The Iliad 2.591–605

where the Muses met Thamyris the Thracian and made an end of his singing, even as he was journeying from Oechalia, from the house of Eurytus the Oechalian: for he vaunted with boasting that he would conquer, were the Muses themselves to sing against him, the daughters of Zeus that beareth the aegis; but they in their wrath maimed him, and took from him his wondrous song, and made him forget his minstrelsy;—all these folk again had as leader the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia. And with him were ranged ninety hollow ships. And they that held Arcadia beneath the steep mountain of Cyllene, beside the tomb of Aepytus, where are warriors that fight in close combat; and they that dwelt in Pheneos and Orchomenus, rich in flocks, and Rhipe and Stratia and wind-swept Enispe; and that held Tegea and lovely Mantineia; and that held Stymphalus and dwelt in Parrhasia, —all these were led by the son of Ancaeus, Lord Agapenor,

οἳ δὲ Πύλον τʼ ἐνέμοντο καὶ Ἀρήνην ἐρατεινὴν καὶ Θρύον Ἀλφειοῖο πόρον καὶ ἐΰκτιτον Αἰπὺ καὶ Κυπαρισσήεντα καὶ Ἀμφιγένειαν ἔναιον καὶ Πτελεὸν καὶ Ἕλος καὶ Δώριον, ἔνθά τε Μοῦσαι ἀντόμεναι Θάμυριν τὸν Θρήϊκα παῦσαν ἀοιδῆς Οἰχαλίηθεν ἰόντα παρʼ Εὐρύτου Οἰχαλιῆος· στεῦτο γὰρ εὐχόμενος νικησέμεν εἴ περ ἂν αὐταὶ Μοῦσαι ἀείδοιεν κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο· αἳ δὲ χολωσάμεναι πηρὸν θέσαν, αὐτὰρ ἀοιδὴν θεσπεσίην ἀφέλοντο καὶ ἐκλέλαθον κιθαριστύν· τῶν αὖθʼ ἡγεμόνευε Γερήνιος ἱππότα Νέστωρ· τῷ δʼ ἐνενήκοντα γλαφυραὶ νέες ἐστιχόωντο. οἳ δʼ ἔχον Ἀρκαδίην ὑπὸ Κυλλήνης ὄρος αἰπὺ Αἰπύτιον παρὰ τύμβον ἵνʼ ἀνέρες ἀγχιμαχηταί, οἳ Φενεόν τʼ ἐνέμοντο καὶ Ὀρχομενὸν πολύμηλον

Lattimore commentary

Thamyris comes from Thrace, like the mythical bard Orpheus, and like him, suffers for his art. The Muses in other cases blind a singer but give the art of song in compensation (e. g., Od. 8.63 concerning Demodocus). By contrast, Thamyris is stripped of his ability because he challenged the Muses (e. g., the story of Marsyas who challenged Apollo and was flayed). There may be professional jealousy among epic singers beneath the otherwise gratuitous reference: Oichalia, from which presumably Thamyris would be bringing the latest news, was associated with another strata of saga, connected with Herakles, a hero who is otherwise continuously put in the shade in the Iliad.

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