19-21
The Hymn to Demeter 19-21 · She cried out to her father19-21She cried out to her father
Hades carries her off in his golden chariot. She screams for Zeus.
· · ·
ἁρπάξας1
harpáxas
Seizing hersnatching
δʼ2
d’
and
ἀέκουσαν3
aékousan
unwillingagainst her will
ἐπὶ6
epì
on
χρυσέοισιν7
chryséoisin
golden
ὄχοισιν8
óchoisin
chariotcar
ἦγʼ4
êg’
he carried her offled
ὀλοφυρομένην5
olophyroménēn
weepinglamenting
·; ἰάχησε9
iáchēse
she screamedcried aloud
δʼ10
d’
and
ἄρʼ11
ár’
then
ὄρθια12
órthia
shrillyhigh, upright
φωνῇ13
phōnêi
voice
, κεκλομένη14
kekloménē
calling on
πατέρα15
patéra
her father
Κρονίδην16
Kronídēn
the son of Kronos
ὕπατον17
hýpaton
highest
καὶ18
kaì
and
ἄριστον19
áriston
best
. Seizing her against her will, he carried her off weeping on his golden chariot; and then she screamed with a shrill voice, calling on her father, the son of Kronos, highest and best.
Seizing her against her will, he carried her off weeping on his golden chariot; and then she screamed with a shrill voice, calling on her father, the son of Kronos, highest and best.
Interpretation
He seized her against her will and carried her off weeping on his golden chariot; and she screamed in a shrill voice, calling on her father, the son of Kronos, highest and best.
The irony is in the last line. She calls on her father as "highest and best," and he is the one who gave her away. The lines that follow say that no god or mortal heard her, except Hekate in her cave and the Sun.
Aekousan, "unwilling," is the poem's own judgement, set at the start of the line where it cannot be missed. Orthia phōnē is literally "an upright voice," a high, piercing scream.