Dark-veiled Goddess, Tethys, I pray,
incline your head in blessing and smile upon me
for this song I sing, and the incense I burn on your altar.
Benevolent wife of Okeanus, your sons are
the mighty rivers of the world
and your daughters the 3,000 nymphs who preside
over sacred springs and the wells where we get our fresh water.
You, Mistress, have great power, as on the time when you
forbid the Bear Constellation to set in the sea,
because she had disgraced your foster daughter Hera with Father Zeus.
Every sailor knows how suddenly the sea can turn against him,
how fiercely the waves can beat against his ship -
yet he knows too, the joy of coming through the storm,
or the beauty of the still green waters as he approaches home port.
Such joy I ask, o Tethys, and that you remember me,
even after this song is sung!