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.
