§160πρῶτα σὲ κεκλόμενος, θύγατερ Διός, ἄμβροτʼ Ἀθάνα §161γαιάοχόν τʼ ἀδελφεὰν §162Ἄρτεμιν, ἃ κυκλόεντʼ ἀγορᾶς θρόνον εὐκλέα θάσσει, §163καὶ Φοῖβον ἑκαβόλον, ἰὼ §164τρισσοὶ ἀλεξίμοροι προφάνητέ μοι,
First I call on you, daughter of Zeus, immortal Athena, and your sister, protectress of the land, Artemis, who sits upon the circular, glorious throne of the marketplace, and Phoebus who strikes from afar, O three warders-off of death, appear to me!
§165εἴ ποτε καὶ προτέρας ἄτας ὕπερ ὀρνυμένας πόλει §166ἠνύσατʼ ἐκτοπίαν φλόγα πήματος, ἔλθετε καὶ νῦν.
If ever, on account of a former ruin rushing upon the city, you drove the flame of disaster out of our land, come also now.
§169ὦ πόποι, ἀνάριθμα γὰρ φέρω §170πήματα· νοσεῖ δέ μοι πρόπας στόλος, οὐδʼ ἔνι φροντίδος ἔγχος §171ᾧ τις ἀλέξεται.
Oh, alas, for I bear countless sufferings; and my whole host is sick, nor is there any spear of thought with which one can defend himself.
For neither do the fruits of the glorious land grow, nor do the women rise from their shrieking travails with children.
§175ἄλλον δʼ ἂν ἄλλῳ προσίδοις ἅπερ εὔπτερον ὄρνιν §176κρεῖσσον ἀμαιμακέτου πυρὸς ὄρμενον §177ἀκτὰν πρὸς ἑσπέρου θεοῦ.
And you might see one after another, like a swift-winged bird, rushing swifter than irresistible fire toward the shore of the western god.
Of whom the city is dying without number; and her pitiless children lie unpitied upon the ground, bringing death.
§181ἐν δʼ ἄλοχοι πολιαί τʼ ἔπι ματέρες §182ἀχὰν παραβώμιον ἄλλοθεν ἄλλαν §183λυγρῶν πόνων ἱκετῆρες ἐπιστενάχουσιν.
Meanwhile, wives and grey-haired mothers at the altars, from one side and another, wail as suppliants because of their grievous sufferings.
§185παιὰν δὲ λάμπει στονόεσσά τε γῆρυς ὅμαυλος §186ὧν ὕπερ, ὦ χρυσέα θύγατερ Διός, §187εὐῶπα πέμψον ἀλκάν.
The healer-song shines forth, and with it the sound of lamentation in unison; on behalf of whom, O golden daughter of Zeus, send your fair-faced help.
§190Ἄρεά τε τὸν μαλερόν, ὃς νῦν ἄχαλκος ἀσπίδων §191φλέγει με περιβόατον, ἀντιάζω §192παλίσσυτον δράμημα νωτίσαι πάτρας §193ἔπουρον, εἴτʼ ἐς μέγαν θάλαμον Ἀμφιτρίτας §195εἴτʼ ἐς τὸν ἀπόξενον ὅρμων §196Θρῄκιον κλύδωνα· §197τελεῖν γὰρ εἴ τι νὺξ ἀφῇ, §198τοῦτʼ ἐπʼ ἦμαρ ἔρχεται·
And fierce Ares, who now without bronze shields burns me, crying out around me, I pray to turn his back in backward flight from our fatherland, blown by a favorable wind, either into the great chamber of Amphitrite, or into the harborless Thracian wave; for if night leaves anything unfinished, this comes upon the day.
Him, O you who wield the powers of the fire-bearing lightning strikes, O father Zeus, destroy beneath your thunderbolt.
§203Λύκειʼ ἄναξ, τά τε σὰ χρυσοστρόφων ἀπʼ ἀγκυλᾶν §204βέλεα θέλοιμʼ ἂν ἀδάματʼ ἐνδατεῖσθαι §205ἀρωγὰ προσταχθέντα τάς τε πυρφόρους §206Ἀρτέμιδος αἴγλας, ξὺν αἷς Λύκιʼ ὄρεα διᾴσσει·
Lord of Lycia, and your weapons from your gold-spun bowstrings I would wish to see distributed as unconquerable helpers, and the fire-bearing flashes of Artemis, with which she darts through the Lycian hills.
§207τὸν χρυσομίτραν τε κικλήσκω, §210τᾶσδʼ ἐπώνυμον γᾶς, §211οἰνῶπα Βάκχον εὔιον, §212Μαινάδων ὁμόστολον, §213πελασθῆναι φλέγοντʼ §214ἀγλαῶπι ¯ ˘ ¯ §215πεύκᾳ ʼπὶ τὸν ἀπότιμον ἐν θεοῖς θεόν.
And I call on the one with the golden headband, who shares the name of this land, wine-faced Bacchus, called with the joyful cry, companion of the Maenads, to draw near, blazing with a splendid torch against the god unhonored among the gods.
§216αἰτεῖς· ἃ δʼ αἰτεῖς, τἄμʼ ἐὰν θέλῃς ἔπη §217κλύων δέχεσθαι τῇ νόσῳ θʼ ὑπηρετεῖν, §218ἀλκὴν λάβοις ἂν κἀνακούφισιν κακῶν·
You ask; and what you ask, if you are willing to hear and receive my words, and to minister to the sickness, you would receive help and relief from evils.
§219ἁγὼ ξένος μὲν τοῦ λόγου τοῦδʼ ἐξερῶ, §220ξένος δὲ τοῦ πραχθέντος· οὐ γὰρ ἂν μακρὰν §221ἴχνευον αὐτός, μὴ οὐκ ἔχων τι σύμβολον, §222νῦν δʼ ὕστερος γὰρ ἀστὸς εἰς ἀστοὺς τελῶ, §223ὑμῖν προφωνῶ πᾶσι Καδμείοις τάδε· §224ὅστις ποθʼ ὑμῶν Λάϊον τὸν Λαβδάκου §225κάτοιδεν ἀνδρὸς ἐκ τίνος διώλετο, §226τοῦτον κελεύω πάντα σημαίνειν ἐμοί· §227κεἰ μὲν φοβεῖται, τοὐπίκλημʼ ὑπεξελεῖν §228αὐτὸν καθʼ αὑτοῦ· πείσεται γὰρ ἄλλο μὲν §229ἀστεργὲς οὐδέν. γῆς δʼ ἄπεισιν ἀσφαλής.
I speak as a stranger to this story, and a stranger to the deed; for I would not have traced it far myself, unless I had some clue; but now, since I am a citizen enrolled later among citizens, I proclaim these things to you, all Cadmeans: Whosoever of you knows Labdacus' son Laius, by what man he was destroyed, I command him to signify all to me; and if he is afraid, to remove the charge against himself; for he will suffer no other painful thing, but will depart from the land safely.
§230εἰ δʼ αὖ τις ἄλλον οἶδεν ἐξ ἄλλης χθονὸς §231τὸν αὐτόχειρα, μὴ σιωπάτω· τὸ γὰρ §232κέρδος τελῶ ʼγὼ χἠ χάρις προσκείσεται.
But if, on the other hand, anyone knows another from another land as the murderer, let him not be silent; for I will pay the reward, and my gratitude will be added besides.
§233εἰ δʼ αὖ σιωπήσεσθε, καί τις ἢ φίλου §234δείσας ἀπώσει τοὔπος ἢ χαὐτοῦ τόδε, §235ἃκ τῶνδε δράσω, ταῦτα χρὴ κλύειν ἐμοῦ.
But if you will keep silent, and anyone, fearing for a friend or for himself, rejects this word, hear from me what I shall do in consequence of this.
§236τὸν ἄνδρʼ ἀπαυδῶ τοῦτον, ὅστις ἐστί, γῆς §237τῆσδʼ, ἧς ἐγὼ κράτη τε καὶ θρόνους νέμω, §238μήτʼ εἰσδέχεσθαι μήτε προσφωνεῖν τινα, §239μήτʼ ἐν θεῶν εὐχαῖσι μήτε θύμασιν §240κοινὸν ποεῖσθαι, μήτε χέρνιβας νέμειν· §241ὠθεῖν δʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων πάντας, ὡς μιάσματος §242τοῦδʼ ἡμὶν ὄντος, ὡς τὸ Πυθικὸν θεοῦ §243μαντεῖον ἐξέφηνεν ἀρτίως ἐμοί.
I forbid this man, whoever he is, in this land, over which I hold the power and the throne, that anyone receive him or speak to him, or make him a partner in the prayers to the gods or the sacrifices, or share with him the lustral water; but all must drive him from their houses, since he is our pollution, as the Pythian oracle of the god has just now revealed to me.
§244ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν τοιόσδε τῷ τε δαίμονι §245τῷ τʼ ἀνδρὶ τῷ θανόντι σύμμαχος πέλω· §246κατεύχομαι δὲ τὸν δεδρακότʼ, εἴτε τις §247εἷς ὢν λέληθεν εἴτε πλειόνων μέτα, §248κακὸν κακῶς νιν ἄμορον ἐκτρῖψαι βίον·
I then am such an ally both to the divinity and to the dead man; and I pray that the doer, whether he has escaped notice as a single man or along with more, may wear out his miserable life evilly in ruin.
§249ἐπεύχομαι δʼ, οἴκοισιν εἰ ξυνέστιος §250ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς γένοιτʼ ἐμοῦ συνειδότος, §251παθεῖν ἅπερ τοῖσδʼ ἀρτίως ἠρασάμην.
And I pray, if he should be a sharer of my hearth in my own house with my knowledge, that I may suffer the very things I have just now invoked on these.