§5Ἥρα
δεινὰ ταῦτα ὡς ἀληθῶς, καὶ οὐ μάτην, ὦ Ζεῦ, ἐπετραγῴδεις αὐτοῖς.
Hera These things are indeed terrible, and not in vain, Zeus, did you play the tragedian over them.
Ζεύς
σὺ δὲ ᾤου Δανάης τινὸς ἢ Ἀντιόπης εἶναι μοι λόγον ἐν ταράχῳ τοσούτῳ.
Zeus And yet you thought my concern was about some Danae or Antiope in such a great turmoil!
τί δʼ οὖν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ καὶ Ἥρα καὶ Ἀθηνᾶ, πράττοιμεν ἄν;
What then, Hermes, Hera, and Athena, should we do?
συνευρίσκετε γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸ μέρος.
For you too must help find a solution, each doing your part.
Ἑρμῆς
ἐγὼ μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ κοινόν φημι δεῖν τὴν σκέψιν ἐπανενεγκεῖν ἐκκλησίαν συναγαγόντα.
Hermes For my part, I say that we must refer the inquiry to the community, summoning an assembly.
Ἥρα
κἀμοὶ ταὐτὰ συνδοκεῖ ἅπερ καὶ τούτῳ.
Hera And the same things seem good to me as well as to him.
Ἀθήνη
ἀλλʼ ἐμοὶ τἀναντία δοκεῖ, ὦ πάτερ, μὴ συνταράττειν τὸν οὐρανὸν μηδὲ δῆλον εἶναι θορυβούμενον τῷ πράγματι, πράττειν δὲ ἰδίᾳ ταῦτα ἐξ ὧν κρατήσει μὲν ὁ Τιμοκλῆς λέγων, ὁ Δᾶμις δὲ καταγελασθεὶς ἄπεισιν ἐκ τῆς συνουσίας.
Athena But to me the opposite seems best, Father: not to throw heaven into confusion nor to make it obvious that we are troubled by the matter, but to manage privately those things by which Timocles will prevail in argument, and Damis will go away from the meeting having been laughed at.
Ἑρμῆς
ἀλλʼ οὔτε ἀγνοήσεται ταῦτα, ὦ Ζεῦ, ἐν φανερῷ ἐσομένης τῆς ἔριδος τοῖς φιλοσόφοις, καὶ δόξεις τυραννικὸς εἶναι μὴ κοινούμενος περὶ τῶν οὕτω μεγάλων καὶ κοινῶν ἅπασιν.
Hermes But these things will not remain unknown, Zeus, since the dispute among the philosophers will be in public, and you will seem tyrannical if you do not consult about things so great and common to all.
§6Ζεύς
οὐκοῦν ἤδη κήρυττε καὶ παρέστωσαν ἅπαντες· ὀρθῶς γὰρ λέγεις.
Zeus Therefore herald at once, and let everyone be present; for you speak rightly.
Ἑρμῆς
ἰδοὺ δὴ εἰς ἐκκλησίαν συνέλθετε οἱ θεοί·
Hermes Behold now! Come together into assembly, gods!
μὴ μέλλετε, συνέλθετε πάντες, ἥκετε, περὶ μεγάλων ἐκκλησιάσομεν.
Do not delay, come together all, come! We shall assemble about great matters.
Ζεύς
οὕτω ψιλά, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, καὶ ἁπλοϊκὰ καὶ πεζὰ κηρύττεις, καὶ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τοῖς μεγίστοις συγκαλῶν;
Zeus Do you herald so plainly, Hermes, and simply and in prose, and that too when calling them together for the greatest matters?
Ἑρμῆς
ἀλλὰ πῶς γάρ, ὦ Ζεῦ, ἀξιοῖς;
Hermes But how indeed, Zeus, do you expect me to?
Ζεύς
ὅπως ἀξιῶ;
Zeus How do I expect?
ἀποσέμνυνε, φημί, τὸ κήρυγμα μέτροις τισὶ καὶ μεγαλοφωνίᾳ ποιητικῇ, ὡς μᾶλλον συνέλθοιεν.
Dignify, I say, the proclamation with some meters and poetic grandiloquence, so that they may rather come together.
Ἑρμῆς
ναί.
Hermes Yes.
ἀλλʼ ἐποποιῶν, ὦ Ζεῦ, καὶ ῥαψῳδῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἐγὼ δὲ ἥκιστα ποιητικός εἰμι· ὥστε διαφθερῶ τὸ κήρυγμα ἢ ὑπέρμετρα ἢ ἐνδεᾶ συνείρων, καὶ γέλως ἔσται παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τῇ ἀμουσίᾳ τῶν ἐπῶν·
But such things are for epic poets and rhapsodes, Zeus, and I am least of all poetic; so I shall ruin the proclamation by stringing together either hypermetric or deficient verses, and there will be laughter among them at the unmusicality of the lines.
ὁρῶ γοῦν καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλω γελώμενον ἐπʼ ἐνίοις τῶν χρησμῶν, καίτοι ἐπικρυπτούσης τὰ πολλὰ τῆς ἀσαφείας, ὡς μὴ πάνυ σχολὴν ἄγειν τοὺς ἀκούοντας ἐξετάζειν τὰ μέτρα.
At any rate, I see even Apollo being laughed at for some of his oracles, although obscurity mostly conceals them, so that the hearers do not have much leisure to examine the meters.
Ζεύς
οὐκοῦν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, τῶν Ὁμήρου ἐπῶν ἐγκαταμίγνυε τὰ πολλὰ τῷ κηρύγματι, οἷς ἐκεῖνος ἡμᾶς συνεκάλει· μεμνῆσθαι δέ σε εἰκός.
Zeus Therefore, Hermes, mingle in your proclamation for the most part those lines of Homer's with which he used to summon us; it is likely you remember them.
Ἑρμῆς
οὐ πάνυ μὲν οὕτω σαφῶς καὶ προχείρως· πειράσομαι δὲ ὅμως. "
μήτε τις οὖν θήλεια θεὸς. . . μήτε τις ἄρσην,
μηδʼ αὖ τῶν ποταμῶν μενέτω νόσφʼ Ὠκεανοῖο
μηδέ τε νυμφάων, ἀλλʼ ἐς Διὸς ἔλθετε πάντες
εἰς ἀγορήν, ὅσσοι τε κλυτὰς δαίνυσθʼ ἑκατόμβας,
ὅσσοι τʼ αὖ μέσατοι ἢ ὕστατοι ἢ μάλα πάγχυ
νώνυμνοι βωμοῖσι παρʼ ἀκνίσοισι κάθησθε. "
Hermes Not entirely so clearly and readily, but I will try nevertheless: "Let no female deity... nor any male, nor let any of the rivers remain apart from Oceanus, nor of the nymphs, but come all into Zeus's assembly, as many as feast on famous hecatombs, and as many as are middle, or last, or altogether nameless, sitting by fatless altars." Zeus Well done, Hermes!
§7Ζεύς
εὖ γε, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, ἄριστα κεκήρυκταί σοι, καὶ συνίασι γὰρ ἤδη· ὥστε παραλαμβάνων κάθιζε αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἕκαστον, ὡς ἂν ὕλης ἢ τέχνης ἔχῃ, ἐν προεδρίᾳ μὲν τοὺς χρυσοῦς, εἶτα ἐπὶ τούτοις τοὺς ἀργυροῦς, εἶτα ἑξῆς ὁπόσοι ἐλεφάντινοι, εἶτα τοὺς χαλκοῦς ἢ λιθίνους, καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς τούτοις οἱ Φειδίου μὲν ἢ Ἀλκαμένους ἢ Μύρωνος ἢ Εὐφράνορος ἢ τῶν ὁμοίων τεχνιτῶν προτετιμήσθων, οἱ συρφετώδεις δὲ οὗτοι καὶ ἄτεχνοι πόρρω που συνωσθέντες σιωπῇ ἀναπληρούντων μόνον τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.
Most excellently has it been heralded by you, and indeed they are already coming together; therefore, receiving them, seat each according to his worth, as he may be of material or workmanship: in the front seats indeed the golden ones, then next to these the silver ones, then in order as many as are of ivory, then the bronze or stone ones, and among these very ones let those of Phidias or Alcamenes or Myron or Euphranor or similar craftsmen be preferred in honor, while these common and artless ones, shoved together somewhere far away, let them in silence only fill up the assembly.
Ἑρμῆς
ἔσται ταῦτα καὶ καθεδοῦνται ὡς προσήκει.
Hermes These things shall be, and they shall sit as is fitting.
ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο οὐ χεῖρον εἰδέναι, ἤν τις αὐτῶν χρυσοῦς μὲν ᾖ καὶ πολυτάλαντος τὴν ὁλκήν, οὐκ ἀκριβὴς δὲ τὴν ἐργασίαν, ἀλλὰ κομιδῇ ἰδιωτικὸς καὶ ἀσύμμετρος, πρὸ τῶν χαλκῶν τῶν Μύρωνος καὶ Πολυκλείτου καὶ τῶν Φειδίου καὶ Ἀλκαμένους λιθίνων καθεδεῖται ἢ προτιμοτέραν χρὴ νομίζειν εἶναι τὴν τέχνην;
But it is not worse to know this: if one of them is golden indeed and of many talents in weight, but not precise in workmanship, but altogether amateurish and disproportionate, shall he sit before the bronze statues of Myron and Polyclitus and the stone statues of Phidias and Alcamenes, or must we consider art to be of greater value?
Ζεύς
ἐχρῆν μὲν οὕτως, ἀλλʼ ὁ χρυσὸς ὅμως προτιμητέος.
Zeus It ought to be so, but gold must nevertheless be preferred.
Ἑρμῆς
μανθάνω· πλουτίνδην κελεύεις ἀλλὰ μὴ ἀριστίνδην καθίζειν, καὶ ἀπὸ τιμημάτων·
Hermes I understand; you order me to seat them according to wealth, but not according to merit, and by property-valuation.
ἥκετʼ οὖν εἰς τὴν προεδρίαν ὑμεῖς οἱ χρυσοῖ.
Come then into the front seats, you golden ones!