A hundred heads, a hundred voices. Tonight, the oldest voices of English too: words that sound like a Bible or a ballad.
Hesiod’s Theogony · C2+
Part Eleven: Typhon
Archaic and literary English (hither, thither, yonder, nigh, betwixt, ere, wherein, whence, thence, henceforth): the old words that still live in poetry, the King James Bible, Shakespeare and fixed phrases, for the last monster of the Theogony.
🐍 Play the story too: in the gamebook, you are Zeus.Play the gamebook →
SOPHIA
PHILO
Whence comes this monster, then?
The story
After Hesiod’s Theogony, lines 820–880
After the Titans fell, Gaia bore Typhon, whence came a hundred snake heads and every kind of voice. Had Zeus not noticed him, the end of the gods would have been nigh.
Zeus thundered, and Olympus shook, and he hastened thither, and the sea boiled betwixt them. Ere the fight was over, he had burned every one of the monster’s heads.
Typhon fell on the earth, and thence into Tartarus, the pit wherein the Titans lay. Henceforth, from him come the wild winds that wreck ships.
A thing past help would have happened that day, if the father of gods and men had not been quick to notice.
Here, there, where
MARCOS
“Come hither!” He went thither. And whither now?
SOPHIA
The old system: hither (to here), thither (to there), whither (to where); hence (from here), thence (from there), whence (from where). Alive in phrases: hither and thither, whither democracy?
Time and place
DEMETRIA
Ere the sun set. The end is nigh. Yonder mountain. Betwixt them.
SOPHIA
ere = before. nigh = near (well-nigh impossible). yonder = over there. betwixt = between (betwixt and between).
Formal survivors
PHILO
The pit wherein they lay. Henceforth, the winds blow.
SOPHIA
Some are still used in formal or legal English: wherein (in which), henceforth (from now on), thenceforth (from then on). The others are mostly for poetry, fantasy and fun.
Sophia’s summary
| Form | Use | From the story |
|---|---|---|
| hither / thither / whither | to here / there / where | Come hither! |
| hence / thence / whence | from here / there / where | back to Tartarus, whence he came |
| ere; nigh; yonder; betwixt | before; near; over there; between | The end is nigh. |
| wherein; henceforth | in which; from now on | the pit wherein the Titans lay |
| hither and thither; betwixt and between; well-nigh | fixed phrases still used | well-nigh impossible |
Practice
Answer all the questions, then press “Check my answers”. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Choose
Choose the correct form.
1. “Come ___!” (here)
2. He returned to the sea, ___ he came.
3. The end is ___.
4. ___ long, the storm will pass. (before)
5. The contract, ___ the terms are listed, is attached.
6. ___, all members must wear a badge. (from now on)
B · Write
Write the correct form of the word in brackets, or the missing word.
7. The leaves blew hither and .
8. It is well- impossible. (almost)
9. He went to Athens, and to Corinth. (from there)
10. Look at hill, over there!
C · Right or wrong?
Is it correct?
11. “Whither are you going?”
12. “He came hither from Rome.” (meaning: from here)
13. “I am betwixt and between: I can’t decide.”
Now play Part Eleven yourself!Play the gamebook →