§353aδιὰ δέρης ὀρέξομαι, §354ἢ ξιφοκτόνον δίωγμα §355λαιμορρύτου σφαγᾶς §356αὐτοσίδαρον ἔσω πελάσω διὰ σαρκὸς ἅμιλλαν, §357θῦμα τριζύγοις θεαῖσι §358τῷ τε σήραγγας Ἰδαί- §359ας ἐνίζοντι Πριαμί- §359aδᾳ ποτʼ ἀμφὶ βουστάθμους.
I will stretch my neck through a noose, or, driving a sword to take my life in a throat-cutting slaughter, I will force the iron inward, driving it through my flesh, as a sacrifice to the three goddesses and to the son of Priam who once inhabited the caves of Ida around the ox-stalls.
May the averting of evils go elsewhere, but may your lot be fortunate.
§362ἰὼ Τροία τάλαινα, §362aδιʼ ἔργʼ ἄνεργʼ ὄλλυσαι §363μέλεά τʼ ἔτλας· τὰ δʼ ἐμὰ δῶρα §364Κύπριδος ἔτεκε πολὺ μὲν αἷμα, §365πολὺ δὲ δάκρυον· ἄχεά τʼ ἄχεσι,
Alas, wretched Troy, you are destroyed because of deeds that should not have been done, and you endured miserable things; but my gifts from Cypris brought forth much blood and many tears; grief upon grief and tears upon tears have come, and sufferings.
§366δάκρυα δάκρυσιν ἔλαβε, πάθεα §367ματέρες τε παῖδας ὄλεσαν, §368ἀπὸ δὲ παρθένοι κόμας §369ἔθεντο σύγγονοι νεκρῶν Σκαμάνδριον §369aἀμφὶ Φρύγιον οἶδμα.
Mothers have lost their children, and virgin sisters of the dead have cut off their hair around the Phrygian wave of Scamander.
§370βοὰν βοὰν δʼ Ἑλλὰς §371κελάδησε κἀνοτότυξεν, §372ἐπὶ δὲ κρατὶ χέρας ἔθηκεν, §373ὄνυχι δʼ ἁπαλόχροα γένυν §374δεῦσε φονίαισι πλαγαῖς.
And Greece raised a cry, a cry, and lamented aloud, and placed her hands upon her head, and with her nails she wet her soft-skinned cheek with bloody blows.
§375ὦ μάκαρ Ἀρκαδίᾳ ποτὲ παρθένε Καλλιστοῖ, Διὸς §376ἃ λεχέων ἐπέβας τετραβάμοσι γυίοις, §377ὡς πολὺ ματρὸς ἐμᾶς ἔλαχες πλέον, §378ἁ μορφᾷ θηρῶν λαχνογυίων — §379ὄμματι λάβρῷ σχῆμα λεαίνης — §380ἐξαλλάξασʼ ἄχθεα λύπης· §381ἅν τέ ποτʼ Ἄρτεμις ἐξεχορεύσατο §382χρυσοκέρατʼ ἔλαφον Μέροπος Τιτανίδα κούραν §383καλλοσύνας ἕνεκεν· τὸ δʼ ἐμὸν δέμας §384ὤλεσεν ὤλεσε πέργαμα Δαρδανίας §385ὀλομένους τʼ Ἀχαιούς.
O Callisto, once a blessed maiden in Arcadia, who entered the bed of Zeus with four-legged limbs, how much greater a lot did you obtain than my mother, having changed into the form of shaggy-limbed beasts— with a fierce eye, the shape of a lioness— casting off the burdens of grief; and she whom once Artemis expelled from the dance, the golden-horned hind, the daughter of Merops, the Titan maiden, because of her beauty; but my body destroyed, destroyed the towers of Dardanian land and the ruined Achaeans.
§386ὦ τὰς τεθρίππους Οἰνομάῳ Πῖσαν κάτα §387Πέλοψ ἁμίλλας ἐξαμιλληθείς ποτε, §388εἴθʼ ὤφελες τόθʼ, ἡνίκʼ ἔρανον εἰς θεοὺς §389πεισθεὶς ἐποίεις, ἐν θεοῖς λιπεῖν βίον, §390πρὶν τὸν ἐμὸν Ἀτρέα πατέρα γεννῆσαί ποτε, §391ὃς ἐξέφυσεν Ἀερόπης λέκτρων ἄπο §392Ἀγαμέμνονʼ ἐμέ τε Μενέλεων, κλεινὸν ζυγόν·
O Pelops, who once contended in four-horse chariot races against Oenomaus down in Pisa, would that you had then, when you were persuaded to make a banquet for the gods, left your life among the gods, before you ever begot my father Atreus, who begot from the bed of Aerope Agamemnon and myself, Menelaus, a famous pair.
§393πλεῖστον γὰρ οἶμαι — καὶ τόδʼ οὐ κόμπῳ λέγω — §394στράτευμα κώπῃ διορίσαι Τροίαν ἔπι, §395τύραννος οὐδὲν πρὸς βίαν στρατηλατῶν, §396ἑκοῦσι δʼ ἄρξας Ἑλλάδος νεανίαις.
For I think that—and this I say not in boast— we directed the largest army by oar against Troy, ruling as a commander not by force, but leading the willing young men of Greece.
§397καὶ τοὺς μὲν οὐκέτʼ ὄντας ἀριθμῆσαι πάρα, §398τοὺς δʼ ἐκ θαλάσσης ἀσμένους πεφευγότας, §399νεκρῶν φέροντας ὀνόματʼ εἰς οἴκους πάλιν.
And those who are no longer indeed can be counted, while others have gladly escaped from the sea, bringing back the names of the dead to their homes.
§400ἐγὼ δʼ ἐπʼ οἶδμα πόντιον γλαυκῆς ἁλὸς §401τλήμων ἀλῶμαι χρόνον ὅσονπερ Ἰλίου §402πύργους ἔπερσα, κἀς πάτραν χρῄζων μολεῖν §403οὐκ ἀξιοῦμαι τοῦδε πρὸς θεῶν τυχεῖν.
But I, wretched man, wander over the swell of the gray sea for as long a time as I took to sack the towers of Ilium, and though wishing to reach my homeland, I am not deemed worthy by the gods to obtain this.
§404Λιβύης τʼ ἐρήμους ἀξένους τʼ ἐπιδρομὰς §405πέπλευκα πάσας· χὥταν ἐγγὺς ὦ πάτρας, §406πάλιν μʼ ἀπωθεῖ πνεῦμα, κοὔποτʼ οὔριον §407ἐσῆλθε λαῖφος ὥστε μʼ ἐς πάτραν μολεῖν.
I have sailed all the desert and inhospitable coasts of Libya; and whenever I am near my country, a blast drives me back again, and never does a favorable wind enter my sail so as to let me reach my homeland.
§408καὶ νῦν τάλας ναυαγὸς ἀπολέσας φίλους §409ἐξέπεσον ἐς γῆν τήνδε· ναῦς δὲ πρὸς πέτρας §410πολλοὺς ἀριθμοὺς ἄγνυται ναυαγίων.
And now, a miserable shipwrecked man, having lost my friends, I have been cast ashore on this land; and the ship is shattered into many numbers of shipwrecks against the rocks.
§411τρόπις δʼ ἐλείφθη ποικίλων ἁρμοσμάτων, §412ἐφʼ ἧς ἐσώθην μόλις ἀνελπίστῳ τύχῃ §413Ἑλένη τε, Τροίας ἣν ἀποσπάσας ἔχω.
And only the keel was left of the well-joined frame, upon which I was barely saved by an unexpected fortune, and Helen too, whom I dragged away from Troy and hold.
§414ὄνομα δὲ χώρας ἥτις ἥδε καὶ λεὼς §415οὐκ οἶδα· ὄχλον γὰρ ἐσπεσεῖν ᾐσχυνόμην §416ὥσθʼ ἱστορῆσαι, τὰς ἐμὰς δυσχλαινίας §417κρύπτων ὑπʼ αἰδοῦς τῆς τύχης.
But the name of this country and who its people are I do not know; for I was ashamed to fall in with a crowd so as to inquire, hiding my miserable garments out of shame for my fortune.
For when a high-born man fares ill, he falls into an unfamiliar distress worse than one who has long been unfortunate.
§420χρεία δὲ τείρει μʼ· οὔτε γὰρ σῖτος πάρα §421οὔτʼ ἀμφὶ χρῶτʼ ἐσθῆτες· αὐτὰ δʼ εἰκάσαι §422πάρεστι ναὸς ἐκβόλοις ἃ ἀμπίσχομαι.
And need wears me out; for neither is there food nor clothing around my body; and indeed it is possible to guess what I am wrapped in from the cast-offs of the ship.
§423πέπλους δὲ τοὺς πρὶν λαμπρά τʼ ἀμφιβλήματα §424χλιδάς τε πόντος ἥρπασʼ· ἐν δʼ ἄντρου μυχοῖς §425κρύψας γυναῖκα τὴν κακῶν πάντων ἐμοὶ §426ἄρξασαν ἥκω τούς τε περιλελειμμένους §427φίλων φυλάσσειν τἄμʼ ἀναγκάσας λέχη.
The sea snatched away my former robes and bright garments and fineries; and having hidden my wife in the depths of a cave—she who began all evils for me—I have come, having forced the survivors of my friends to guard my bed.
And I walk alone, seeking for my friends there what is suitable, if somehow I might find it by searching.
§430ἰδὼν δὲ δῶμα περιφερὲς θριγκοῖς τόδε §431πύλας τε σεμνὰς ἀνδρὸς ὀλβίου τινός, §432προσῆλθον· ἐλπὶς δʼ ἔκ γε πλουσίων δόμων §433λαβεῖν τι ναύταις· ἐκ δὲ μὴ ἐχόντων βίον — §434οὐδʼ εἰ θέλοιεν, ὠφελεῖν ἔχοιεν ἄν.
But seeing this house surrounded by high copings and the majestic gates of some wealthy man, I approached; for there is hope to get something for sailors from wealthy houses; but from those who have no livelihood— not even if they wished could they be of help.
§435ὠή·
Ho there!
τίς ἂν πυλωρὸς ἐκ δόμων μόλοι, §436ὅστις διαγγείλειε τἄμʼ ἔσω κακά;
What gatekeeper might come out of the house, who would announce my troubles within?
§437τίς πρὸς πύλαισιν;
Who is at the gates?
Will you not clear away from the house, and not, by standing at the courtyard gates, cause trouble to the masters?
ἢ κατθανῇ §440Ἕλλην πεφυκώς, οἷσιν οὐκ ἐπιστροφαί.
Or you shall die, being by birth a Greek, to whom there is no access here.