“Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and drink, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, I bade my men go on board and loose the hawsers. Then they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars; so we sailed on with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we had lost our comrades.”

THE SONG OF DEMODOCUS

Odyssey, Book VIII

Homer

Translated by Emily Wilson, 2018

At the palace on Scheria, Odysseus is entertained by a blind bard called Demodocus, who sings this story of Hephaestus, the skilled but physically lame craftsman god, who caught his wife Aphrodite in bed with the war god Ares. This much-admired translation is by a contemporary scholar.

The poet strummed and sang a charming song

about the love of fair-crowned Aphrodite

for Ares, who gave lavish gifts to her

and shamed the bed of Lord Hephaestus, where

they secretly had sex. The Sun God saw them,

and told Hephaestus—bitter news for him.

He marched into his forge to get revenge,

and set the mighty anvil on its block,

and hammered chains so strong that they could never

be broken or undone. He was so angry

at Ares. When his trap was made, he went

inside the room of his beloved bed,

and twined the mass of cables all around

the bedposts, and then hung them from the ceiling,

like slender spiderwebs, so finely made

that nobody could see them, even gods:

the craftsmanship was so ingenious.

when he had set that trap across the bed,

he traveled to the cultured town of Lemnos,

which was his favorite place in all the world.

Ares the golden rider had kept watch.

He saw Hephaestus, famous wonder-worker,

leaving his house, and went inside himself;

he wanted to make love with Aphrodite.

She had returned from visiting her father,

the mighty son of Cronus; there she sat.

Then Ares took her hand and said to her,

“My darling, let us go to bed. Hephaestus

is out of town; he must have gone to Lemnos

to see the Sintians whose speech is strange.”

She was excited to lie down with him;

they went to bed together. But the chains

ingenious Hephaestus had created

wrapped tight around them, so they could not move

or get up. Then they knew that they were trapped.

The limping god drew near—before he reached

the land of Lemnos, he had turned back home.

Troubled at heart, he came towards his house.

Standing there in the doorway, he was seized

by savage rage. He gave a mighty shout,

calling to all the gods,

“O Father Zeus,

and all you blessed gods who live forever,

look! It is funny—and unbearable.

See how my Aphrodite, child of Zeus,

is disrespecting me for being lame.