Translated by Catherine Proppe, November 28, 2016
61. Νεμέσεως ὕμνος.
To Nemesis, Goddess Who Bestows What Is Due
A Hymn
Ὦ Νέμεσι, κλήιζω σε, θεά, βασίλεια μεγίστη,
Nemesis, I call, Goddess, majestic Basileia,
πανδερκής, ἐσορῶσα βίον θνητῶν πολυφύλων·
All-seeing, who looks upon the lives of mortals’ many tribes,
ἀιδία, πολύσεμνε, μόνη χαίρουσα δικαίοις,
Eternal deity, much-revered, sole grace of Dike’s justice,
ἀλλάσσουσα λόγον πολυποίκιλον, ἄστατον αἰεί,
Exchanging justifications with many variations, never resting, eternal,
ἣν πάντες δεδίασι βροτοὶ ζυγὸν αὐχένι θέντες·
Reining all humanity’s fears, yoking their mortal throats,
σοὶ γὰρ ἀεὶ γνώμη πάντων μέλει, οὐδέ σε λήθει
In thou, eternal knowledge of all concerns are never forgotten,
ψυχὴ ὑπερφρονέουσα λόγων ἀδιακρίτωι ὁρμῆι.
Psyche’s overarching wise reason, without discrimination, impetus,
πάντ’ ἐσορᾶις καὶ πάντ’ ἐπακούεις, καὶ πάντα βραβεύεις·
All-seeing and all-hearing and all-arbitrating.
ἐν σοὶ δ’ εἰσὶ δίκαι θνητῶν, πανυπέρτατε δαῖμον.
In thou the equal of Dike, all mortals o’er-arching divine power.
ἐλθέ, μάκαιρ’, ἁγνή, μύσταις ἐπιτάρροθος αἰεί·
Come, blessed, pure one, upon mystae extend eternally,
δὸς δ’ ἀγαθὴν διάνοιαν ἔχειν, παύουσα πανεχθεῖς
Give beneficial intention, hold off all hostility,
γνώμας οὐχ ὁσίας, πανυπέρφρονας, ἀλλοπροσάλλας.
Bestow knowledge not only of divine law, but all higher-level understanding, first to one side, then the other.
NOTES
Nemesis (Νέμεσις) is the immortal Goddess who bestows what is due, be it good or bad. She prevails (Νε) + over measuring out (μέσεως) what is due. She is often depicted in the company of Nike (Νίκη), the immortal Goddess who bestows victory (and, for the vanquished, defeat).
According to the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Nemesis is the Goddess of moral reverence for law, of the natural fear of committing a culpable action, and of conscience.
“Nemesis directs human affairs in such a manner as to restore the right proportions or equilibrium wherever it has been disturbed; she measures out happiness and unhappiness, and whoever is blessed with too many or too frequent gifts of fortune, is visited by her with losses and sufferings.”[1]
Basileia means ruler, the “base” of rule.
Dike is the all-seeing Goddess of justice.
Lethe is the river of forgetting in the afterlife.
Psyche is the immortal Goddess of the soul.
[1] Schmitz, L. (1870). NE′MESIS (Νέμεσις). In W. Smith (Ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (Vol. 2, p. 1152). Boston: Little, Brown, and Company.
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