Achlys

Iliad

5.127—128

And the mist [ἀχλὺν 127] moreover have I taken from thine [Diomedes'] eyes that afore was upon them, to the end that thou mayest well discern both god and man.

5.695–698

and forth from his [Sarpedon's] thigh valiant Pelagon, that was his dear comrade, thrust the spear of ash; and his spirit failed him, and down over his eyes a mist [ἀχλύς 696] was shed. Howbeit he revived, and the breath of the North Wind as it blew upon him made him to live again after in grievous wise he had breathed forth his spirit.

16.342–344

And Meriones with swift strides overtook Acamas, and thrust and smote him, even as he was mounting his car, upon the right shoulder; and he fell from his car and down over his eyes a mist [ἀχλύς 344] was shed.

20.321–324

Forthwith then he shed a mist [ἀχλὺν 321] over the eyes of Achilles, Peleus' son, and the ashen spear, well-shod with bronze, he drew forth from the shield of the great-hearted Aeneas and set it before the feet of Achilles,

2.419–423

But when Hector beheld his brother Polydorus, [420] clasping his bowels in his hand and sinking to earth, down over his eyes a mist [ἀχλύς 421] was shed, nor might he longer endure to range apart, but strode against Achilles, brandishing his sharp spear, in fashion like a flame.

Odyssey

20.351–357

“Ah, wretched men, what evil is this that you suffer? Shrouded in night are your heads and your faces and your knees beneath you; kindled is the sound of wailing, bathed in tears are your cheeks, and sprinkled with blood are the walls and the fair rafters. [355] And full of ghosts is the porch and full the court, of ghosts that hasten down to Erebus beneath the darkness, and the sun has perished out of heaven and an evil mist [ἀχλύς 357] hovers over all.”

22.79–88

So saying, he drew his sharp sword [80] of bronze, two-edged, and sprang upon Odysseus with a terrible cry, but at the same instant goodly Odysseus let fly an arrow, and struck him upon the breast beside the nipple, and fixed the swift shaft in his liver. And Eurymachus let the sword fall from his hand to the ground, and writhing over the table [85] he bowed and fell, and spilt upon the floor the food and the two-handled cup. With his brow he beat the earth in agony of soul, and with both his feet he spurned and shook the chair, and a mist [ἀχλύς 88] was shed over his eyes.

Fabulae

Preface

Grant:

From Mist [Caligine] (was born) Chaos; from Chaos and Caligine: Night, Day, Erebus, Aether.

Latin:

Ex Caligine Chaos: ex Chao et Caligine Nox Dies [1]

Erebus Aether. [2]

Trzaskoma and Smith:

Theogony [1] From Mist came Chaos. From Chaos and Mist came Night, Day, Darkness, and Ether.

Dionysiaca

14.143–154

^a Another kind of the twiform Centaurs also appeared, the shaggy tribe of the horned Pheres, to whom Hera had given a different sort of human shape with horns. These were sons of the water-naiads in mortal body, whom men call Hyads, offspring of the river Lamos. They had played the nurses for the babe that Zeus had so happily brought forth, Bacchos, while he still had a breath of the sewn-up birth-pocket. They were the cherishing saviours of Dionysos when he was hidden from every eye, and then they had nothing strange in their shape; in that dark cellar they often dandled the child in bended arms, as he cried Daddy to the sky, the seat of his father Zeus, still a child at play, but a clever babe.

^a No one but Nonnos seems to have heard of this and the next class of Centaurs, and where he got the stories of their origins, or if he invented them himself, is unknown.

14.168–185

But his [the infant Dionysus'] guile was useless. Hera, who turns her all-seeing eye to every place, saw from on high the ever-changing shape of Lyaios [Dionysus], and knew all. Then she was angry with the guardians of Bromios [Dionysus]. She procured from Thessalian Achlys^a treacherous flowers of the field, and shed a sleep of enchantment over their heads; she distilled poisoned drugs over their hair, she smeared a subtle magical ointment over their faces, and changed their earlier human shape. Then they took the form of a creature with long ears, and a horse's tail sticking out straight from the loins and flogging the flanks of its shaggy-crested owner; from the temples cow's horns sprouted out, their eyes widened under the horned forehead, the hair ran across their heads in tufts, long white teeth grew out of their jaws, a strange kind of mane grew of itself, covering their neck with rough hair, and ran down from the loins to the feet underneath.

^a Here a witch; in Hesiod, Shield 264 ff., a personification of grief.

p. 15

λαιψηρούς τ’ ἀνέμους αὔραις μίγα χρυσεοτάρσοις 340

ἄστρα τε τῆλε φανέντα καὶ ἀχλύα νυκτὸς ἐρεμνῆς [341]

Internet Archive: 1764 edition with a Latin translation

Λαιψηρούς τ’ ἀνέμους, Αὔραις μίγα χρυσεοτάρσοις [338]

Ἄσρα τε τῆλεσίΦαντα, καὶ ἀχλύα νυκτὸς ἐρεμνῆς [339]

Stellasque procul lucentes, et obscurae Noctis Caliginem

[Colavito:]

the Stars shining afar, and the darkness of murky Night

“O powerful Oceanus, and the sea churning with waves, the abyss holding blessed, and all those who inhabit the rough sandy shores and the rock-strewn sea, and the outer wave of Tethys! I call first upon Nereus, with his fifty beloved girls; Glaucus, full of fish; the vast Amphitrite; Proteus and Phorcyn; the broad power of Triton, and the swift Winds, with the breeze bearing winged sandals of gold. I call upon the Stars shining afar, and the darkness of murky Night, and Auge, the forerunner of the Sun’s swift horses. May the gods of the sea guide the Heroes over the seas, rivers, waves, and shores. And I beseech the son of Cronus, Poseidon himself, the Earth-Shaker, clothed in blue, may a jumping wave come to aid in our oath: so that the companions of Jason may always remain committed helpers in this task and so that we all to a man may return home! In truth, whoever fails to honor this pact and transgresses against it, may Dice bear witness and the Furies destroy him.”

264–269 [Most]

Beside them [Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (the Moirai)] stood Death-Mist [Ἀχλὺς], gloomy and dread, pallid, parched, cowering in hunger, thick-kneed; long claws were under her hands. From her nostrils flowed mucus, from her cheeks blood was dripping down onto the ground. She stood there, grinning dreadfully, and much dust, wet with tears, lay upon her shoulders.

264–269 [Evelyn-White]

By them [Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (the Moirai)] stood Darkness of Death [Ἀχλὺς], mournful and fearful, [265] pale, shrivelled, shrunk with hunger, swollen-kneed. Long nails tipped her hands, and she dribbled at the nose, and from her cheeks blood dripped down to the ground. She stood leering hideously, and much dust sodden with tears lay upon her shoulders.

s.v. Achlys

ACHLYS was the eternal night, said to have been the first being, even preexisting Chaos. Hesiod (Shield of Heracles 264), however, called her the personification of misery and sadness, and as such she was represented on the shield of ...

"Achlys"

(Ἀχλύς). The darkness that in Homer comes upon the eyes of mortals (e.g. Il. 5,696) or those whom the gods have blinded (e.g. Il. 20,324). It is depicted on the shield of Hercules in a female personification with hideous baroque-like features as leader of the team of horses of Nyx (Hes. asp. 264), in the late Orph. A. 341. The Latin correspondence to her is Caligo ‘dark fog’, Mother of Chaos and Nox in the cosmogonical myth, of unknown, but probably Greek origin (Hyg. Fab. praef. 1).

s.v. ἀχλύς

A.“ἀχλύα” Orph.A.341) mist, Od.20.357; elsewh. in Hom. of a mist over the eyes, as of one dying, “κατὰ δ᾽ ὀφθαλμῶν κέχυτ᾽ ἀ.” Il.5.696; as result of ulceration, “ἀχλύες” Hp.Prorrh.2.20, cf. Thphr.HP7.6.2, Dsc.2.78 (pl.), Aët.7.27; or in emotion, “Ἔρως πολλὴν κατ᾽ ἀχλὺν ὀμμάτων ἔχευεν” Archil.103; of drunkenness, “πρὸς ὄμμ᾽ ἀ. ἀμβλωπὸς ἐφίζει” Critias 6.11 D.; of one whom a god deprives of the power of seeing and knowing others, “κατ᾽ ὀφθαλμῶν χέεν ἀχλύν” Il.20.321; ἀπ᾽ ὀφθαλμῶν σκέδασ᾽ ἀχλύν ib.341, cf. 5.127, 15.668:— personified as Sorrow, “πὰρ δ᾽ Ἀχλὺς εἱστήκει ἐπισμυγερή τε καὶ αἰνή, χλωρή, ἀϋσταλέη” Hes.Sc.264.

s.v. Achlys

(Ἀχλύς), according to some ancient cosmogonies, the eternal night, and the first created being which existed even before Chaos. According to Hesiod, she was the personification of misery and sadness, and as such she was represented on the shield of Heracles (Scut. Herc. 264, &c.): pale, emaciated, and weeping, with chattering teeth, swollen knees, long nails on her fingers, bloody cheeks, and her shoulders thickly covered with dust.