#ancient goddess

Dance, young daughter of Arcadia,
With the children of shepherds do you revel
Ever fresh and ever new is the world to the goddess, Alea
Her innocence, indomitable
Her curiosity, insatiable
Her imagination, unfathomable by grown men
Shunning adult things, turning away from worry and care
Eschewing competitions, never turning thoughts to marriage
Living in the present, and not the future
Fierce, young, golden-haired goddess
You are fearless, like the young are fearless
Not shouting down the fear within your soul,
Nor pushing aside knowledge of danger
But dancing, ever, in and out of battle
Incapable of imagining defeat
Come forth, Alea
With the Muses tell your tale, so long forgotten

Far away from white-armed Hera, Zeus strayed
To the bed of Merope, that mother of the famed toy-maker
Pushing aside Sisyphus, founder of Ephyre
To satisfy his desire for the silver-tongued Pleiad
For she was abounding with contagious joy and love of life

In the far-off land of Arcadia, Merope gave birth to Alea
Away from her husband, she contemplated her woe
And called upon the power of Ouranos and Gaia, saying,
“I have suffered because of marriage, and because of lust,
I have suffered because of my full-grown womb.
Let therefore this daughter of mine never see womanhood
Nor ever be the object of affection for man or god
But rather, let her grow to vivacious girlhood
And dwell there forever.
Answer, O Mother Earth, for you have known the sorrow of Rape
Answer, O Father Sky, for because of desire for Gaia, your member was severed.”
So saying, she swaddled the newborn goddess in cloths dyed with chaste berry

Mother Earth and Father Sky answered
Alea grew up into girlhood as a goddess
But never was she touched by adolescence
Nor did any womanly curve mark her form.

Hail to Alea, goddess and leader of young children!
But hark, for I have yet another tale to tell.

Lost Hymns 1-3: To Alea

Daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, divine,
Propitious to thy vot'ries prayer incline;
From thy great father’s fount supremely bright,
Like fire resounding, leaping into light.
Shield-bearing goddess, hear, to whom belong
A manly mind, and power to tame the strong!
Oh, sprung from matchless might, with joyful mind
Accept this hymn; benevolent and kind!
The holy gates of wisdom by thy hand
Are wide unfolded; and the daring band
Of earth-born giants, that in impious fight
Strove with thy sire, were vanquish’d by thy might.
Once by thy care, as sacred poets sing,
The heart of Dionysus, swiftly-slaughter’d king,
Was sav’d in aether, when, with fury fir’d,
The Titans fell against his life conspir’d;
And with relentless rage and thirst for gore,
Their hands his members into fragments tore:
But ever watchful of thy father’s will,
Thy pow'r preserv’d him from succeeding ill,
Till from the secret counsels of his sire,
And born from Semele through heav'nly fire,
Great Dionysius to the world at length
Again appear’d with renovated strength.
Once, too, thy warlike axe, with matchless sway,
Lopp’d from their savage necks the heads away
Of furious beasts, and thus the pests destroy’d
Which long all-seeing Hecate annoy’d.
By thee benevolent great Hera’s might
Was rous’d, to furnish mortals with delight:
And through life’s wide and various range ‘tis thine
Each part to beautify with arts divine:
Invigorated hence by thee, we find
A demiurgic impulse in the mind.
Towers proudly rais’d, and for protection strong,
To thee, dread guardian, deity belong,
As proper symbols of th'exalted height
Thy series claims amidst the courts of light.
Lands are belov’d by thee to learning prone,
And Athens, O Athena, is thy own!
Great goddess, hear! and on my dark'ned mind
Pour thy pure light in measure unconfin’d;
- That sacred light, O all-protecting queen,
Which beams eternal from thy face serene:
My soul, while wand'ring on the earth, inspire
With thy own blessed and impulsive fire;
And from thy fables, mystic and divine,
Give all her powers with holy light to shine.
Give love, give wisdom, and a power to love,
Incessant tending to the realms above;
Such as, unconscious of base earth’s control,
Gently attracts the vice-subduing soul;
From night’s dark region aids her to retire,
And once more gain the palace of her sire:
And if on me some just misfortune press,
Remove th'affliction, and thy suppliant bless.
All-Saving goddess, to my prayer incline!
Nor let those horrid punishments be mine
Which guilty souls in Tartarus confine,
With fetters fast'ned to its brazen floors,
And lock’d by hell’s tremendous iron doors.
Hear me, and save (for power is all thy own)
A soul desirous to be thine alone.



Proclus’ Hymn to Athena