And they struck the ground with their bronze hooves, alternating them, and leading them to the yoke he brought them close, alone.
ὀρθὰς δʼ αὔλακας ἐντανύσαις §4.228ἤλαυνʼ, ἀνὰ βωλακίας δʼ ὀρόγυιαν σχίζε νῶτον
And having stretched out straight furrows he drove, and he split the back of the cloddy earth to a fathom's depth.
§4.229γᾶς.
of the earth.
ἔειπεν δʼ ὧδε· τοῦτʼ ἔργον βασιλεύς, §4.230ὅστις ἄρχει ναός, ἐμοὶ τελέσαις ἄφθιτον στρωμνὰν ἀγέσθω, §4.231κῶας αἰγλᾶεν χρυσέῳ θυσάνῳ. §4.232ὣς ἄρʼ αὐδάσαντος ἀπὸ κροκόεν ῥίψαις Ἰάσων εἷμα θεῷ πίσυνος §4.233εἴχετʼ ἔργου· πῦρ δέ νιν οὐκ ἐόλει παμφαρμάκου ξείνας ἐφετμαῖς.
And Aeetes spoke thus: "Let the king, whoever rules the ship, having completed this task for me, bear away the imperishable coverlet, the fleece shining with its golden fringe." Thus indeed having spoken, Jason, having cast off his saffron robe, trusting in the god, set to the task; and the fire did not trouble him, by the counsels of the stranger woman skilled in all drugs.
§4.234σπασσάμενος δʼ ἄροτρον, βοέους δήσαις ἀνάγκας §4.235ἔντεσιν αὐχένας ἐμβάλλων τʼ ἐριπλεύρῳ φυᾷ §4.236κέντρον αἰανὲς βιατὰς ἐξεπόνησʼ ἐπιτακτὸν ἀνὴρ §4.237μέτρον.
And having drawn the plow, having bound the necks of the bulls in the harnesses of necessity, and applying to their strong-ribbed body the painful goad, the mighty man fully performed the prescribed measure.
ἴϋξεν δʼ ἀφωνήτῳ περ ἔμπας ἄχει §4.238δύνασιν Αἰήτας ἀγασθείς.
And he shrieked, though with silent grief indeed, Aeetes, amazed at his power.
§4.239πρὸς δʼ ἑταῖροι καρτερὸν ἄνδρα φίλας §4.240ὤρεγον χεῖρας, στεφάνοισί τέ νιν ποίας ἔρεπτον, μειλιχίοις τε λόγοις §4.241ἀγαπάζοντʼ.
And towards the strong man, his companions extended their dear hands, and crowned him with wreaths of grass, and with gentle words welcomed him.
αὐτίκα δʼ Ἀελίου θαυμαστὸς υἱὸς δέρμα λαμπρὸν §4.242ἔννεπεν, ἔνθα νιν ἐκτάνυσαν Φρίξου μάχαιραι· §4.243ἤλπετο δʼ οὐκέτι οἱ κεῖνόν γε πράξεσθαι πόνον.
And straightway the wondrous son of Helios told of the bright fleece, where the knives of Phrixus had flayed it; and he hoped that he would no longer accomplish that labor for him.
§4.244κεῖτο γὰρ λόχμᾳ, δράκοντος δʼ εἴχετο λαβροτατᾶν γενύων, §4.245ὃς πάχει μάκει τε πεντηκόντορον ναῦν κράτει, §4.246τέλεσαν ἃν πλαγαὶ σιδάρου.
For it lay in a thicket, and was held by the most ravenous jaws of a dragon, which in thickness and length surpassed a fifty-oared ship, which the blows of iron had fashioned.
§4.247μακρά μοι νεῖσθαι κατʼ ἀμαξιτόν· ὥρα γὰρ συνάπτει· καί τινα §4.248οἶμον ἴσαμι βραχύν· πολλοῖσι δʼ ἅγημαι σοφίας ἑτέροις.
It is a long way for me to go along the highway, for time presses; and some short path I know; and I am a leader of wisdom to many others.
§4.249κτεῖνε μὲν γλαυκῶπα τέχναις ποικιλόνωτον ὄφιν, §4.250ὦ Ἀρκεσίλα, κλέψεν τε Μήδειαν σὺν αὐτᾷ, τὰν Πελίαο φόνον· §4.251ἔν τʼ Ὠκεανοῦ πελάγεσσι μίγεν πόντῳ τʼ ἐρυθρῷ §4.252Λαμνιᾶν τʼ ἔθνει γυναικῶν ἀνδροφόνων· §4.253ἔνθα καὶ γυίων ἀέθλοις ἐπέδειξαν κρίσιν ἐσθᾶτος ἀμφίς, §4.254καὶ συνεύνασθεν.
He slew by arts the grey-eyed, dappled-backed serpent, O Arcesilas, and stole away Medea with her own consent, she who was the death of Pelias; and they mingled in the waters of the Ocean and in the Red Sea, and with the race of Lemnian women, killers of husbands; where also in games of limbs they showed a judgment for a garment, and they slept together.
καὶ ἐν ἀλλοδαπαῖς §4.255σπέρμʼ ἀρούραις τουτάκις ὑμετέρας ἀκτῖνος ὄλβου δέξατο μοιρίδιον §4.256ἆμαρ ἢ νύκτες.
And in foreign fields, then did the fated day or nights receive the seed of your beam of prosperity.
τόθι γὰρ γένος Εὐφάμου φυτευθὲν λοιπὸν αἰεὶ §4.257τέλλετο· καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων μιχθέντες ἀνδρῶν §4.258ἤθεσι τάν ποτε Καλλίσταν ἀπῴκησαν χρόνῳ §4.259νᾶσον· ἔνθεν δʼ ὔμμι Λατοίδας ἔπορεν Λιβύας πεδίον §4.260σὺν θεῶν τιμαῖς ὀφέλλειν, ἄστυ χρυσοθρόνου §4.261διανέμειν θεῖον Κυράνας §4.262ὀρθόβουλον μῆτιν ἐφευρομένοις.
For there the race of Euphamus, being planted, forever after was arising; and having mingled with the habits of Lacedaemonian men, they colonized in time the island once called Calliste; and from there the son of Leto granted you the plain of Libya, to increase with divine honors, and to administer the divine city of golden-throned Cyrene, having found right-counseling wisdom.
§4.263γνῶθι νῦν τὰν Οἰδιπόδα σοφίαν.
Know now the wisdom of Oedipus.
εἰ γάρ τις ὄζους ὀξυτόμῳ πελέκει §4.264ἐξερείψειεν μεγάλας δρυός, αἰσχύνοι δέ οἱ θαητὸν εἶδος· §4.265καὶ φθινόκαρπος ἐοῖσα διδοῖ ψᾶφον περʼ αὐτᾶς, §4.266εἴ ποτε χειμέριον πῦρ ἐξίκηται λοίσθιον· §4.267ἢ σὺν ὀρθαῖς κιόνεσσιν δεσποσύναισιν ἐρειδομένα §4.268μόχθον ἄλλοις ἀμφέπει δύστανον ἐν τείχεσιν, §4.269ἑὸν ἐρημώσαισα χῶρον.
For if someone with a sharp axe should lop off the branches of a great oak, and mar its wondrous form; even being barren of fruit, it gives a vote concerning itself, if ever it comes to a winter fire at last; or resting on upright, masterly pillars it supports a miserable labor for others within walls, having made its own place desolate.
§4.270ἐσσὶ δʼ ἰατὴρ ἐπικαιρότατος, Παιάν τέ σοι τιμᾷ φάος·
But you are a most timely healer, and Paean honors your light.
§4.271χρὴ μαλακὰν χέρα προσβάλλοντα τρώμαν ἕλκεος ἀμφιπολεῖν.
One must tend the wound of the sore by applying a gentle hand.
§4.272ῥᾴδιον μὲν γὰρ πόλιν σεῖσαι καὶ ἀφαυροτέροις· §4.273ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ χώρας αὖτις ἕσσαι δυσπαλὲς δὴ γίγνεται, ἐξαπίνας §4.274εἰ μὴ θεὸς ἁγεμόνεσσι κυβερνατὴρ γένηται.
For it is easy to shake a city, even for the weaker; but to set it back in its place becomes indeed hard to wrestle with, unless suddenly a god becomes a helmsman to the leaders.
§4.275τὶν δὲ τούτων ἐξυφαίνονται χάριτες.
And for you, the grace of these things is being woven.
§4.276τλᾶθι τᾶς εὐδαίμονος ἀμφὶ Κυράνας θέμεν σπουδὰν ἅπασαν.
Endure to apply all zeal for the sake of happy Cyrene.
§4.277τῶν δʼ Ὁμήρου καὶ τόδε συνθέμενος §4.278ῥῆμα πόρσυνʼ· ἄγγελον ἐσλὸν ἔφα τιμὰν μεγίσταν πράγματι παντὶ φέρειν· §4.279αὔξεται καὶ Μοῖσα διʼ ἀγγελίας ὀρθᾶς.
And having taken to heart this saying of Homer, cherish it: he said that a noble messenger brings the greatest honor to every matter; and the Muse also grows through a straight message.
Cyrene has known, and the most glorious palace of Battus, the just mind of Damophilus.
κεῖνος γὰρ ἐν παισὶν νέος, §4.282ἐν δὲ βουλαῖς πρέσβυς ἐγκύρσαις ἑκατονταετεῖ βιοτᾷ, §4.283ὀρφανίζει μὲν κακὰν γλῶσσαν φαεννᾶς ὀπός, §4.284ἔμαθε δʼ ὑβρίζοντα μισεῖν, §4.285οὐκ ἐρίζων ἀντία τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς, §4.286οὐδὲ μακύνων τέλος οὐδέν.
For he, a youth among boys, but in counsels an elder who has met with a hundred-year life, deprives the evil tongue of its bright voice, and has learned to hate the insolent, not contending against the noble, nor delaying any end.
ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς πρὸς ἀνθρώπων βραχὺ μέτρον ἔχει.
For opportunity has a brief measure for men.
§4.287εὖ νιν ἔγνωκεν· θεράπων δέ οἱ, οὐ δράστας ὀπαδεῖ.
He knows it well; and it attends him as an attendant, not as a runaway slave.
And they say that this is the most painful thing, to know what is good, but by necessity to keep one's foot outside of it.
καὶ μὰν κεῖνος Ἄτλας οὐρανῷ §4.290προσπαλαίει νῦν γε πατρῴας ἀπὸ γᾶς ἀπό τε κτεάνων· §4.291λῦσε δὲ Ζεὺς ἄφθιτος Τιτᾶνας.
And indeed, that Atlas struggles against the heaven now, far from his ancestral land and from his possessions; but imperishable Zeus released the Titans.
And in time there are changes of sails when the wind has ceased.
ἀλλʼ εὔχεται οὐλομέναν νοῦσον διαντλήσαις ποτὲ §4.294οἶκον ἰδεῖν, ἐπʼ Ἀπόλλωνός τε κράνᾳ συμποσίας ἐφέπων §4.295θυμὸν ἐκδόσθαι πρὸς ἥβαν πολλάκις, ἔν τε σοφοῖς §4.296δαιδαλέαν φόρμιγγα βαστάζων πολίταις ἡσυχίᾳ θιγέμεν, §4.297μήτʼ ὦν τινι πῆμα πορών, ἀπαθὴς δʼ αὐτὸς πρὸς ἀστῶν.
But he prays, having exhausted his destructive disease, some day to see his home, and at the spring of Apollo, taking part in banquets, often to give over his soul to youth, and among wise citizens holding the adorned lyre, to touch upon peace, neither causing pain to any, and himself remaining uninjured by his citizens.