§1Κυνίσκος
ἐγὼ δέ, ὦ Ζεῦ, τὰ μὲν τοιαῦτα οὐκ ἐνοχλήσω σε πλοῦτον ἢ χρυσὸν ἢ βασιλείαν αἰτῶν, ἅπερ εὐκταιότατα τοῖς πολλοῖς, σοὶ δʼ οὐ πάνυ ῥᾴδια παρασχεῖν· ὁρῶ γοῦν σε τὰ πολλὰ παρακούοντα εὐχομένων αὐτῶν.
Cyniscus But I, Zeus, will not bother you with such things, asking for wealth or gold or kingship, which are most wished for by the many, but for you not at all easy to provide; at any rate, I see you for the most part ignoring them when they pray.
ἓν δέ, καὶ τοῦτο ῥᾷστον, ἐβουλόμην παρὰ σοῦ μοι γενέσθαι.
One thing, and that the easiest, I was wishing to obtain from you.
Ζεύς
τί τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὦ Κυνίσκε;
Zeus What is this, Cyniscus?
οὐ γὰρ ἀτυχήσεις, καὶ μάλιστα μετρίων, ὡς φής, δεόμενος.
For you will not fail to get it, especially since you ask, as you say, for moderate things.
Κυνίσκος
ἀπόκριναί μοι πρός τινα οὐ χαλεπὴν ἐρώτησιν.
Cyniscus Answer me a certain not difficult question.
Ζεύς
μικρά γε ὡς ἀληθῶς ἡ εὐχὴ καὶ πρόχειρος· ὥστε ἐρώτα ὁπόσα ἂν ἐθέλῃς.
Zeus Truly, the request is small and ready at hand; so ask whatever you wish.
Κυνίσκος
ἰδοὺ ταῦτα, ὦ Ζεῦ· ἀνέγνως γὰρ δῆλον ὅτι καὶ σὺ τὰ Ὁμήρου καὶ Ἡσιόδου ποιήματα· εἰπὲ οὖν μοι εἰ ἀληθῆ ἐστιν ἃ περὶ τῆς Εἱμαρμένης καὶ τῶν Μοιρῶν ἐκεῖνοι ἐρραψῳδήκασιν, ἄφυκτα εἶναι ὁπόσα ἂν αὗται ἐπινήσωσιν γεινομένῳ ἑκάστῳ;
Cyniscus Look at this, Zeus: for you have read, clearly, the poems of Homer and Hesiod; tell me then if what they rhapsodized about Fate and the Moirai is true, that whatever they spin out for each person at birth is inescapable?
Ζεύς
καὶ πάνυ ἀληθῆ ταῦτα·
Zeus Yes, this is completely true.
οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὅ τι μὴ αἱ Μοῖραι διατάττουσιν, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὁπόσα γίνεται, ὑπὸ τῷ τούτων ἀτράκτῳ στρεφόμενα εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἕκαστον ἐπικεκλωσμένην ἔχει τὴν ἀπόβασιν, καὶ οὐ θέμις ἄλλως γενέσθαι.
For there is nothing that the Moirai do not ordain, but everything that happens, turned by their spindle, has its outcome spun from the very beginning for each, and it is not lawful for it to happen otherwise.
§2Κυνίσκος
οὐκοῦν ὁπόταν ὁ αὐτὸς Ὅμηρος ἐν ἑτέρῳ μέρει τῆς ποιήσεως λέγῃ,
"μὴ καὶ ὑπὲρ μοῖραν δόμον Ἄϊδος"
καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ληρεῖν δηλαδὴ φήσομεν τότε αὐτόν;
Cyniscus Therefore, whenever the same Homer says in another part of his poetry: 'Lest even beyond fate he enter the house of Hades' and such things, shall we say then that he is talking nonsense?
Ζεύς
καὶ μάλα· οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω γένοιτʼ ἂν ἔξω τοῦ νόμου τῶν Μοιρῶν, οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ τὸ λίνον.
Zeus Certainly; for nothing could happen outside the law of the Fates, not even beyond the thread.
οἱ ποιηταὶ δὲ ὁπόσα μὲν ἂν ἐκ τῶν Μουσῶν κατεχόμενοι ᾄδωσιν, ἀληθῆ ταῦτά ἐστιν· ὁπόταν δὲ ἀφῶσιν αὐτοὺς αἱ θεαὶ καὶ καθʼ αὑτοὺς ποιῶσι, τότε δὴ καὶ σφάλλονται καὶ ὑπεναντία τοῖς πρότερον διεξίασι· καὶ συγγνώμη, εἰ ἄνθρωποι ὄντες ἀγνοοῦσι τἀληθές, ἀπελθόντος ἐκείνου ὃ τέως παρὸν ἐρραψῴδει διʼ αὐτῶν.
But as for the poets, whatever they sing when possessed by the Muses, these things are true; but when the goddesses leave them and they compose on their own, then indeed they blunder and contradict their former words; and it is pardonable if, being human, they do not know the truth once that which was present and rhapsodized through them has departed.
Κυνίσκος
ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν οὕτω φήσομεν. ἔτι δὲ κἀκεῖνό μοι ἀπόκριναι·
Cyniscus Well, we will say that this is so.
οὐ τρεῖς αἱ Μοῖραί εἰσι, Κλωθὼ καὶ Λάχεσις, οἶμαι, καὶ Ἄτροπος;
But answer me this as well: are the Fates not three, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, I believe?
Ζεύς
πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
Zeus Indeed they are.
§3Κυνίσκος
ἡ Εἱμαρμένη τοίνυν καὶ ἡ Τύχη — πολυθρύλητοι γὰρ πάνυ καὶ αὗται — τίνες πότʼ εἰσὶν ἢ τί δύναται αὐτῶν ἑκατέρα;
Cyniscus Then Fate and Fortune—for they too are very much talked of—who on earth are they, or what is the power of each of them?
πότερον τὰ ἴσα ταῖς Μοίραις ἤ τι καὶ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνας;
Is it equal to that of the Fates, or even above them?
ἀκούω γοῦν ἁπάντων λεγόντων, μηδὲν εἶναι Τύχης καὶ Εἱμαρμένης δυνατώτερον.
At any rate, I hear everyone saying that nothing is more powerful than Fortune and Fate.
Ζεύς
οὐ θέμις ἅπαντά σε εἰδέναι, ὦ Κυνίσκε· τίνος δʼ οὖν ἕνεκα ἠρώτησας τὸ περὶ τῶν Μοιρῶν;
Zeus It is not permitted for you to know everything, Cyniscus; but why on earth did you ask about the Fates?
§4Κυνίσκος
ἢν πρότερόν μοι, ὦ Ζεῦ, κἀκεῖνο εἴπῃς, εἰ καὶ ὑμῶν αὗται ἄρχουσι καὶ ἀνάγκη ὑμῖν ἠρτῆσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ λίνου αὐτῶν.
Cyniscus If you would tell me that first, Zeus: whether they rule over you too, and whether it is necessary for you to be suspended from their thread.
Ζεύς
ἀνάγκη, ὦ Κυνίσκε.
Zeus It is necessary, Cyniscus.
τί δʼ οὖν ἐμειδίασας;
But why did you smile?
Κυνίσκος
ἀνεμνήσθην ἐκείνων τῶν Ὁμήρου ἐπῶν· , ἐν οἷς πεποίησαι αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῶν θεῶν δημηγορῶν, ὁπότε ἠπείλεις αὐτοῖς ὡς ἀπὸ σειρᾶς τινος χρυσῆς ἀναρτησόμενος τὰ πάντα· ἔφησθα γὰρ αὐτὸς μὲν τὴν σειρὰν καθήσειν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, τοὺς θεοὺς δὲ ἅμα πάντας, εἰ βούλοιντο, ἐκκρεμαμένους κατασπᾶν βιάσεσθαι, οὐ μὴν κατασπάσειν γε, σὺ δέ, ὁπόταν ἐθελήσῃς, ῥᾳδίως ἅπαντας
"αὐτῇ κεν γαίῃ ἐρύσαι αὐτῇ τε θαλάσσῃ. "
τότε μὲν οὖν θαυμάσιος ἐδόκεις μοι τὴν βίαν καὶ ὑπέφριττον μεταξὺ ἀκούων τῶν ἐπῶν· νῦν δὲ αὐτόν σε ἤδη ὁρῶ μετὰ τῆς σειρᾶς καὶ τῶν ἀπειλῶν ἀπὸ λεπτοῦ νήματος, ὡς φής, κρεμάμενον.
Cyniscus I remembered those verses of Homer, in which you have been made by him to harangue the assembly of the gods, when you threatened them that you would hang everything from a certain golden chain; for you said that you yourself would let down the chain from heaven, and all the gods together, if they wished, hanging on, would try to drag you down, but they would not drag you down, while you, whenever you wished, would easily drag them all up 'with the earth itself and with the sea.' At that time, indeed, you seemed to me wonderful in your strength, and I shuddered a little while hearing the verses; but now I see you yourself, along with your chain and threats, hanging from a slender thread, as you say.
δοκεῖ γοῦν μοι δικαιότερον ἂν ἡ Κλωθὼ μεγαλαυχήσασθαι, ὡς καὶ σὲ αὐτὸν ἀνάσπαστον αἰωροῦσα ἐκ τοῦ ἀτράκτου καθάπερ οἱ ἁλιεῖς ἐκ τοῦ καλάμου τὰ ἰχθύδια.
It seems to me, at any rate, more just for Clotho to boast, as she swings even you yourself up, suspended from her spindle, just as fishermen swing little fish from their rod.