemies, and often chose
one to carry him to his destinations. By
taking the milk of one, a person is using the one noblest of all milk for their purposes.
‘you’: a woman that follows Dionysus as a worshipper.
Dionysus frequently had women follow
him from place to place singing of his godliness and graces because he wanted
everyone to know who he was.
‘cheese’: an offering for the god Hermes. It was often
brought before him in order to ask
for help as a guide to and in the underworld.
‘the Slayer of Argos’: another name for Hermes. Obtained
this name from killing Argos, the
one who sees all.
Reading through it, I immediately used my prior knowledge of
Greek mythology to start deciphering the meaning of the fragment. Once I found
key issues that I needed more information about, I began to look up the
information. This is the way I usually annotate poems. I chose this particular
poem for the challenge of seeing how the Gods, milk of lions, and cheese all
related together.
References:
1.
Greek Lyric
9.
http://messagenetcommresearch.com/myths/bios/hermes.html
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