§606τοῖς ἀνθαμίλλοις εἰσὶ πολεμιώτατοι. §607ἐλθὼν δʼ ἐς οἶκον ἀλλότριον ἔπηλυς ὢν §608γυναῖκά θʼ ὡς ἄτεκνον, ἣ κοινουμένη §609τὰς συμφοράς σοι πρόσθεν, ἀπολαχοῦσα νῦν §610αὐτὴ καθʼ αὑτὴν τὴν τύχην οἴσει πικρῶς, §611πῶς οὐχ ὑπʼ αὐτῆς εἰκότως μισήσομαι, §612ὅταν παραστῶ σοὶ μὲν ἐγγύθεν ποδός, §613ἣ δʼ οὖσʼ ἄτεκνος τὰ σὰ φίλʼ εἰσορᾷ πικρῶς, §614κᾆτʼ ἢ προδοὺς σύ μʼ ἐς δάμαρτα σὴν βλέπῃς §615ἢ τἀμὰ τιμῶν δῶμα συγχέας ἔχῃς; §616ὅσας σφαγὰς δὴ φαρμάκων τε θανασίμων §617γυναῖκες ηὗρον ἀνδράσιν διαφθοράς. §618ἄλλως τε τὴν σὴν ἄλοχον οἰκτίρω, πάτερ, §619ἄπαιδα γηράσκουσαν· οὐ γὰρ ἀξία §620πατέρων ἀπʼ ἐσθλῶν οὖσʼ ἀπαιδίᾳ νοσεῖν. §621τυραννίδος δὲ τῆς μάτην αἰνουμένης §622τὸ μὲν πρόσωπον ἡδύ, τἀν δόμοισι δὲ §623λυπηρά·
are most hostile to their rivals.\n And when I come as an outsider into a stranger's house,\n and to a childless wife who, having shared\n her misfortunes with you before, but now having no share in your fortune,\n will bitterly bear her own lot by herself—\n how shall I not naturally be hated by her,\n when I stand close by your side,\n while she, being childless, looks bitterly upon your beloved child?\n And then, either you will betray me and look to your wife,\n or, honoring my interests, you will have your house thrown into confusion.\n How many slaughters and destructive lethal poisons\n have women found for their husbands!\n Moreover, father, I pity your wife,\n who is growing old childless; for she does not deserve,\n being descended from noble ancestors, to suffer from childlessness.\n And as for tyranny, which is praised in vain:\n its outward face is sweet, but within its halls\n it is painful.
For who is blessed, who is fortunate,\n who, fearing and looking askance at life,\n drags out his existence?
δημότης ἂν εὐτυχὴς §626ζῆν ἂν θέλοιμι μᾶλλον ἢ τύραννος ὤν, §627ᾧ τοὺς πονηροὺς ἡδονὴ φίλους ἔχειν, §628ἐσθλοὺς δὲ μισεῖ κατθανεῖν φοβούμενος. §629εἴποις ἂν ὡς ὁ χρυσὸς ἐκνικᾷ τάδε, §630πλουτεῖν τε τερπνόν;
I would rather choose\n to live as a fortunate commoner than as a tyrant,\n for whom it is a pleasure to have wicked men as friends,\n while he hates the noble, fearing death.\n You might say that gold conquers these difficulties,\n and that to be rich is delightful?
οὐ φιλῶ ψόφους κλύειν §631ἐν χερσὶ σῴζων ὄλβον οὐδʼ ἔχειν πόνους· §632εἴη γʼ ἐμοὶ μὲν μέτρια μὴ λυπουμένῳ. §633ἃ δʼ ἐνθάδʼ εἶχον ἀγάθʼ ἄκουσόν μου, πάτερ· §634τὴν φιλτάτην μὲν πρῶτον ἀνθρώπῳ σχολὴν §635ὄχλον τε μέτριον, οὐδέ μʼ ἐξέπληξʼ ὁδοῦ §636πονηρὸς οὐδείς· κεῖνο δʼ οὐκ ἀνασχετόν, §637εἴκειν ὁδοῦ χαλῶντα τοῖς κακίοσιν. §638θεῶν δʼ ἐν εὐχαῖς βροτῶν, §639ὑπηρετῶν χαίρουσιν, οὐ γοωμένοις. §640καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἐξέπεμπον, οἳ δʼ ἧκον ξένοι, §641ὥσθʼ ἡδὺς αἰεὶ καινὸς ἐν καινοῖσιν ἦ. §642ὃ δʼ εὐκτὸν ἀνθρώποισι, κἂν ἄκουσιν ᾖ, §643δίκαιον εἶναί μʼ ὁ νόμος ἡ φύσις θʼ ἅμα §644παρεῖχε τῷ θεῷ.
I do not love to hear reproaches\n while keeping wealth in my hands, nor to have troubles;\n may I rather have a moderate share without pain.\n But hear from me, father, the blessings I had here:\n first indeed, leisure, which is dearest to man,\n and a moderate crowd, nor did any wicked person\n drive me off the path; for that is unbearable,\n to yield the path and give way to those who are worse.\n I was occupied in prayers to the gods and in service\n to mortals, who were rejoicing, not lamenting.\n And some I sent away, while other strangers arrived,\n so that I was always pleasant, a new person among new people.\n And that which is wished for by men, even if they are unwilling,\n namely, to be righteous—law and nature together\n provided this for me in the service of the god.
ταῦτα συννοούμενος §645κρείσσω νομίζω τἀνθάδʼ ἢ τἀκεῖ, πάτερ. §646ἔα δʼ ἔμʼ αὐτοῦ ζῆν· ἴση γὰρ ἡ χάρις, §647μεγάλοισι χαίρειν σμικρά θʼ ἡδέως ἔχειν. §648καλῶς ἔλεξας, εἴπερ οὓς ἐγὼ φιλῶ §649ἐν τοῖσι σοῖσιν εὐτυχήσουσιν φίλοις. §650παῦσαι λόγων τῶνδʼ, εὐτυχεῖν δʼ ἐπίστασο· §651θέλω γὰρ οὗπέρ σʼ ηὗρον ἄρξασθαι, τέκνον, §652κοινῆς τραπέζης, δαῖτα πρὸς κοινὴν πεσών, §653θῦσαί θʼ ἅ σου πρὶν γενέθλιʼ οὐκ ἐθύσαμεν. §654καὶ νῦν μὲν ὡς δὴ ξένον ἄγων σʼ ἐφέστιον §655δείπνοισι τέρψω, τῆς δʼ Ἀθηναίων χθονὸς §656ἄξω θεατὴν δῆθεν, ὡς οὐκ ὄντʼ ἐμόν. §657καὶ γὰρ γυναῖκα τὴν ἐμὴν οὐ βούλομαι §658λυπεῖν ἄτεκνον οὖσαν αὐτὸς εὐτυχῶν. §659χρόνῳ δὲ καιρὸν λαμβάνων προσάξομαι §660δάμαρτʼ ἐᾶν σε σκῆπτρα τἄμʼ ἔχειν χθονός. §661Ἴωνα δʼ ὀνομάζω σε τῇ τύχῃ πρέπον, §662ὁθούνεκʼ ἀδύτων ἐξιόντι μοι θεοῦ §663ἴχνος συνῆψας πρῶτος.
Reflecting on these things,\n I think the things here are better than the things there, father.\n Let me live here; for the pleasure is equal,\n to rejoice in great things and to possess small things pleasantly.\n You have spoken well, if only those whom I love\n will be fortunate in your good fortune.\n Cease from these words, and learn to be fortunate.\n For I wish to begin where I found you, child,\n with a common table, taking part in a common feast,\n and to sacrifice those birth-offerings for you which we did not sacrifice before.\n And for now indeed, taking you as a guest to my hearth,\n I will entertain you with feasts, and to the land of the Athenians\n I will lead you as a visitor, ostensibly as if you were not mine.\n For I do not wish to cause pain to my wife,\n who is childless, while I myself am fortunate.\n And in time, finding a suitable opportunity, I will persuade\n my wife to allow you to hold my scepter over the land.\n And I name you Ion, as is fitting for your fortune,\n because as I was coming out of the god's sanctuary,\n you were the first to cross my path.
ἀλλὰ τῶν φίλων §664πλήρωμʼ ἀθροίσας βουθύτῳ σὺν ἡδονῇ §665πρόσειπε, μέλλων Δελφίδʼ ἐκλιπεῖν πόλιν. §666ὑμῖν δὲ σιγᾶν, δμωΐδες, λέγω τάδε, §667ἢ θάνατον εἰπούσαισι πρὸς δάμαρτʼ ἐμήν. §668στείχοιμʼ ἄν.
But assemble\n the company of your friends, and with the pleasure of a bull-sacrifice,\n say farewell to them, since you are about to leave the Delphian city.\n And to you, slave women, I command you to keep silent about this;\n otherwise, death awaits you if you speak of it to my wife.\n I shall go.
But one thing is lacking from my fortune;\n for if I do not find her who gave me birth, father,\n life will be unlivable for me.
εἰ δʼ ἐπεύξασθαι χρεών, §671ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν μʼ ἡ τεκοῦσʼ εἴη γυνή, §672ὥς μοι γένηται μητρόθεν παρρησία. §673καθαρὰν γὰρ ἤν τις ἐς πόλιν πέσῃ ξένος, §674κἂν τοῖς λόγοισιν ἀστὸς ᾖ, τό γε στόμα §675δοῦλον πέπαται κοὐκ ἔχει παρρησίαν. §676ὁρῶ δάκρυα καὶ πενθίμους §677ἀλαλαγὰς στεναγμάτων τʼ ἐσβολάς, §678ὅταν ἐμὰ τύραννος εὐπαιδίαν §679πόσιν ἔχοντʼ εἰδῇ, §680αὐτὴ δʼ ἄπαις ᾖ καὶ λελειμμένη τέκνων. §681τίνʼ, ὦ παῖ πρόμαντι Λατοῦς, ἔχρη- §682σας ὑμνῳδίαν; §683πόθεν ὁ παῖς ὅδʼ ἀμφὶ ναοὺς σέθεν
And if it is right to pray,\n may the woman who bore me be from Athens,\n so that I may have freedom of speech from my mother's side.\n For if an outsider falls into an unmixed city,\n even if he is a citizen in name, his mouth\n is possessed like a slave's, and he has no freedom of speech.\n I see tears and mournful\n shrieks, and the onset of groans,\n when our mistress learns that her husband\n is blessed with children,\n while she herself is childless and bereaved of offspring.\n What oracle, O prophet son of Leto, did you utter\n in your song?\n Whence did this boy, about your temples,