Daemones Ceramici

Εἰ μὲν δώσετε μισθὸν ἀείσω, ὦ κεραμῆες. δεῦρ, ἄγ, Ἀθηναίη καὶ ὑπέρσχεθε χεῖρα καμίνου. εὖ δὲ περανθεῖεν[*] κότυλοι καὶ πάντα κάναστρα φρυχθῆναί τε καλῶς καὶ τιμῆς ὦνον ἀρέσθαι, πολλὰ μὲν εἰν ἀγορῇ πωλεύμενα, πολλὰ δ’ ἀγυιαῖς, πολλὰ δὲ κερδῆναι, ἡμῖν δὲ δή, ὥς σφιν ἀεῖσαι. ἢν δ’ ἐπ’ ἀναιδείην τρεφθέντες ψεύδε’ ἄρησθε, συγκαλέω δὴ ἔπειτα καμίνων δηλητῆρας, Σύντριβ’ ὁμῶς Σμάραγόν τε καὶ Ἄσβετον ἠδὲ Σαβάκτην Ὠμόδαμόν τ, ὃς τῇδε τέχνῃ κακὰ πολλὰ πορίζοι· πέρθε πυραίθουσαν καὶ δώματα, σὺν δὲ κάμινος πᾶσα κυκηθείη κεραμέων μέγα κωκυσάντων. ὡς γνάθος ἱππείη βρύκει, βρύκοι δὲ κάμινος, πάντ’ ἔντοσθ’ αὐτῆς κεραμήια λεπτὰ ποιοῦσα. δεῦρο καὶ Ἠελίου θύγατερ, πολυφάρμακε Κίρκη, ἄγρια φάρμακα βάλλε, κάκου δ’ αὐτούς τε καὶ ἔργα. δεῦρο δὲ καὶ Χείρων ἀγέτω πολέας Κενταύρους, οἵθ’ Ἡρακλῆος χεῖρας φύγον οἵτ’ ἀπόλοντο, τύπτοιεν τάδε ἔργα κακῶς, πίπτοι δὲ κάμινος· αὐτοὶ δ’ οἰμώζοντες ὁρῴατο ἔργα πονηρά. γηθήσω δ’ ὁρόων αὐτῶν κακοδαίμονα τέχνην· ὃς δέ χ’ ὑπερκύψῃ, πυρὶ τούτου πᾶν τὸ πρόσωπον φλεχθείη, ὡς πάντες ἐπίστωντ’ αἴσιμα ῥέζειν.

Potters, if you will give me a reward, I will sing for you. Come, then, Athena, with hand upraised over the kiln. Let the pots and all the dishes turn out well and be well fired: let them fetch good prices and be sold in plenty in the market, and plenty in the streets. Grant that the potters may get great gain and grant me so to sing to them. But if you turn shameless and make false promises, then I call together the destroyers of kilns, Shatter [Sýntrips] and Smash [Smáragos] and Char [Ásbetos] and Crash [Sabáktes] and Crudebake [Omódamos] who can work this craft much mischief. Come all of you and sack the kiln-yard and the buildings: let the whole kiln be shaken up to the potter’s loud lament. As a horse’s jaw grinds, so let the kiln grind to powder all the pots inside. And you, too, daughter of the Sun, Circe the witch, come and cast cruel spells; hurt both these men and their handiwork. Let Chiron also come and bring many Centaurs—all that escaped the hands of Heracles and all that were destroyed: let them make sad havoc of the pots and overthrow the kiln, and let the potters see the mischief and be grieved; but I will gloat as I behold their luckless craft. And if anyone of them stoops to peer in, let all his face be burned up, that all men may learn to deal honestly.