HALIEUTICA, or FISHING 



III 



Come now, O Wielder of the Sceptre, mark thou 

 the cunning devices of the fisher's art and his adven- 

 tures in the hunting of his prey, and learn the law of 

 the sea and take dehght in my lay. For under thy 

 sceptre rolls the sea and the tribes of the haunts of 

 Poseidon, and for thee are all deeds done among 

 men. For thee the gods have raised me up to be 

 thy joy and thy minstrel among the Cilicians beside 

 the shrine of Hermes. And, O Hermes," god of my 

 fathers,* most excellent of the children of the Aegis- 

 bearer, subtlest mind '^ among the deathless gods, do 

 thou enlighten and guide and lead, directing me to 

 the goal of my song. The counsels of fishermen 

 excellent in wit thou didst thyself, O Lord, first 

 de\ise and didst reveal the sum of all manner of 

 hunting, wea\ing doom for fishes. And thou didst 

 dehver the art of the deep for keeping to Pan of 

 Corycus,** thy son,« who, they say, was the saWour 



71 ^vda 'Podif) trork fiix^fl^ reKfv | eirrd (xcxfxIrraTa, vorjfiaT eirl 

 rpoTep<i}v avSpCiv TrapaSe^afifvovs irdlSas ; P. vi. 28 iyevro koX 

 irpoTfpov ' AvriXoxos ^laras \ vorifxa toito <j>€puv ; Horn. Od. viil. 

 o4-H voTifiaffi K€p5a\(oiffif. 



<* //. iiL 209 n. 



• Schol. EppLov yap Kal UriveXorrit 6 Hai' ; Horn. H. xix. 1. 

 'Epneiao cpiXov yovoy ; Plin. vii. 204 Pan Mercuri (filius). 



34.5 



