Living Poets

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θεάσαιο δ’ ἂν καὶ εἰκόνα Ὁμήρου χαλκῆν ἐπὶ στήληι, καὶ ἐπιλέξει τὸ μάντευμα ὃ γενέσθαι τῶι  Ὁμήρωι {{#lemma: λέγουσιν· | Vv. 1-2: Ps.-Plut. 1.4; ''AP'' 14.66.; St. Byz. s.v. Ἴος. Vv. 3-4: Ps.-Plut. 1.4; ''AP'' 14.65; St. Byz. s.v.  Ἴος; Procl. ''Vit. Hom.'' 5; ''Cert''. 5.}}

<blockquote><poem>
ὄλβιε καὶ δύσδαιμον – ἔφυς γὰρ ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέροισι –
πατρίδα δίζηαι· {{#lemma: μητρὶς δέ τοι, οὐ πατρίς ἐστιν | μητρὶς δέ τοι, οὐ πατρίς M, St. Byz.: μητρὸς δέ τοι, οὐ πατρός ''AP'', Ps.-Plut.}},
ἔστιν Ἴος νῆσος μητρὸς πατρίς, ἥ σε θανόντα 
δέξεται· ἀλλὰ νέων {{#lemma: παίδων | παίδων M, ''AP'', ''Cert''., St. Byz.: ἀνδρῶν Ps.-Plut., Procl.}} αἴνιγμα φύλαξαι.
</poem></blockquote>

δεικνύουσι δὲ οἱ Ἰῆται καὶ Ὁμήρου μνῆμα ἐν τῆι νήσωι καὶ ἑτέρωθι Κλυμένης, τὴν Κλυμένην μητέρα εἶναι τοῦ Ὁμήρου λέγοντες. Κύπριοι δὲ, οἰκειοῦνται γὰρ δὴ καὶ οὗτοι Ὅμηρον, Θεμιστὼ τε αὐτῶι μητέρα εἶναι τῶν τινὰ ἐπιχωρίων γυναικῶν λέγουσι, καὶ ὑπὸ Εὔκλου προθεσπιθῆναι τὰ ἐς τὴν γένεσιν τὴν Ὁμήρου φασὶν ἐν τοῖσδε·

<blockquote><poem>
καὶ τότ’ ἐν εἰναλίηι Κύπρωι μέγας ἔσσετ’ ἀοιδός,
ὅν τε Θεμιστὼ τέξει ἐπ’ ἀγροῦ δῖα γυναικῶν,
νόσφι πολυκτεάνοιο πολύκλειτον Σαλαμῖνος.
Κύπρον δὲ προλιπὼν διερός θ’ ὑπὸ κύμασιν ἀρθείς
Ἑλλάδος εὐρυχόρου μοῦνος κακὰ πρῶτος ἀείσας 
ἔσσεται ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀγήρας ἤματα πάντα.
</poem></blockquote>

ταῦτα ἡμεῖς ἀκούσαντές τε καὶ ἐπιλεξάμενοι τοὺς χρησμούς, ἰδίαι οὐδένα αὑτῶν λόγον οὔτε ἐς πατρίδα οὔτε περὶ ἡλικίας Ὁμήρου γράφομεν.
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You would see a bronze statue of Homer on a base, and read the oracle which they say was made for Homer:

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Blessed and ill-fated – for both are your birthright – you search for your fatherland: but it is your mother’s land, not your father’s. There is an island, Ios, hometown of your mother, which will receive you after you die; but beware the riddle of the young boys.
</blockquote>

The Ietans also show a memorial for Homer on the island, and in another part of it a memorial for Clymenes, who, they say, was Homer’s mother. The Cyprians (for they too claim Homer for themselves) say that his mother was Themisto, a local woman, and that Homer’s birth was predicted by Euclus in the following verses:

<blockquote>
And then in maritime Cyprus there will be a great singer, whom Themisto, godly among women, will bear in the country – a glorious man, far from rich Salamis. Leaving Cyprus, drenched and carried off by the waves, he will be the first and only one to sing the woes of vast Greece, and forever will he be immortal and ageless.
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We heard these things and we read the oracles, but we did not write anything of our own about the birthplace or the time of Homer.
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[[Category:Homer Collections]]