§308Ἄνεχε· πάρεχε.
Hold it up, bring it here!
§308aφῶς φέρʼ, ὤ·
Bring light, oh!
σέβω· φλέγω — ἰδού, ἰδού — §309λαμπάσι τόδʼ ἱερόν.
I worship, I kindle—look, look!— this sacred place with torches.
§310ὦ Ὑμέναιʼ ἄναξ·
O Hymen, King of marriage!
Blessed is the bridegroom, and blessed am I, marrying into a royal bed in Argos.
§314Ὑμήν, ὦ Ὑμέναιʼ ἄναξ.
Hymen, O Hymen, King of marriage!
§315ἐπεὶ σύ, μᾶτερ, ἐπὶ δάκρυσι καὶ §316γόοισι τὸν θανόντα πατέρα πατρίδα τε §317φίλαν καταστένουσʼ ἔχεις, §319ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπὶ γάμοις ἐμοῖς §320ἀναφλέγω πυρὸς φῶς §321ἐς αὐγάν, ἐς αἴγλαν, §322διδοῦσʼ, ὦ Ὑμέναιε, σοί, §323διδοῦσʼ, ὦ Ἑκάτα, φάος, §324παρθένων ἐπὶ λέκτροις §324aᾇ νόμος ἔχει.
Since you, mother, with tears and laments are ever weeping for my dead father and our beloved fatherland, I, for my own marriage, kindle the light of fire to a bright gleam, to a radiant glow, giving to you, O Hymen, giving to you, O Hecate, light, for the bed of virgins, as custom ordains.
§325πάλλε πόδα.
Shake your foot!
§326αἰθέριον ἄναγε χορόν·
Lead the heavenly dance!
εὐἅν, εὐοἵ·
Evan, evoe!
ὁ χορὸς ὅσιος.
The dance is sacred.
Come now, Phoebus; in your temple amid the laurels I perform the sacrifice, Hymen, O Hymen, Hymen!
§332χόρευε, μᾶτερ, ἀναγέλασον·
Dance, mother, laugh aloud!
Whirl your feet here and there with me, carrying your dearest steps.
Shout the marriage song, oh, with blessed songs and cries for the bride!
§338ἴτʼ, ὦ καλλίπεπλοι Φρυγῶν §339κόραι, μέλπετʼ ἐμῶν γάμων §340τὸν πεπρωμένον εὐνᾷ §340aπόσιν ἐμέθεν.
Come, O well-robed daughters of the Phrygians, sing for my marriage of the husband destined to share my bed, my husband.
Queen, will you not restrain your raving daughter, lest she nimbly run off to the army of the Argives?
§343Ἥφαιστε, δᾳδουχεῖς μὲν ἐν γάμοις βροτῶν, §344ἀτὰρ λυγράν γε τήνδʼ ἀναιθύσσεις φλόγα §345ἔξω τε μεγάλων ἐλπίδων.
Hephaestus, you indeed carry the torch in the marriages of mortals, but this painful flame you kindle far from great hopes.
§345aοἴμοι, τέκνον, §346ὡς οὐχ ὑπʼ αἰχμῆς σʼ οὐδʼ ὑπʼ Ἀργείου δορὸς §347γάμους γαμεῖσθαι τούσδʼ ἐδόξαζόν ποτε.
Alas, my child, how little I ever thought that you would marry these marriages not by the spear, nor by the Argive sword!
§348παράδος ἐμοὶ φῶς· οὐ γὰρ ὀρθὰ πυρφορεῖς §349μαινὰς θοάζουσʼ, οὐδέ σʼ αἱ τύχαι, τέκνον, §350ἐσωφρονήκασʼ, ἀλλʼ ἔτʼ ἐν ταὐτῷ μένεις.
Hand over the light to me; for you do not carry fire rightly in your raving haste, nor have your fortunes, my child, made you sober-minded, but you still remain in the same state.
Bring in the torches, and exchange your tears, Trojan women, for this girl's wedding songs.
§353μῆτερ, πύκαζε κρᾶτʼ ἐμὸν νικηφόρον, §354καὶ χαῖρε τοῖς ἐμοῖσι βασιλικοῖς γάμοις· §355καὶ πέμπε, κἂν μὴ τἀμά σοι πρόθυμά γʼ ᾖ, §356ὤθει βιαίως· εἰ γὰρ ἔστι Λοξίας, §357Ἑλένης γαμεῖ με δυσχερέστερον γάμον §358ὁ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν κλεινὸς Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ.
Mother, crown my victorious head, and rejoice in my royal marriage; and send me, and even if my desires are not prompt, push me by force; for if Loxias exists, the famous lord of the Achaeans, Agamemnon, will marry in me a more disastrous bride than Helen.
For I shall kill him, and destroy his house in return, taking vengeance for my brothers and my father.
§361ἀλλʼ ἄττʼ ἐάσω· πέλεκυν οὐχ ὑμνήσομεν, §362ὃς ἐς τράχηλον τὸν ἐμὸν εἶσι χἁτέρων· §363μητροκτόνους τʼ ἀγῶνας, οὓς οὑμοὶ γάμοι §364θήσουσιν, οἴκων τʼ Ἀτρέως ἀνάστασιν.
But I will let other things be; we shall not sing of the axe which will go to my neck and those of others, nor of the matricidal struggles which my marriage will bring about, and the ruin of the house of Atreus.
§365πόλιν δὲ δείξω τήνδε μακαριωτέραν §366ἢ τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, ἔνθεος μέν, ἀλλʼ ὅμως §367τοσόνδε γʼ ἔξω στήσομαι βακχευμάτων·
And I will show this city to be more blessed than the Achaeans—though inspired by god, yet I will stand this much outside of my bacchic madness.
They, for the sake of one woman and one Cypris, hunting Helen, destroyed tens of thousands.
§370ὁ δὲ στρατηγὸς ὁ σοφὸς ἐχθίστων ὕπερ §371τὰ φίλτατʼ ὤλεσʼ, ἡδονὰς τὰς οἴκοθεν §372τέκνων ἀδελφῷ δοὺς γυναικὸς οὕνεκα, §373καὶ ταῦθʼ ἑκούσης κοὐ βίᾳ λελῃσμένης.
and their wise general, for the sake of what was most hateful, destroyed his dearest possessions, giving the joys of home, his children, to his brother for a woman's sake, and that too of one who went willingly and was not taken by force.
§374ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐπʼ ἀκτὰς ἤλυθον Σκαμανδρίους, §375ἔθνῃσκον, οὐ γῆς ὅριʼ ἀποστερούμενοι §376οὐδʼ ὑψίπυργον πατρίδʼ· οὓς δʼ Ἄρης ἕλοι, §377οὐ παῖδας εἶδον, οὐ δάμαρτος ἐν χεροῖν §378πέπλοις συνεστάλησαν, ἐν ξένῃ δὲ γῇ §379κεῖνται.
And when they came to the banks of Scamander, they died, though not deprived of the borders of their land nor of their high-towered fatherland; and those whom Ares took saw not their children, nor in their wives' hands were they wrapped in shrouds, but in a foreign land they lie.
τὰ δʼ οἴκοι τοῖσδʼ ὅμοιʼ ἐγίγνετο· §380χῆραί τʼ ἔθνῃσκον, οἳ δʼ ἄπαιδες ἐν δόμοις §381ἄλλοις τέκνʼ ἐκθρέψαντες· οὐδὲ πρὸς τάφοις §382ἔσθʼ ὅστις αὐτῶν αἷμα γῇ δωρήσεται.
And things at home were like to these: wives died widows, and others died childless in their homes, having reared children for others, and at their tombs there is no one who will offer blood to the earth.
§383ἦ τοῦδʼ ἐπαίνου τὸ στράτευμʼ ἐπάξιον. — §384σιγᾶν ἄμεινον τᾀσχρά, μηδὲ μοῦσά μοι §385γένοιτʼ ἀοιδὸς ἥτις ὑμνήσει κακά.
Truly, the army is worthy of this praise!— It is better to be silent about shameful things, and may no Muse become my singer who will hymn of evils.
§386Τρῶες δὲ πρῶτον μέν, τὸ κάλλιστον κλέος, §387ὑπὲρ πάτρας ἔθνῃσκον· οὓς δʼ ἕλοι δόρυ, §388νεκροί γʼ ἐς οἴκους φερόμενοι φίλων ὕπο §389ἐν γῇ πατρῴᾳ περιβολὰς εἶχον χθονός, §390χερσὶν περισταλέντες ὧν ἐχρῆν ὕπο·
But the Trojans, first of all, which is the fairest glory, died for their fatherland; and those whom the spear took were carried as corpses to their homes by friends and received their shroud of earth in their ancestral land, wrapped by the hands of those who ought to do so.
§391ὅσοι δὲ μὴ θάνοιεν ἐν μάχῃ Φρυγῶν, §392ἀεὶ κατʼ ἦμαρ σὺν δάμαρτι καὶ τέκνοις §393ᾤκουν, Ἀχαιοῖς ὧν ἀπῆσαν ἡδοναί.
And as many of the Phrygians as did not die in battle lived day by day with wife and children, whose joys were absent for the Achaeans.
§394τὰ δʼ Ἕκτορός σοι λύπρʼ ἄκουσον ὡς ἔχει· §395δόξας ἀνὴρ ἄριστος οἴχεται θανών, §396καὶ τοῦτʼ Ἀχαιῶν ἵξις ἐξεργάζεται· §397εἰ δʼ ἦσαν οἴκοι, χρηστὸς ὢν ἐλάνθανεν.
And hear how the painful fate of Hector is: having seemed to be the noblest man, he is gone in death, and the arrival of the Achaeans accomplished this; for if they had stayed at home, his excellence would have been unnoticed.
And Paris married the daughter of Zeus; but if he had not, he would have kept his alliance silent in his house.