The Muses' Uncanny Lies: Hesiod, "Theogony" 27 and Its Translators

The words ψεύδεα . . . ἐτύμοισιν ὁμοι̑α at Theogony 27 are almost always translated as "lies resembling truth." But in early Greek epic the sense of ὁμοι̑οϛ was indefinite; it meant "equivalent with respect to a quality," with the quality regularly specified in the context. Rarely if ever was the equivalence a deceptive resemblance. Therefore in Theogony 27 the Muses' words mean "lies equivalent to truth." Since the nature of the equivalence is left unelaborated, the line poses a riddling paradox. In addressing Hesiod the Muses mysteriously claimed to tell only the truth, because even their lies were somehow equivalent to truth.