§291τίς;
Ion: Who?
εὐγενῆ νιν δεῖ πεφυκέναι τινά.
He must be someone born of noble blood.
§292Ξοῦθος, πεφυκὼς Αἰόλου Διός τʼ ἄπο.
Creusa: Xuthus, sprung from Aeolus and Zeus.
§293καὶ πῶς ξένος σʼ ὢν ἔσχεν οὖσαν ἐγγενῆ;
Ion: And how did he, being a stranger, obtain you who are of native birth?
Creusa: Euboea is a neighboring city to Athens, bounded, as they say, by watery limits.
§296ταύτην ἔπερσε Κεκροπίδαις κοινῷ δορί.
This city he destroyed for the descendants of Cecrops with a shared spear.
§297ἐπίκουρος ἐλθών;
Ion: Coming as an ally?
κᾆτα σὸν γαμεῖ λέχος;
And then he married you?
§298φερνάς γε πολέμου καὶ δορὸς λαβὼν γέρας.
Creusa: Yes, receiving me as a dowry of war and a prize of the spear.
§299σὺν ἀνδρὶ δʼ ἥκεις ἢ μόνη χρηστήρια;
Ion: But have you come to the oracle with your husband, or alone?
§300σὺν ἀνδρί.
Creusa: With my husband.
σηκοὺς δʼ ἐκστρέφει Τροφωνίου.
But he is visiting the shrines of Trophonius.
§301πότερα θεατὴς ἢ χάριν μαντευμάτων;
Ion: As a spectator, or for the sake of oracles?
§302κείνου τε Φοίβου θʼ ἓν θέλων μαθεῖν ἔπος.
Creusa: Wishing to learn one word from both Trophonius and Phoebus.
§303καρποῦ δʼ ὕπερ γῆς ἥκετʼ, ἢ παίδων πέρι;
Ion: Have you come for the sake of the earth's fruit, or concerning children?
§304ἄπαιδές ἐσμεν, χρόνιʼ ἔχοντʼ εὐνήματα.
Creusa: We are childless, though we have been married a long time.
§305οὐδʼ ἔτεκες οὐδὲν πώποτʼ, ἀλλʼ ἄτεκνος εἶ;
Ion: Have you never given birth at all, but are childless?
§306ὁ Φοῖβος οἶδε τὴν ἐμὴν ἀπαιδίαν.
Creusa: Phoebus knows my childlessness.
§307ὦ τλῆμον, ὡς τἄλλʼ εὐτυχοῦσʼ οὐκ εὐτυχεῖς.
Ion: O unhappy one, how in other things fortunate, you are unfortunate in this!
§308σὺ δʼ εἶ τίς;
Creusa: But who are you?
ὥς σου τὴν τεκοῦσαν ὤλβισα.
How I deem blessed the mother who bore you!
§309τοῦ θεοῦ καλοῦμαι δοῦλος εἰμί τʼ, ὦ γύναι.
Ion: I am called the slave of the god, and I am so, O lady.
§310ἀνάθημα πόλεως, ἤ τινος πραθεὶς ὕπο;
Creusa: An offering of the city, or sold by someone?
§311οὐκ οἶδα πλὴν ἕν· Λοξίου κεκλήμεθα.
Ion: I know nothing except one thing: I am called Loxias’s own.
§312ἡμεῖς σʼ ἄρʼ αὖθις, ὦ ξένʼ, ἀντοικτίρομεν.
Creusa: Then in turn, O stranger, we pity you.
§313ὡς μὴ εἰδόθʼ ἥτις μʼ ἔτεκεν ἐξ ὅτου τʼ ἔφυν.
Ion: As one who does not know who bore me and from whom I sprung.
§314ναοῖσι δʼ οἰκεῖς τοισίδʼ ἢ κατὰ στέγας;
Creusa: Do you dwell in these temples, or in a house?
§315ἅπαν θεοῦ μοι δῶμʼ, ἵνʼ ἂν λάβῃ μʼ ὕπνος.
Ion: The whole house of the god is mine, wherever sleep may overtake me.
§316παῖς δʼ ὢν ἀφίκου ναὸν ἢ νεανίας;
Creusa: Did you arrive at the temple as a child, or as a youth?
§317βρέφος λέγουσιν οἱ δοκοῦντες εἰδέναι.
Ion: A babe, they say, who think they know.
§318καὶ τίς γάλακτί σʼ ἐξέθρεψε Δελφίδων;
Creusa: And who of the Delphian women brought you up with milk?
Ion: I never knew a breast; but she who reared me— Creusa: Who, O wretched one?
ὡς νοσοῦσʼ ηὗρον νόσους.
For suffering myself, I have found sufferings.
§321Φοίβου προφῆτις, μητέρʼ ὣς νομίζομεν.
Ion: The prophetess of Phoebus, whom we regard as a mother.
§322ἐς δʼ ἄνδρʼ ἀφίκου τίνα τροφὴν κεκτημένος;
Creusa: And you arrived at manhood, possessing what sustenance?
§323βωμοί μʼ ἔφερβον οὑπιών τʼ ἀεὶ ξένος.
Ion: The altars fed me, and the ever-arriving stranger.
§324τάλαινά σʼ ἡ τεκοῦσα·
Creusa: Unhappy was she who bore you!
τίς ποτʼ ἦν ἄρα;
Who indeed was she?
§325ἀδίκημά του γυναικὸς ἐγενόμην ἴσως.
Ion: Perhaps I was born of some woman’s wrong-doing.
§326ἔχεις δὲ βίοτον· εὖ γὰρ ἤσκησαι πέπλοις.
Creusa: But you have a livelihood; for you are well-adorned with robes.
§327τοῖς τοῦ θεοῦ κοσμούμεθʼ, ᾧ δουλεύομεν.
Ion: We are adorned with the things of the god whom we serve.
§328οὐδʼ ᾖξας εἰς ἔρευναν ἐξευρεῖν γονάς;
Creusa: And have you not rushed to search out and discover your parentage?
§329ἔχω γὰρ οὐδέν, ὦ γύναι, τεκμήριον.
Ion: For I have no token, O lady.
§330φεῦ·
Creusa: Alas!
§330aπέπονθέ τις σῇ μητρὶ ταὔτʼ ἄλλη γυνή.
Another woman has suffered the same as your mother.
§331τίς;
Ion: Who?
εἰ πόνου μοι ξυλλάβοι, χαίροιμεν ἄν.
If she would share my trouble, we would rejoice.
§332ἧς οὕνεκʼ ἦλθον δεῦρο πρὶν πόσιν μολεῖν.
Creusa: For her sake I have come here before my husband arrived.
§333ποῖόν τι χρῄζουσʼ;
Ion: What is it she desires?
ὡς ὑπουργήσω, γύναι.
That I may assist, O lady.
§334μάντευμα κρυπτὸν δεομένη Φοίβου μαθεῖν.
Creusa: Wishing to learn a secret oracle of Phoebus.
§335λέγοις ἄν· ἡμεῖς τἄλλα προξενήσομεν.
Ion: Speak indeed; we will manage the other matters.
§336ἄκουε δὴ τὸν μῦθον. — ἀλλʼ αἰδούμεθα.
Creusa: Hear then the story. — But I am ashamed.
§337οὔ τἄρα πράξεις οὐδέν· ἀργὸς ἡ θεός.
Ion: Then you will accomplish nothing; the goddess is inactive.
§338Φοίβῳ μιγῆναί φησί τις φίλων ἐμῶν.
Creusa: One of my friends says she was united with Phoebus.
§339Φοίβῳ γυνὴ γεγῶσα;
Ion: A woman with Phoebus?
μὴ λέγʼ, ὦ ξένη.
Do not say so, O stranger.
§340καὶ παῖδά γʼ ἔτεκε τῷ θεῷ λάθρα πατρός.
Creusa: And she bore a child to the god, in secret from her father.
§341οὐκ ἔστιν· ἀνδρὸς ἀδικίαν αἰσχύνεται.
Ion: It cannot be; she is ashamed of some man's wrongdoing.
§342οὔ φησιν αὐτή, καὶ πέπονθεν ἄθλια.
Creusa: She herself says not; and she has suffered miserably.
§343τί χρῆμα δράσασʼ, εἰ θεῷ συνεζύγη;
Ion: Having done what, if she was yoked with a god?
§344τὸν παῖδʼ ὃν ἔτεκεν ἐξέθηκε δωμάτων.
Creusa: The child whom she bore she exposed from the house.
§345ὁ δʼ ἐκτεθεὶς παῖς ποῦ ʼστιν;
Ion: And where is the exposed child?
εἰσορᾷ φάος;
Does he see the light?
§346οὐκ οἶδεν οὐδείς.
Creusa: No one knows.
ταῦτα καὶ μαντεύομαι.
This indeed is what I wish to inquire of the oracle.
§347εἰ δʼ οὐκέτʼ ἔστι, τίνι τρόπῳ διεφθάρη;
Ion: But if he is no longer alive, in what way did he perish?
§348θῆράς σφε τὸν δύστηνον ἐλπίζει κτανεῖν.
Creusa: She expects that wild beasts killed the wretched one.
§349ποίῳ τόδʼ ἔγνω χρωμένη τεκμηρίῳ;
Ion: Using what token did she know this?
§350ἐλθοῦσʼ ἵνʼ αὐτὸν ἐξέθηκʼ οὐχ ηὗρʼ ἔτι.
Creusa: Going where she had exposed him, she found him no longer there.
§351ἦν δὲ σταλαγμὸς ἐν στίβῳ τις αἵματος;
Ion: And was there any drop of blood on the path?
§352οὔ φησι.
Creusa: She says not.
καίτοι πόλλʼ ἐπεστράφη πέδον.
And yet she turned back to search the ground many times.
§353χρόνος δὲ τίς τῷ παιδὶ διαπεπραγμένῳ;
Ion: And how much time has passed since the child perished?
§354σοὶ ταὐτὸν ἥβης, εἴπερ, εἶχεν ἂν μέτρον.
Creusa: If he were alive, he would have the same measure of youth as you.
§355ἀδικεῖ νιν ὁ θεός· ἡ τεκοῦσα δʼ ἀθλία.
Ion: The god does him injustice; and she who bore him is wretched.
§356οὔκουν ἔτʼ ἄλλον γʼ ὕστερον τίκτει γόνον.
Creusa: Therefore indeed she has borne no other offspring since.
§357τί δʼ, εἰ λάθρα νιν Φοῖβος ἐκτρέφει λαβών;
Ion: What if Phoebus, having taken him, is rearing him in secret?
§358τὰ κοινὰ χαίρων οὐ δίκαια δρᾷ μόνος.
Creusa: Rejoicing in what is common, he alone acts unjustly.
§359οἴμοι·
Ion: Alas!
προσῳδὸς ἡ τύχη τὠμῷ πάθει.
This fortune harmonizes with my own suffering.
§360καὶ σέ, ὦ ξένʼ, οἶμαι μητέρʼ ἀθλίαν ποθεῖν.
Creusa: And you too, O stranger, I think, yearn for your wretched mother.
§361καὶ μή γʼ ἐπʼ οἶκτόν μʼ ἔξαγʼ οὗ ʼλελήσμεθα.
Ion: Do not lead me out into pity for what we had forgotten.
§362σιγῶ·
Creusa: I am silent.
πέραινε δʼ ὧν σʼ ἀνιστορῶ πέρι.
But finish that about which I inquire of you.
§363οἶσθʼ οὖν ὃ κάμνει τοῦ λόγου μάλιστά σοι;
Ion: Do know then what in your speech is especially troublesome to you?