§909ἔθηκεν ἀριστοτόκοιο·
who bore me, a mother of the noblest offspring.
§910ἅ θʼ Ἕλλανα λιποῦσα δόμον §911Φρυγίων λεχέων ἔπλευσε πλαθεῖσʼ §912ὑπʼ Ἰλίῳ ὤλεσε μὲν σʼ ἕκατι Τροίας, §913φίλτατε, μυριάδας τε πόλεις §914ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐκένωσεν.
And she who left her Hellenic home and sailed to be joined with a Phrygian bed, destroyed you at Ilium for the sake of Troy, my dearest child, and emptied countless cities of noble men.
§915ἦ πολλὰ μὲν ζῶν, πολλὰ δʼ εἰς Ἅιδου μολών, §916Φιλάμμονος παῖ, τῆς ἐμῆς ἥψω φρενός· §917ὕβρις γάρ, ἥ σʼ ἔσφηλε, καὶ Μουσῶν ἔρις §918τεκεῖν μʼ ἔθηκε τόνδε δύστηνον γόνον.
Indeed, both while living and when gone to Hades, O son of Philammon, you have touched my heart with grief; for the insolence that brought you low, and your rivalry with the Muses, made me bear this ill-fated child.
§919περῶσα γὰρ δὴ ποταμίους διὰ ῥοὰς §920λέκτροις ἐπλάθην Στρυμόνος φυταλμίοις, §921ὅτʼ ἤλθομεν γῆς χρυσόβωλον ἐς λέπας §922Πάγγαιον ὀργάνοισιν ἐξησκημέναι §923Μοῦσαι μεγίστην εἰς ἔριν μελῳδίας §924κείνῳ σοφιστῇ Θρῃκί, κἀκτυφλώσαμεν §925Θάμυριν, ὃς ἡμῶν πόλλʼ ἐδέννασεν τέχνην.
For as I was crossing the river's streams, I was joined in the fertile bed of Strymon, when we came to the gold-clodded ridge of Pangaeum, we Muses equipped with our instruments, for a mighty contest of song with that Thracian wise-man, and we blinded Thamyris, who had greatly mocked our art.
§926κἀπεὶ σὲ τίκτω, συγγόνους αἰδουμένη §927καὶ παρθενείαν, ἧκʼ ἐς εὐύδρου πατρὸς §928δίνας· τρέφειν δέ σʼ οὐ βρότειον ἐς χέρα §929Στρυμὼν δίδωσιν, ἀλλὰ πηγαίαις κόραις.
And when I gave birth to you, out of shame before my sisters and for my maidenhood, I cast you into the eddies of your well-watered father; but Strymon gave you not to any mortal hand to rear, but to the fountain nymphs.
There, having been reared most beautifully by the Maidens, you were the first of men ruling over Thrace, my child.
§932καί σʼ ἀμφὶ γῆν μὲν πατρίαν φιλαιμάτους §933ἀλκὰς κορύσσοντʼ οὐκ ἐδείμαινον θανεῖν· §934Τροίας δʼ ἀπηύδων ἄστυ μὴ κέλσαι ποτε, §935εἰδυῖα τὸν σὸν πότμον· ἀλλά σʼ Ἕκτορος §936πρεσβεύμαθʼ αἵ τε μυρίαι γερουσίαι §937ἔπεισαν ἐλθεῖν κἀπικουρῆσαι φίλοις.
And as long as you were martialing blood-loving forces around your native land, I did not fear your death; but I forbade you ever to touch the city of Troy, knowing your fate; but the embassies of Hector and the countless councils of elders persuaded you to come and aid your friends.
§938καὶ τοῦδʼ, Ἀθάνα, παντὸς αἰτία μόρου, §939— οὐδὲν δʼ Ὀδυσσεὺς οὐδʼ ὁ Τυδέως τόκος §940ἔδρασε δράσας — μὴ δόκει λεληθέναι.
And of all this death, Athena, you are the cause, — and Odysseus did nothing, nor did the son of Tydeus, though they did it — do not think you have escaped notice.
§941καίτοι πόλιν σὴν σύγγονοι πρεσβεύομεν §942Μοῦσαι μάλιστα κἀπιχρώμεθα χθονί, §943μυστηρίων τε τῶν ἀπορρήτων φανὰς §944ἔδειξεν Ὀρφεύς, αὐτανέψιος νεκροῦ §945τοῦδʼ ὃν κατακτείνεις σύ· Μουσαῖόν τε, σὸν §946σεμνὸν πολίτην κἀπὶ πλεῖστον ἄνδρʼ ἕνα §947ἐλθόντα, Φοῖβος σύγγονοί τʼ ἠσκήσαμεν.
And yet we sister Muses highly honor your city and frequent its land, and the torches of the unutterable mysteries Orpheus showed, the cousin of this dead man whom you kill; and Musaeus, your revered citizen and a man who attained the very highest, Phoebus and we sisters trained.
And as a reward for these things, holding my child in my arms I lament him; and I shall bring no other wise-man to my aid.
In vain then did the Thracian driver insult us, Hector, by plotting this man's murder.
I knew this; there was no need for prophets to say that he had perished by the arts of Odysseus.
§954ἐγὼ δὲ γῆς ἔφεδρον Ἑλλήνων στρατὸν §955λεύσσων, τί μὴν ἔμελλον οὐ πέμψειν φίλοις §956κήρυκας, ἐλθεῖν κἀπικουρῆσαι χθονί;
And I, seeing the host of the Greeks besieging our land, why indeed was I not to send heralds to friends, to come and aid this land?
§957ἔπεμψʼ· ὀφείλων δʼ ἦλθε συμπονεῖν ἐμοί.
I sent them; and he, owing me help, came to share my toil.
§958οὐ μὴν θανόντι γʼ οὐδαμῶς συνήδομαι.
Yet I do not rejoice at all in his death.
§959καὶ νῦν ἕτοιμος τῷδε καὶ τεῦξαι τάφον §960καὶ ξυμπυρῶσαι μυρίων πέπλων χλιδήν· §961φίλος γὰρ ἐλθὼν δυστυχῶς ἀπέρχεται.
And now I am ready both to build a tomb for him and to burn with him the splendor of countless robes; for having come as a friend, he departs in misfortune.
§962οὐκ εἶσι γαίας ἐς μελάγχιμον πέδον· §963τοσόνδε Νύμφην τὴν ἔνερθʼ αἰτήσομαι, §964τῆς καρποποιοῦ παῖδα Δήμητρος θεᾶς, §965ψυχὴν ἀνεῖναι τοῦδʼ· ὀφειλέτις δέ μοι §966τοὺς Ὀρφέως τιμῶσα φαίνεσθαι φίλους.
He shall not go into the dark-robed ground of the earth; so much shall I ask of the bride below, the daughter of the fruit-bearing goddess Demeter, to release his soul; and she is in my debt to appear honoring the friends of Orpheus.
§967κἀμοὶ μὲν ὡς θανών τε κοὐ λεύσσων φάος §968ἔσται τὸ λοιπόν· οὐ γὰρ ἐς ταὐτόν ποτε §969οὔτʼ εἶσιν οὔτε μητρὸς ὄψεται δέμας· §970κρυπτὸς δʼ ἐν ἄντροις τῆς ὑπαργύρου χθονὸς §971ἀνθρωποδαίμων κείσεται βλέπων φάος, §972Βάκχου προφήτης ὥστε Παγγαίου πέτραν §973ᾤκησε, σεμνὸς τοῖσιν εἰδόσιν θεός.
And to me indeed, as one dead and not seeing the light he shall be hereafter; for never again to the same place shall he come, nor see his mother's form; but hidden in caves of the silver-veined earth, he shall lie as a human-divinity seeing the light, just as the prophet of Bacchus inhabited the rock of Pangaeum, a revered god to those who know.
And more easily shall I bear my grief than the goddess of the sea; for the one born of her must also die.
And with dirges, we sisters shall first hymn you, and then, hereafter, Achilles in the grief of Thetis.
Pallas, who killed you, shall not save him; such a shaft does the quiver of Loxias preserve.
§980ὦ παιδοποιοὶ συμφοραί, πόνοι βροτῶν· §981ὡς ὅστις ὑμᾶς μὴ κακῶς λογίζεται, §982ἄπαις διοίσει κοὐ τεκὼν θάψει τέκνα.
O child-bearing misfortunes, labors of mortals; how whoever does not reckon you as an evil, will live childless and, not having begotten, will not bury children.
§983οὗτος μὲν ἤδη μητρὶ κηδεύειν μέλει· §984σὺ δʼ εἴ τι πράσσειν τῶν προκειμένων θέλεις, §985Ἕκτορ, πάρεστι· φῶς γὰρ ἡμέρας τόδε.
This man indeed is now his mother's care to bury; but you, Hector, if you wish to do any of the tasks before you, it is present; for this light of day is here.
Go, and order the allies to arm themselves quickly, and to yoke the necks of the chariot-pairs.
§988πανοὺς δʼ ἔχοντας χρὴ μένειν Τυρσηνικῆς §989σάλπιγγος αὐδήν· ὡς ὑπερβαλὼν στρατὸν §990τείχη τʼ Ἀχαιῶν ναυσὶν αἶθον ἐμβαλεῖν §991πέποιθα Τρωσί θʼ ἡμέραν ἐλευθέραν §992ἀκτῖνα τὴν στείχουσαν ἡλίου φέρειν.
And holding torches, we must wait for the voice of the Tyrrhenian trumpet; for I trust that, having crossed the host and the walls of the Achaians, we shall cast fire upon the ships, and bring a free day for the Trojans with the rising ray of the sun.