§376Ἀργείας ποτʼ ἐν Ἥ- §377ρας δαπέδοις χορεύσει· §378ἀλλά νιν ἅδε γᾶ §378aκαπφθίμενον Θρῃκὶ μόρῳ §379φίλτατον ἄχθος οἴσει. §380— ἰὼ ἰώ, μέγας ὦ βασιλεῦ.
"Never again will he dance on the Argive floor of Hera; rather, this land will bear him, fallen by a Thracian fate, as a most dear burden." Chorus: "Ah, ah, great king!
O Thrace, you have reared a fair lion-cub to behold as a ruler of cities.
See the gold-bound strength of his body, and hear the clanging vaunts of bells ringing from the shield-straps.
§385θεός, ὦ Τροία, θεός, αὐτὸς Ἄρης
A god, O Troy, a god!
§386ὁ Στρυμόνιος πῶλος ἀοιδοῦ §387Μούσης ἥκων καταπνεῖ σε. §388χαῖρʼ, ἐσθλὸς ἐσθλοῦ παῖς, τύραννε τῆσδε γῆς, §389Ἕκτορ·
Ares himself, the Strymonian colt of the singing Muse, has come and breathes inspiration upon you." Rhesus: "Hail, noble son of a noble father, ruler of this land, Hector!
παλαιᾷ σʼ ἡμέρᾳ προσεννέπω.
I address you after many a day.
§390χαίρω δέ σʼ εὐτυχοῦντα καὶ προσήμενον §391πύργοισιν ἐχθρῶν· συγκατασκάψων δʼ ἐγὼ §392τείχη πάρειμι καὶ νεῶν πρήσων σκάφη. §393παῖ τῆς μελῳδοῦ μητέρος Μουσῶν μιᾶς §394Θρῃκός τε ποταμοῦ Στρυμόνος, φιλῶ λέγειν §395τἀληθὲς αἰεὶ κοὐ διπλοῦς πέφυκʼ ἀνήρ.
I rejoice to see you prosperous and encamped before the enemy's towers; I am here to help you raze their walls and burn the hulls of their ships." Hector: "Son of the singing mother, one of the Muses, and of the Thracian river Strymon, I love to speak the truth always, and I am not a double-tongued man.
§396πάλαι πάλαι χρῆν τῇδε συγκάμνειν χθονὶ §397ἐλθόντα, καὶ μὴ τοὐπί σʼ Ἀργείων ὕπο §398Τροίαν ἐᾶσαι πολεμίῳ πεσεῖν δορί.
Long, long ago you ought to have come to share the toil of this land, and not, for all you did, have allowed Troy to fall under the hostile spear of the Argives.
For you will not say that you did not come because you were uninvited by your friends, nor that you did not defend us or pay attention.
For what herald or Phrygian senate did not go to charge you to defend the city?
§403ποῖον δὲ δώρων κόσμον οὐκ ἐπέμψαμεν;
And what splendid gifts did we not send?
But you, being of our kin and a barbarian like us, betrayed us barbarians to the Greeks, as far as lay in your power.
§406καίτοι σε μικρᾶς ἐκ τυραννίδος μέγαν §407Θρῃκῶν ἄνακτα τῇδʼ ἔθηκʼ ἐγὼ χερί, §408ὅτʼ ἀμφὶ Πάγγαιόν τε Παιόνων τε γῆν §409Θρῃκῶν ἀρίστοις ἐμπεσὼν κατὰ στόμα §410ἔρρηξα πέλτην, σοὶ δὲ δουλώσας λεὼν §411παρέσχον·
And yet, I made you a great king of the Thracians from a small lordship with this hand of mine, when around Pangaeum and the land of the Paeonians, falling upon the bravest of the Thracians face to face, I broke their shields, and having enslaved the people, gave them to you.
ὧν σὺ λακτίσας πολλὴν χάριν, §412φίλων νοσούντων ὕστερος βοηδρομεῖς.
Spurning the great gratitude for these things, you come to help your struggling friends late.
§413οἱ δʼ οὐδὲν ἡμῖν ἐν γένει πεφυκότες, §414πάλαι παρόντες, οἳ μὲν ἐν χωστοῖς τάφοις §415κεῖνται πεσόντες, πίστις οὐ σμικρὰ πόλει, §416οἳ δʼ ἔν θʼ ὅπλοισι καὶ παρʼ ἱππείοις ὄχοις §417ψυχρὰν ἄησιν δίψιόν τε πῦρ θεοῦ §418μένουσι καρτεροῦντες, οὐκ ἐν δεμνίοις §419πυκνὴν ἄμυστιν ὡς σὺ δεξιούμενοι.
While those who are in no way related to us by birth, having been present long ago, some lie fallen in heaped-up graves— no small pledge to the city— and others remain steadfast in arms and beside their horse-chariots, enduring the cold blast and the thirsty fire of the god, not welcoming frequent draughts in soft beds as you do.
§420ταῦθʼ, ὡς ἂν εἰδῇς Ἕκτορʼ ὄντʼ ἐλεύθερον, §421καὶ μέμφομαί σοι καὶ λέγω κατʼ ὄμμα σόν. §422τοιοῦτός εἰμι καὐτός, εὐθεῖαν λόγων §423τέμνων κέλευθον, κοὐ διπλοῦς πέφυκʼ ἀνήρ.
I both blame you for this and speak it to your face, so that you may know that Hector is a free-spoken man." Rhesus: "I too am such a man, cutting a straight path of words, and I am not a double-tongued man.
§424ἐγὼ δὲ μεῖζον ἢ σὺ τῆσδʼ ἀπὼν χθονὸς §425λύπῃ πρὸς ἧπαρ δυσφορῶν ἐτειρόμην· §426ἀλλʼ ἀγχιτέρμων γαῖά μοι, Σκύθης λεώς, §427μέλλοντι νόστον τὸν πρὸς Ἴλιον περᾶν §428ξυνῆψε πόλεμον·
I was worn out, grieving in my heart even more than you, at being away from this land; but a neighboring country, the Scythian people, joined war with me just as I was about to cross on my journey to Ilium.
Εὐξένου δʼ ἀφικόμην §429πόντου πρὸς ἀκτάς, Θρῇκα πορθμεύσων στρατόν.
And I came to the shores of the Euxine Sea to transport the Thracian army.
There blood ran thick upon the earth from spears, and Scythian and Thracian slaughter was mingled.
Such a misfortune indeed prevented me from reaching the plain of Troy and coming to you as an ally.
§434ἐπεὶ δʼ ἔπερσα, τῶνδʼ ὁμηρεύσας τέκνα §435τάξας τʼ ἔτειον δασμὸν ἐς δόμους φέρειν, §436ἥκω περάσας ναυσὶ πόντιον στόμα, §437τὰ δʼ ἄλλα πεζὸς γῆς περῶν ὁρίσματα — §438οὐχ ὡς σὺ κομπεῖς τὰς ἐμὰς ἀμύστιδας, §439οὐδʼ ἐν ζαχρύσοις δώμασιν κοιμώμενος, §440ἀλλʼ οἷα πόντον Θρῄκιον φυσήματα §441κρυσταλλόπηκτα Παιόνας τʼ ἐπεζάρει, §442ξὺν τοῖσδʼ ἄυπνος οἶδα τλὰς πορπάμασιν.
But since I have conquered them, taking their children as hostages and appointing an annual tribute to be brought to my house, I have come, having crossed the sea's mouth by ship, and traversing the rest of the land's borders on foot— not as you mockingly boast of my heavy drinking, nor sleeping in golden palaces, but enduring sleeplessness under such freezing blasts as blow from the Thracian sea and press upon the Paeonians, wrapped only in this cloak, as I well know.
§443ἀλλʼ ὕστερος μὲν ἦλθον, ἐν καιρῷ δʼ ὅμως· §444σὺ μὲν γὰρ ἤδη δέκατον αἰχμάζεις ἔτος §445κοὐδὲν περαίνεις, ἡμέραν δʼ ἐξ ἡμέρας §446πίπτεις κυβεύων τὸν πρὸς Ἀργείους Ἄρη·
But though I have come late, it is still in good time; for you have already been fighting for ten years and accomplish nothing, but day by day you cast dice in your war against the Argives.
§447ἐμοὶ δὲ φῶς ἓν ἡλίου καταρκέσει §448πέρσαντι πύργους ναυστάθμοις ἐπεσπεσεῖν §449κτεῖναί τʼ Ἀχαιούς· θατέρᾳ δʼ ἀπʼ Ἰλίου §450πρὸς οἶκον εἶμι, συντεμὼν τοὺς σοὺς πόνους,
But for me, a single light of the sun will suffice to raze their towers, fall upon their ship-stations, and slay the Achaeans; and on the next day I will depart from Ilium for my home, having cut short your labors.
§451ὑμῶν δὲ μή τις ἀσπίδʼ ἄρηται χερί· §452ἐγὼ γὰρ ἕξω τοὺς μέγʼ αὐχοῦντας δορὶ §453πέρσας Ἀχαιούς, καίπερ ὕστερος μολών. §454ἰὼ ἰώ.
Let none of you lift a shield in hand; for I, though having come late, will hold back and destroy the Achaeans who boast so greatly of their spears." Chorus: "Ah, ah!
§455φίλα θροεῖς, φίλος Διόθεν εἶ· μόνον
You speak friendly words; you are a friend from Zeus.
Only may supreme Zeus be willing to ward off irresistible envy from your words.
As for the ship-borne army from Argos, neither before nor now has it brought any man stronger than you.
πῶς μοι §462Ἀχιλεὺς τὸ σὸν ἔγχος ἂν δύναιτο,
How, I wonder, could Achilles withstand your spear?"