§1Ἄτλας, ὁ χαλκέοισι §3ἔφυσε Μαῖαν, ἣ ʼμʼ ἐγείνατο §4Ἑρμῆν μεγίστῳ Ζηνί, δαιμόνων λάτριν. §5ἥκω δὲ Δελφῶν τήνδε γῆν, ἵνʼ ὀμφαλὸν §6μέσον καθίζων Φοῖβος ὑμνῳδεῖ βροτοῖς §7τά τʼ ὄντα καὶ μέλλοντα θεσπίζων ἀεί. §8ἔστιν γὰρ οὐκ ἄσημος Ἑλλήνων πόλις, §9τῆς χρυσολόγχου Παλλάδος κεκλημένη, §10οὗ παῖδʼ Ἐρεχθέως Φοῖβος ἔζευξεν γάμοις §11βίᾳ Κρέουσαν, ἔνθα προσβόρρους πέτρας §12Παλλάδος ὑπʼ ὄχθῳ τῆς Ἀθηναίων χθονὸς §13Μακρὰς καλοῦσι γῆς ἄνακτες Ἀτθίδος. §14ἀγνὼς δὲ πατρί — τῷ θεῷ γὰρ ἦν φίλον — §15γαστρὸς διήνεγκʼ ὄγκον.
Atlas, who on his bronze shoulders begot Maia, who gave birth to me, Hermes, to greatest Zeus, the servant of the gods. And I have come to this land of Delphi, where Phoebus, sitting on the central navel-stone, sings to mortals, ever prophesying things present and things to come. For there is a city of the Greeks, not undistinguished, named after Pallas of the golden spear, where Phoebus united the daughter of Erechtheus, Creusa, in forced marriage, at the place where the northern rocks beneath the hill of Pallas in the Athenian land the rulers of the land of Attica call the "Macrae." Unknown to her father—for so it was pleasing to the god— she bore the swelling of her womb.
ὡς δʼ ἦλθεν χρόνος, §16τεκοῦσʼ ἐν οἴκοις παῖδʼ ἀπήνεγκεν βρέφος §17ἐς ταὐτὸν ἄντρον οὗπερ ηὐνάσθη θεῷ §18Κρέουσα, κἀκτίθησιν ὡς θανούμενον §19κοίλης ἐν ἀντίπηγος εὐτρόχῳ κύκλῳ, §20προγόνων νόμον σῴζουσα τοῦ τε γηγενοῦς §21Ἐριχθονίου.
And when the time came, having given birth in her house, she carried the newborn infant to the very same cave where she had lain with the god, Creusa did, and exposed him to die, within the well-rounded circle of a hollow chest, preserving the custom of her ancestors and of earth-born Erichthonius.
κείνῳ γὰρ ἡ Διὸς κόρη §22φρουρὼ παραζεύξασα φύλακε σώματος §23δισσὼ δράκοντε, παρθένοις Ἀγλαυρίσι §24δίδωσι σῴζειν· ὅθεν Ἐρεχθείδαις ἐκεῖ §25νόμος τις ἔστιν ὄφεσιν ἐν χρυσηλάτοις §26τρέφειν τέκνα. ἀλλʼ ἣν εἶχε παρθένος χλιδὴν §27τέκνῳ προσάψασʼ ἔλιπεν ὡς θανουμένῳ. §28κἄμʼ ὢν ἀδελφὸς Φοῖβος αἰτεῖται τάδε· §29ὦ σύγγονʼ, ἐλθὼν λαὸν εἰς αὐτόχθονα §30κλεινῶν Ἀθηνῶν — οἶσθα γὰρ θεᾶς πόλιν — §31λαβὼν βρέφος νεογνὸν ἐκ κοίλης πέτρας §32αὐτῷ σὺν ἄγγει σπαργάνοισί θʼ οἷς ἔχει §33ἔνεγκε Δελφῶν τἀμὰ πρὸς χρηστήρια, §34καὶ θὲς πρὸς αὐταῖς εἰσόδοις δόμων ἐμῶν. §35τὰ δʼ ἄλλʼ — ἐμὸς γάρ ἐστιν, ὡς εἰδῇς, ὁ παῖς — §36ἡμῖν μελήσει. Λοξίᾳ δʼ ἐγὼ χάριν §37πράσσων ἀδελφῷ πλεκτὸν ἐξάρας κύτος §38ἤνεγκα, καὶ τὸν παῖδα κρηπίδων ἔπι §39τίθημι ναοῦ τοῦδʼ, ἀναπτύξας κύτος §40ἑλικτὸν ἀντίπηγος, ὡς ὁρῷθʼ ὁ παῖς. §41κυρεῖ δʼ ἅμʼ ἱππεύοντος ἡλίου κύκλῳ §42προφῆτις ἐσβαίνουσα μαντεῖον θεοῦ· §43ὄψιν δὲ προσβαλοῦσα παιδὶ νηπίῳ §44ἐθαύμασʼ εἴ τις Δελφίδων τλαίη κόρη §45λαθραῖον ὠδῖνʼ ἐς θεοῦ ῥῖψαι δόμον, §46ὑπέρ τε θυμέλας διορίσαι πρόθυμος ἦν· §47οἴκτῳ δʼ ἀφῆκεν ὠμότητα — καὶ θεὸς §48συνεργὸς ἦν τῷ παιδὶ μὴ ʼκπεσεῖν δόμων — §49τρέφει δέ νιν λαβοῦσα.
For to him the daughter of Zeus attached two dragons as guardians of his body and gave them to the maiden daughters of Aglauros to guard; whence among the descendants of Erechtheus there is a custom to rear their children in gold-beaten serpents. But what ornaments the maiden had, she fastened to her child and left him as one about to die. And my brother Phoebus asked this of me: 'O brother, go to the indigenous people of glorious Athens—for you know the city of the goddess— and take the newborn infant from the hollow rock, along with its vessel and the swaddling clothes it has, and carry it to my oracle at Delphi, and place it at the very entrance of my temple. The rest—for the boy is mine, as you should know— shall be my care.' And I, doing a favor to my brother Loxias, lifted up the woven vessel, carried it, and placed the child upon the steps of this temple, having opened the woven lid of the round chest so that the child might be seen. And it happened that, just as the chariot of the sun was riding, the prophetess was entering the temple of the god. Casting her eyes upon the infant child, she wondered if any maiden of Delphi had dared to cast her secret offspring into the temple of the god, and she was eager to cast him out beyond the altar. But out of pity she banished her cruelty—and the god was a helper to the child so that he should not be cast out of the temple— and she took him and reared him.
τὸν σπείραντα δὲ §50οὐκ οἶδε Φοῖβον οὐδὲ μητέρʼ ἧς ἔφυ, §51ὁ παῖς τε τοὺς τεκόντας οὐκ ἐπίσταται. §52νέος μὲν οὖν ὢν ἀμφὶ βωμίους τροφὰς §53ἠλᾶτʼ ἀθύρων· ὡς δʼ ἀπηνδρώθη δέμας, §54Δελφοί σφʼ ἔθεντο χρυσοφύλακα τοῦ θεοῦ §55ταμίαν τε πάντων πιστόν, ἐν δʼ ἀνακτόροις §56θεοῦ καταζῇ δεῦρʼ ἀεὶ σεμνὸν βίον. §57Κρέουσα δʼ ἡ τεκοῦσα τὸν νεανίαν §58Ξούθῳ γαμεῖται συμφορᾶς τοιᾶσδʼ ὕπο· §59ἦν ταῖς Ἀθήναις τοῖς τε Χαλκωδοντίδαις, §60οἳ γῆν ἔχουσʼ Εὐβοῖδα, πολέμιος κλύδων· §61ὃν συμπονήσας καὶ συνεξελὼν δορὶ §62γάμων Κρεούσης ἀξίωμʼ ἐδέξατο, §63οὐκ ἐγγενὴς ὤν, Αἰόλου δὲ τοῦ Διὸς §64γεγὼς Ἀχαιός.
But the one who sowed him, Phoebus, she knew not, nor the mother from whom he was born, and the child did not know his parents. Now when he was young, around the altar-offerings he wandered and played; but when his body became that of a man, the Delphians made him the gold-guardian of the god and the faithful steward of all, and in the sanctuaries of the god he has lived until now a holy life. But Creusa, who gave birth to the youth, is married to Xuthus under such a circumstance: There was a wave of war between Athens and the Chalcodontidae who hold the Euboean land; aiding in this struggle and helping to conquer with his spear, he received the honor of Creusa's hand in marriage, not being native, but an Achaean born from Aeolus, the son of Zeus.
χρόνια δὲ σπείρας λέχη §65ἄτεκνός ἐστι, καὶ Κρέουσʼ· ὧν οὕνεκα §66ἥκουσι πρὸς μαντεῖʼ Ἀπόλλωνος τάδε §67ἔρωτι παίδων.
But having sowed his bed for a long time he is childless, as is Creusa; for which reason they have come to these oracles of Apollo out of desire for children.
Λοξίας δὲ τὴν τύχην §68ἐς τοῦτʼ ἐλαύνει, κοὐ λέληθεν, ὡς δοκεῖ. §69δώσει γὰρ εἰσελθόντι μαντεῖον τόδε §70Ξούθῳ τὸν αὑτοῦ παῖδα, καὶ πεφυκέναι §71κείνου σφε φήσει, μητρὸς ὡς ἐλθὼν δόμους §72γνωσθῇ Κρεούσῃ, καὶ γάμοι τε Λοξίου §73κρυπτοὶ γένωνται παῖς τʼ ἔχῃ τὰ πρόσφορα. §74Ἴωνα δʼ αὐτόν, κτίστορʼ Ἀσιάδος χθονός, §75ὄνομα κεκλῆσθαι θήσεται καθʼ Ἑλλάδα. §76ἀλλʼ ἐς δαφνώδη γύαλα βήσομαι τάδε, §77τὸ κρανθὲν ὡς ἂν ἐκμάθω παιδὸς πέρι. §78ὁρῶ γὰρ ἐκβαίνοντα Λοξίου γόνον §79τόνδʼ, ὡς πρὸ ναοῦ λαμπρὰ θῇ πυλώματα §80δάφνης κλάδοισιν.
And Loxias is driving their fortune to this point, and it has not escaped him, as it seems. For he will give to Xuthus when he enters this temple his own child, and will say that he is born of him, so that having come to his mother's house he may be recognized by Creusa, and the marriage of Loxias may remain secret and the child may have what is fitting for him. And Ion himself, the founder of the Asian land, he will cause to be called by name throughout Greece. But I will go into these laurel-shaded glens so that I may learn what is determined concerning the child. For I see this offspring of Loxias coming out so that he may make the portals of the temple bright with laurel branches.
ὄνομα δʼ, οὗ μέλλει τυχεῖν, §81Ἴωνʼ ἐγώ νιν πρῶτος ὀνομάζω θεῶν. §82ἅρματα μὲν τάδε λαμπρὰ τεθρίππων §83Ἥλιος ἤδη λάμπει κατὰ γῆν,
And the name which he is destined to receive, Ion, I am the first of the gods to name him. Lo, now the bright chariot of the four-horse sun already shines upon the earth,