§781πυρός τ’ ἐρινὺς ἐν νεκροῖς θερηνυαι
ζῶσ’ ἥδ’ ἀνίησ’ ἀτμὸν ἐμφανῆ. .
Is this you, Fury of fire, living among the dead, releasing this visible smoke?...
ἀπωλόμην· οὐκ οἴσετ’ εἰς δόμους ν〈έκυν;
I am ruined; will you not carry the corpse into the house?
〉
νοεῖς;
Do you understand?
πόσις μοι πλησίον γαμηλίους
μολπὰς ἀυτεῖ παρθένοις ἡγούμενος.
My husband nearby is singing wedding songs, leading the maidens.
οὐ θᾶσσον;
Will you not be quicker?
οὐ σταλαγμὸν ἐξομόρξετε,
εἴ πού τις ἔστιν αἵματος χαμαὶ πεσών;
Will you not wipe away the drop, if indeed there is any blood fallen on the ground?
ἐπείγετ’ εἶα, δμωίδες· κρύψω δέ νιν
ξεστοῖσι θαλάμοις, ἔνθ’ ἐμῷ κεῖται πόσει
χρυσός· μόνη δὲ κλῇθρ’ ἐγὼ σφραγίζομαι.
Hurry, come, handmaidens; I shall hide him in the polished chambers, where my husband's gold lies; I alone seal the locks.
ὦ καλλιφεγγὲς Ἥλι’, ὥς μ’ ἀπώλεσας
καὶ τόνδ’·
O beautifully shining Sun, how you have destroyed me and this boy!
Ἀπόλλων δ’ ἐν βροτοῖς ὀρθῶς καλῇ,
ὅστις τὰ σιγῶντ’ ὀνόματ’ οἶδε δαιμόνων.
And you are rightly called Apollo among mortals, who knows the silent names of the gods.
ΧΟΡ. Ὑμὴν Ὑμήν, στρ.
Chorus: "Hymen, Hymen!
τὰν Διὸς οὐρανίαν ἀείδομεν
τὰν ἐρώτων πότνιαν, τὰν παρθένοις
γαμήλιον Ἀφροδίταν.
We sing of the heavenly daughter of Zeus, the mistress of loves, the wedding Aphrodite for maidens.
πότνια, σοὶ τάδ’ ἐγὼ νυμφεῖ’ ἀείδω,
Κύπρι θεῶν καλλίστα,
τῷ τε νεόζυγι σῷ
πώλῳ, τὸν ἐν αἰθέρι κρύπτεις
σῶν γάμων γένναν·
Mistress, to you I sing these bridal songs, Cypris, most beautiful of gods, and to your newly yoked colt, whom you hide in the ether, the offspring of your marriage.
ἃ τὸν μέγαν ἀντ. τᾶσδε πόλεως βασιλῆ νυμφεύεται,
ἀστερωποῖσιν δόμοισιν χρυσέων
ἀρχόν, φίλον Ἀφροδίτᾳ.
She who marries the great king of this city, in the starry palace, a ruler of gold, beloved of Aphrodite.
ὦ μακάρων βασιλεὺς μείζων ἔτ’ ὄλβον· ὃς θεὰν κηδεύσεις
καὶ μόνος ἀθανάτων
γαμβρὸς δι’ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν
θνατὸς ὑμνήσῃ. ΜΕΡ. χώρει σὺ καὶ τάσδ’ εἰς δόμους ἄγων κόρας
γυναῖκ’ ἄνωχθι πᾶσι τοῖς κατὰ στόμα
θεοῖς χορεῦσαι καὶ κυκλώσασθαι δόμους
σεμνοῖσιν ὑμεναίοισιν, Ἑστίας θ’ ἕδος,
ἀφ’ ἧς γε σώφρων πᾶς ἂν ἄρχεσθαι θέλοι
εὐχὰς πο〈εῖσθαι〉. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . θεᾶς προσελθεῖν τέμενος ἐξ ἐμῶν δόμων.
O king, possessing a wealth even greater than the blessed; you who will marry into a goddess, and alone of mortals, as a son-in-law of the immortals, through the boundless earth shall be sung." Merops: "Go, you, and leading these maidens into the house, bid my wife to dance before all the gods present, and to surround the palace with solemn wedding songs, and the seat of Hestia, from which indeed every sensible person would wish to begin making prayers................ to approach the sanctuary of the goddess from my palace." Servant: "O master, I have turned my swift foot back from the palace.
ΘΕΡ. ὦ δέσποτ’, ἔστρεψ’ ἐκ δόμων ταχὺν πόδα. οὗ γὰρ σὺ σῴζῃ σεμνὰ θησαυρίσματα
χρυσοῦ, δι’ ἁρμῶν ἐξαμείβεται πύλης
καπνοῦ μέλαιν’ ἄησις ἔνδοθεν στέγης.
For where you keep the solemn treasures of gold, through the joints of the gate passes a black blast of smoke from within the roof.
προσθεὶς πρόσωπον φλόγα μὲν οὐχ ὁρῶ πυρός,
γέμοντα δ’ οἶκον μέλανος ἔνδοθεν καπνοῦ.
Placing my face close, I do not see the flame of fire, but the house is full of black smoke within.
ἀλλ’ ἔσιθ’ ἐς οἶκον, μή τιν’ Ἥφαιστος χόλον
δόμοις ἐπεισφρεὶς μέλαθρα συμφλέξῃ πυρὶ· ἐν τοῖσιν ἡδίστοισι Φαέθοντος γάμοις. ΜΕΡ.πῶς φής;
But enter the house, lest Hephaestus, bringing some wrath into the palace, burn down the halls with fire, in this most sweet marriage of Phaethon." Merops: "How do you say?
ὅρα μὴ θυμάτων πυρουμένων
κατ’ οἶκον ἀτμὸν κεῖσ’ ἀποσταλέντ’ ἴδῃς. ΘΕΡ.ἅπαντα ταῦτ’ ἠθρησεκανπωτουσεχει
ΜΕΡ.οἶδεν δ’ ἐμὴ τάδ’ ἢ οὐκ ἐπίσταται δάμαρ; ΘΕΡ.θυηπολοῦσα θεοῖς ἐκεῖσ’ ἔχει φρένας. ΜΕΡ.ἀλλ’ εἶμ’, ἐπεί τοι καὶ φιλεῖ τὰ τοιάδε
ληφθέντα φαύλως ἐς μέγαν χειμῶν’ ἄγειν.
Watch lest you see the smoke of sacrifices being burned in the house sent there." Servant: "I have examined all these things..." Merops: "Does my wife know this, or is she ignorant?" Servant: "Sacrificing to the gods, she has her mind there." Merops: "But I will go, since indeed such things, when taken lightly, are wont to lead to a great storm.
σὺ δ’ ὡς πάρος δέσποινα Δήμητρος κόρη
Ἥφαιστέ τ’ ἔστε πρευμενεῖς δόμοις ἐμοῖς. ΧΟΡ.τάλαιν’ ἐγώ, τάλαινα, ποῖ πόδα
πτερόεντα καταστάσω;
And you, as before, mistress daughter of Demeter, and Hephaestus, be favorable to my house." Chorus: "Wretched me, wretched! Where shall I place my winged foot?
ἀν’ αἰθέρ’;
In the ether?
ἢ γᾶς ὑπὸ κεῦθος ἄφαντον
ἐξαμαυρωθῶ;
Or under the unseen depth of the earth shall I be vanished?
ἰώ μοί μοι, κακὰ φανήσεται· βασίλεια τάλαινα παῖς τ’ ἔσω
κρυφαῖος νέκυς.
Alas, alas, evils will appear: the wretched queen and the child within, a hidden corpse.
ὀτοτοτοῖ, κεραύνιαί τ’ ἐκ Διὸς
πυριβόλοι πλαγαὶ λέχεα θ’ Ἁλίου.
Ototoi, and the thunderous, fire-hurling blows from Zeus, and the bed of the Sun.
ὦ δυστάλαινα τῶν ἀμετρήτων κακῶν
Ὠκεανοῦ κόρα,
πατρὸς ἴθι πρόσπεσε
γόνυ 〈λι〉ταῖς, σφαγὰς
σφαγὰς οἰκτρά τ’ ἀρκέσαι σᾶς δειρᾶς. ΜΕΡ.ἰώ μοί μοι. ΧΟΡ.ἠκούσατ’ ἀρχὰς δεσπότου στεναγμάτων; ΜΕΡ. ἰὼ τέκνον. ΧΟΡ. καλεῖ τὸν οὐ κλύοντα δυστυχῆ γόνον
. . . . . . . τῶνὁρᾶν σαφῆ. §782ψυκτήρια
δένδρεα φίλαισιν ὠλέναισι λέξεται.
O wretched daughter of Oceanus, of immeasurable evils, go, fall at your father's knee with prayers, to ward off the pitiable slaughter of your neck." Merops: "Alas, alas!" Chorus: "Did you hear the beginning of our master's groans?" Merops: "Alas, my child!" Chorus: "He calls the unfortunate offspring who does not hear... clearly to see..." Cooling trees will lay him down in their friendly arms.
§783χρυσέα βῶλος §784ἐν τοῖσι μώροις τοῦτ’ ἐγὼ κρίνω βροτῶν,
ὅστις τῶν πατέρων παισὶ μὴ φρονοῦσιν εὖ
ἢ καὶ πολίταις παραδίδωσ’ ἐξουσίαν.
Golden clod Among foolish mortals I judge this: whoever of fathers delivers authority to children who do not think well, or to citizens.
§785μισῶ δὲ. . . . . . ἀγκύλον
τόξον κρανείας, γυμνάσια δ’ οἰχοίατο.
And I hate the curved bow of cornel wood, and let the gymnasia perish.
§786φίλος δέ μοι
ἄλουτος ἐν φάραγξι σήπεται νέκυς.
And my beloved corpse lies rotting unwashed in the ravines.
§787πῶς δ’ ἂν φρονοίην, ᾧ παρῆν ἀπραγμόνως
ἐν τοῖσι πολλοῖς ἠριθμημένῳ στρατοῦ
ἴσον μετασχεῖν τῷ σοφωτάτῳ τύχης;
How could I be wise, for whom it was possible without trouble, numbered among the many of the army, to share an equal fortune with the wisest?
§788οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω γαῦρον ὡς ἀνὴρ ἔφυ· τοὺς γὰρ περισσοὺς καί τι πράσσοντας πλέον
τιμῶμεν ἄνδρας τ’ ἐν πόλει νομίζομεν.
For nothing was born so arrogant as man; for those who are extraordinary and achieve something more we honor and consider as men in the city.
§789ὀκνῶν δὲ μόχθων τῶν πρὶν ἐκχέαι χάριν
καὶ τοὺς παρόντας οὐκ ἀπωθοῦμαι πόνους.
Shrinking from wasting the gratitude for my former labors, I do not push away even my present pains.
§790δύσμορφα μέντοι τἄνδον εἰσιδεῖν, ξένε.
Yet it is ugly to see the things within, stranger.
§791ἅλις, ὦ βιοτά· πέραινε,
πρίν τινα συντυχίαν
ἢ κτεάτεσσιν ἐμοῖς ἢ σώματι τῷδε γενέσθαι.
Enough, O life; bring to an end, before any misfortune happens either to my possessions or to this body.