ὣς φάτο Ἡσίοδος

μηνῶν : gen. pl. m. μείς ‘month, lunar month’
φθινόντων : prs. act. ptcp. gen. pl. m. φθίω ‘decay, wane, dwindle’
περὶ … ἐτελέσθη : 3. sg. aor. pass. ind. περίτελέω ‘complete a circle’
ἤματα : nom. pl. n. ἦμαρ ‘day’
πόλλ(α) : adj. nom. pl. n. πολύς ‘much, many’

59 μηνῶν φθινόντων, περὶ δ᾽ ἤματα πόλλ᾽ ἐτελέσθη,
/mɛːnɔ̂ːn pʰtʰiːnó̞ntɔːn pe̞rì d ɛ́ːmata pó̞ll e̞te̞lé̞stɛː/
And with the months waning, and many days having came to completion,
| – – | – – | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – – |

ἔην : 3. sg. impf. act. ind. εἰμί ‘be’
περὶ … ἔτραπον : 3. pl. aor. act. ind. περιτρέπω ‘turn around, revolve’
ὧραι : nom. pl. f. ὥρα ‘time, season’

ἀλλ(ά) : conj. ‘but’
ὅτε : conj. ‘when’
δή : temp. ptcl. ‘now, then’
ῥ(α) : ptcl. ‘therefore, then, straightaway’
ἐνιαυτὸς : nom. sg. m. ἐνιαυτός ‘year, anniversary, period of a year’

58 ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δή ῥ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸς ἔην, περὶ δ᾽ ἔτραπον ὧραι
/all ʰóte dɛ́ː ʰr e̞niautòs éɛːn pe̞rì étrapon ʰɔ̂ːrai/
But when a year had passed, and the seasons had turned about
| – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – – |

νόσφιν : adv. ‘apart, aside; secretly’
ἀπ(ό) : prep. + gen. ‘from, away from’
ἀθανάτων : gen. pl. m. ἀθάνατος ‘un-dying, immortal’
ἱερὸν : adj. acc. sg. n. ἱερός ‘divine, holy, sacred’
λέχος : acc. sg. n. ‘bed’
εἰσαναβαίνων : prs. act. ptcp. nom. sg. m. εἰσαναβαίνω ‘go up in(to)’

57 νόσφιν ἀπ᾽ ἀθανάτων ἱερὸν λέχος εἰσαναβαίνων·
/nó̞spʰin ap atʰanátɔːn ʰie̞ròn lé̞kʰo̞s eːsanabaínɔːn/
Away from the immortals in secret, climbing up into her sacred bed.
| – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – – |

ἐμίσγετο : 3. sg. impf. mid. ind. μείγνυμι ‘to mix, mingle (properly of liquids); have sexual intercourse’
μητίετα : nom. sg. m. ‘counsellor’ (traditional epithet of Zeus)
Ζεὺς : PN nom. sg. m. ‘Zeus’

ἐννέα : indecl. num. ‘nine’
γάρ : causal conj. ‘for, since’ (explanatory)
οἱ : encl. pron. 3. sg. dat. ‘to/for him/her’
νυκτὸς : gen. sg. f. νύξ ‘night’ (genitive of time within which)

56 ἐννέα γάρ οἱ νυκτὸς ἐμίσγετο μητίετα Ζεὺς
/e̞nné̞a gár ʰoi nuktò̞s e̞mísge̞to̞ mɛːtíe̞ta zdeùs/
Since the counsellor Zeus made love to her for nine nights
| – ⏑ ⏑ | – – | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – – |

As to why she's supposed to be associated with this place, I have no good answers. I'll have to go on a field trip and find out (one day). pleiades.stoa.org/places/540756

West's commentary says that it's to be identified with Eleutherai on the south side of Cithaeron, citing the Pauly-Wissowa Realencyclopädie s.v. Eleuther (1) de.wikisource.org/wiki/RE:Eleu...

Liverpool Oxyrhynchus papyri

@garstangmuseum.bsky.social now holds 20 Oxyrhynchus papyri:
libguides.liverpool.ac.uk/library/sca/...

Looking forward to showing some of these items at our next Applicant Discovery Day on March the 14th, including this beautiful first century Hesiod.

To add to that, I'm not sure how the TN Ἐλευθήρ ‘Eleuther’ connects to this. It very well could, but we have to be careful about assigning meaning to proper names. It could well be a folk etymology though, since people make free associations all the time.

That's my approximate guess anyway. I haven't thought too hard about this etymology.

Entry from Beekes 2010. Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Leiden: Brill.

Entry from Chantraine, 1968–1980. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Paris: Klinksieck.

Entry from Chantraine, 1968–1980. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Paris: Klinksieck. (continued)

Entry from Frisk. 1960–1972. Griechisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.

It's a pretty well established etymology and it's unproblematic formally and semantically. I imagine the semantic pathway was probably something like 'tribe; people; people of a certain in-group with special privileges (as opposed to people outside that group)' --> 'free (people)' (opp. 'unfree')

λησμοσύνην : acc. sg. f. λησμοσύνη ‘forgetfulness’
τε : encl. conj. ‘and’
κακῶν : adj. gen. pl. n. κακός ‘bad, evil’
ἄμπαυμα : acc. sg. n. ‘repose, rest’
μερμηράων : gen. pl. f. μέρμηρα ‘care, trouble’

55 λησμοσύνην τε κακῶν ἄμπαυμά τε μερμηράων.
/lɛːsmo̞súnɛːn te̞ kakɔ̂ːn ámpaumá te̞ me̞rmɛːráːɔːn/
And a forgetfulness of evils and respite from concerns.
| – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – – | – ⏑ ⏑ | – – | – – |

I forgot to mention yesterday that the subject of yesterday's line only comes up explicitly now.

Μνημοσύνη : PN nom. sg. f. ‘Mnemosyne, the Memory-goddess’
γουνοῖσιν : dat. pl. m. γουνός ‘high-ground, hill’ (Etym. unclear. so interpretation of -ου- as /oː/ is tentative)
Ἐλευθῆρος : gen. sg. m. Ἐλευθήρ ‘Eleuther’
μεδέουσα : nom. sg. f. μεδέων ‘guardian’ (substantivized ptcp. of μέδω ‘protect’)

54 Μνημοσύνη, γουνοῖσιν Ἐλευθῆρος μεδέουσα,
/mnɛːmo̞súnɛː goːnoîsin e̞leutʰɛ̂ro̞s me̞dé̞oːsa/
(Mnemosyne who is) the guardian of the hills of Eleuther,
| – ⏑ ⏑ | – – | – ⏑ ⏑ | – – | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ |

τέκε : 3. sg. aor. act. ind. τίκτω ‘beget, sire (of father); bear, give birth to (of mother)’
πατρὶ : dat. sg. m. πατήρ ‘father’
μιγεῖσα : aor. act. ptcp. nom. sg. f. μείγνυμι ‘to mix, mingle (properly of liquids); have sexual intercourse’

τὰς : dem. pron. acc. pl. f. ‘them’
ἐν : prep. + dat. ‘in’
Πιερίῃ : PN dat. sg. f. Πιερία ‘Pieria’ (region of mainland Greece in southwest Macedonia, north of Mt. Olympus)
Κρονίδῃ : PN dat. sg. m. Κρονίδης ‘son of Kronos (i.e. Zeus)’

53 τὰς ἐν Πιερίῃ Κρονίδῃ τέκε πατρὶ μιγεῖσα
/tàːs en pie̞ríɛːi kro̞nídɛːi té̞ke̞ patrì migɛ̂ːsa/
Mnemosyne bore them in Pieria after making love with their father, Kronos' son
| – – | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ |

Vocab.

Μοῦσαι : nom. pl. f. μοῦσα ‘muse’
Ὀλυμπιάδες : adj. nom. pl. f. Ὀλυμπιάς ‘Olympian’
κοῦραι : nom. pl. f. κούρη ‘girl, maiden; (w/ gen. of parent) daughter’
Διὸς : PN gen. sg. m. Ζεύς ‘Zeus’
αἰγιόχοιο : adj. gen. sg. m. αἰγίοχος ‘aegis-bearing’

52 Μοῦσαι Ὀλυμπιάδες, κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο.
/môːsai o̞lumpiáde̞s kôːrai diò̞s aigiókʰoio̞/
(viz.) The Olympian Muses, daughters of aegis-bearing Zeus.
| – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – – | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ |

ὑμνεῦσαι : prs. act. ptcp. nom. pl. f. ὑμνέω ‘sing, praise; sing of’
τέρπουσι : 3. pl. pres. act. ind. τέρπω ‘gladden, delight’
Διὸς : PN gen. sg. m. Ζεύς ‘Zeus’
νόον : acc. sg. m. νόος ‘mind, reason’
ἐντὸς : prep. + gen. ‘within, inside’
Ὀλύμπου : PN gen. sg. m. Ὄλυμπος ‘Mt. Olympus’

51 ὑμνεῦσαι τέρπουσι Διὸς νόον ἐντὸς Ὀλύμπου
/ʰumneûsai té̞rpoːsi diò̞s nó̞o̞n e̞ntò̞s o̞lúmpoː/
(singing) They gladden the mind of Zeus within Olympus
| – – | – – | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – ⏑ ⏑ | – – |

ὑμνεῦσαι 'singing' is the first word of the next line.

αὖτις : adv. ‘back, again’
ἀνθρώπων : gen. pl. m. ἄνθρωπος ‘person, human being’
τε : encl. conj. ‘and’
γένος : acc. sg. n. ‘race, stock, family’
κρατερῶν : adj. gen. pl. m. ‘strong, stout, mighty’
Γιγάντων : gen. pl. m. Γίγας ‘giant’