1. Ὁ οὐρανὸς χαλκοῦς ἐστι τὰ ἔξω. Ὑπερβάντι δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ νώτου γενομένῳ φῶς τε λαμπρότερον φαίνεται, καὶ ἥλιος καθαρώτερος, καὶ ἄστρα διαυγέστερα, καὶ χρυσοῦν τὸ δάπεδον.
Εἰσιόντι δὲ, πρῶτον μὲν οἰκοῦσιν αἱ Ὧραι· πυλωροῦσι γάρ· ἔπειτα δὲ, ἡ Ἶρις, καὶ ὁ Ἑρμῆς. ὄντες ὑπηρέται καὶ ἀγγελιαφόροι τοῦ Διός. Ἑξῆς δὲ τοῦ Ἡφαίστου τὸ χαλκεῖον, ἀνάμεστον ἁπάσης τέχνης· μετὰ δὲ, αἱ τῶν θεῶν οἰκίαι, καὶ τοῦ Διὸς τὰ βασίλεια, ταῦτα πάντως περικαλλῆ τοῦ Ἡφαίστου κατασκευάσαντος.
Οἱ δὲ θεοὶ παρὰ Ζηνὶ καθήμενοι εὐωχοῦνται, νέκταρ πίνοντες καὶ ἀμβροσίαν ἐσθίοντες. Πάλαι μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄνθρωποι συνειστιῶντο, καὶ συνέπινον αὐτοῖς, ὁ Ἰξίων καὶ ὁ Τάνταλος· ἐπεῖ δὲ ἦσαν ὑβρισταὶ καὶ λάλοι, ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἔτι καὶ νῦν κολάζονται, ἄβατος δὲ τῷ θνητῶν γένει καὶ ἀπόρρητος ὁ οὐρανός.
notes
1. ὁ οὐρανὸς: “heaven” is equivalent to “Olympos,” the home of the gods.
τὰ ἔξω: “on the outside,” literally, “as to the parts outside.”
Ὑπερβάντι δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ...γενομένῳ: “But to one having scaled it and standing on its top (literally, “back”).” ὑπερβάντι: > ὑπερβαίνω, aor. act. dat. sing. masc. participle. The dative participle is frequently used to denote the perspective of someone moving through space. Smyth 1497.
Εἰσιόντι δὲ...Ὦραι: “As one enters, the Hours first have their houses.” This idea is taken from Homer’s description in the Iliad (5.749, 8.393), where the Horai are the “keepers of the gates of heaven.” In Homeric mythology the Hours presided over changes of time, seasons, days, and so it is appropriate that they serve as heaven’s gatekeepers.
ὄντες ὑπηρέται: take participle as causal, “because...”. G. 583.
ἀπάσης τέχνης: “of every craft,” that is “of all kinds of crafts.” Hephaistos is the god of metalworking.
μετὰ δὲ: “and after this.”
πάντα περικαλλῆ: "altogether very beautiful (of their kind).”
τοῦ Ἡφαίστου κατασκευάσαντος: genitive absolute in causal sense. G. 590.
οἱ δὲ θεοὶ...εὐωχοῦνται: These words are borrowed from Homer (Iliad 4.1), and hence we have the poetic form Ζηνί, instead of Διΐ (on forms of Zeus G. 142).
καὶ ἄνθρωποι: “humans, too...”
ὑβρισταὶ καὶ λάλοι: “lustful and talked too much.” The first of these terms applies to Ixion, the second to Tantalus. Ixion was punished for making a pass at Hera, Tantalus for divulging to mortals the secrets of the gods.