Hesiod, Works and Days 90 ff : For ere this [the opening of Pandoras jar] the tribes of men lived on earth remote and free from ills (kakoi) and hard toil (ponoi) and heavy sickness (nosoi argaleai) which bring the Keres (Death-Demons) upon men; for in misery men grow old quickly. But the woman [Pandora] took off the great lid of the jar with her hands and scattered all these [presumably the Daimon-offspring of Eris] and her thought caused sorrow and mischief to men. Only Elpis (Hope) remained there in an unbreakable home within under the rim of the great jar, and did not fly out at the door; for ere that, the lid of the jar stopped her, by the will of Aegis-holding Zeus who gathers the clouds. But the rest, countless plagues (muria lugra), wander amongst men; for earth is full of evils (kakoi) and the sea is full. Of themselves diseases (nosoi) come upon men continually by day and by night, bringing mischief to mortals silently; for wise Zeus took away speech from them. So is there no way to escape the will of Zeus. [N.B. The word Lugra (Banes) used above to describe the Daimones released from the jar of Pandora, is found in the works of Homer and other poets in combination with terms such as algea, androktasie, neikos, makhai, penthos, ponoi, nosos, olethros and geras. Most of these Lugra (Banes) are personified as children of Eris in Hesiods Theogony. Clearly the poet imagines these as the Daimones of the jar.]
Posted on: Sun, 04 May 2014 04:37:12 +0000
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