§16τάχα δὲ καὶ Πασιφάη, παρὰ Δαιδάλου ἀκούσασα ταύρου τε πέρι τοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἄστροισι φαινομένου καὶ αὐτῆς ἀστρολογίης, ἐς ἔρωτα τοῦ λόγου ἀπίκετο, ἔνθεν νομίζουσιν ὅτι Δαίδαλός μιν τῷ ταύρῳ ἐνύμφευσεν.
And perhaps Pasiphae also, having heard from Daedalus about the bull that appears among the stars and about astrology itself, came to a love of this science, whence they believe that Daedalus matched her in marriage with the bull.
§17εἰσὶν δὲ οἳ καὶ κατὰ μέρεα τὴν ἐπιστήμην διελόντες ἕκαστοι αὐτῶν ἄλλα ἐπενοήσαντο, οἱ μὲν τὰ ἐς τὴν σεληναίην, οἱ δὲ τὰ ἐς Δία, οἱ δὲ τὰ ἐς ἠέλιον συναγείραντες, δρόμου τε αὐτῶν πέρι καὶ κινήσιος καὶ δυνάμιος.
And there are some who, having divided the science into parts, devised other things, each of them; some gathering what pertains to the moon, others what pertains to Jupiter, and others what pertains to the sun, concerning their course, movement, and power.
§18καὶ Ἐνδυμίων μὲν τὰ ἐς τὴν σεληναίην συνετάξατο, §19Φαέθων δὲ τοῦ ἠελίου δρόμον ἐτεκμήρατο, οὐ μέν γε ἀτρεκέως, ἀλλʼ ἀτελέα τὸν λόγον ἀπολιπὼν ἀπέθανεν.
And Endymion indeed organized what pertains to the moon, while Phaethon calculated the course of the sun, not indeed accurately, but died leaving the discourse incomplete.
οἱ δὲ τάδε ἀγνοέοντες Ἠελίου παῖδα Φαέθοντα δοκέουσιν καὶ μῦθον ἐπʼ αὐτέῳ οὐδαμὰ πιστὸν διηγέονται.
And people, being ignorant of these things, believe Phaethon to be the child of the Sun, and relate about him a myth by no means credible.
ἐλθόντα γάρ μιν παρὰ τὸν Ἠέλιον τὸν πατέρα αἰτέειν τὸ τοῦ φωτὸς ἅρμα ἡνιοχέειν, τὸν δὲ δοῦναί τέ οἱ καὶ ὑποθέσθαι τῆς ἱππασίης τὸν νόμον.
For they say that, having come to the Sun his father, he asked to drive the chariot of light, and the father gave it to him and suggested the law of driving.
ὁ δὲ Φαέθων ἐπειδὴ ἀνέβη τὸ ἅρμα, ἡλικίῃ καὶ ἀπειρίῃ ἄλλοτε μὲν πρόσγειος ἡνιόχεεν, ἄλλοτε δὲ πολλὸν τῆς γῆς ἀπαιωρούμενος· τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους κρύος τε καὶ θάλπος οὐκ ἀνασχετὸν διέφθειρεν.
But Phaethon, when he mounted the chariot, by reason of youth and inexperience drove at one time close to the earth, and at another time suspended high above the earth; and intolerable cold and heat destroyed mankind.
ἐπὶ τοῖσι δὴ τὸν Δία ἀγανακτέοντα βαλεῖν πρηστῆρι Φαέθοντα μεγάλῳ.
Whereupon Zeus, being angered, struck Phaethon with a great thunderbolt.
πεσόντα δέ μιν αἱ ἀδελφαὶ περιστᾶσαι πένθος μέγα ἐποίεον, ἔστε μετέβαλον τὰ εἴδεα, καὶ νῦν εἰσιν αἴγειροι καὶ τὸ ἤλεκτρον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ δάκρυον σταλάουσιν.
And when he fell, his sisters standing around made a great lamentation, until they changed their forms, and now they are poplars and shed amber as a tear for him.
οὐχ οὕτω ταῦτα ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ὅσιον αὐτοῖσι πείθεσθαι, οὐδὲ Ἠέλιος παῖδα ἐποιήσατο, οὐδὲ ὁ παῖς αὐτῷ ἀπέθανεν.
These things did not happen in this way, nor is it holy to believe them, nor did the Sun make a child, nor did the child die for him.
§20λέγουσιν δὲ καὶ ἄλλα Ἕλληνες πολλὰ μυθώδεα, τοῖσι ἐγὼ οὐ μάλα τι πείθομαι.
And the Greeks say many other mythical things, which I do not very much believe.
κῶς γὰρ δὴ ὅσιον πιστεῦσαι παῖδα Αἰνείην τῆς Ἀφροδίτης γενέσθαι καὶ Διὸς Μίνω καὶ Ἄρεος Ἀσκάλαφον καὶ Αὐτόλυκον Ἑρμέω;
For how indeed is it holy to believe that Aeneas was born the child of Aphrodite, and Minos of Zeus, and Ascalaphus of Ares, and Autolycus of Hermes?
ἀλλʼ οὗτοι ἕκαστος αὐτέων θεοφιλέες ἐγένοντο καὶ σφίσι γεινομένοισι τῷ μὲν ἡ Ἀφροδίτη, τῷ δὲ ὁ Ζεύς, τῷ δὲ ὁ Ἄρης ἐπέβλεψαν.
Rather, each of these became beloved of the gods, and when they were born, Aphrodite looked upon one, Zeus upon another, and Ares upon another.
ὁκόσοι γὰρ δὴ ἀνθρώποισι ἐν τῇ γενεῇ ταύτῃ οἰκοδεσποτέουσι, οὗτοι ὅκως τοκέες ἑωυτοῖσι πάντα ἰκέλους ἐκτελέουσιν καὶ χρόην καὶ μορφὴν καὶ ἔργα καὶ διανοίην, καὶ βασιλεὺς μὲν ὁ Μίνως Διὸς ἡγεομένου, καλὸς δὲ Αἰνείης Ἀφροδίτης βουλήσει ἐγένετο, κλέπτης δὲ Αὐτόλυκος, ἡ δέ οἱ κλεπτικὴ ἐξ Ἑρμέω ἀπίκετο.
For as many stars as act as house-rulers for men at their birth, these, just like parents, make them completely like themselves in color, form, deeds, and mind; and so Minos became king under the leadership of Zeus, and Aeneas became beautiful by the will of Aphrodite, and Autolycus became a thief, and his thieving skill came to him from Hermes.
§21οὐ μὲν ὦν οὐδὲ τὸν Κρόνον Ζεὺς ἔδησεν οὐδὲ ἐς Τάρταρον ἔρριψεν οὐδὲ τὰ ἄλλα ἐμήσατο ὁκόσα ἄνθρωποι νομίζουσιν, ἀλλὰ φέρεται γὰρ ὁ Κρόνος τὴν ἔξω φορὴν πολλὸν ἀπʼ ἡμέων καί οἱ νωθρή τε ἡ κίνησις καὶ οὐ ῥηιδίη τοῖσιν ἀνθρώποισιν ὁρέεσθαι.
Therefore Zeus did not bind Cronus nor cast him into Tartarus, nor did he devise the other things which men believe, but rather Cronus is carried in the outermost orbit, far from us, and his motion is both sluggish and not easy for men to see.
διὸ δή μιν ἑστάναι λέγουσιν ὅκως πεπεδημένον.
Wherefore they say that he stands as if fettered.
τὸ δὲ βάθος τὸ πολλὸν τοῦ ἠέρος Τάρταρος καλέεται.
And the great depth of the air is called Tartarus.
§22μάλιστα δʼ ἔκ τε Ὁμήρου τοῦ ποιητέω καὶ τῶν Ἡσιόδου ἐπέων μάθοι ἄν τις τὰ πάλαι τοῖς ἀστρολογέουσιν ὁμοφωνέοντα.
And most of all, from Homer the poet and from the verses of Hesiod, one might learn that ancient things agree with those who practice astrology.
εὖτʼ ἂν δὲ τὴν σειρὴν τοῦ Διὸς ἀπηγέηται καὶ τοῦ Ἠελίου τὰς βόας, τὰ δὴ ἐγὼ ἤματα εἶναι συμβάλλομαι, καὶ τὰς πόλιας τὰς ἐν τῇ ἀσπίδι Ἥφαιστος ἐποιήσατο καὶ τὸν χορὸν καὶ τὴν ἀλωήν τὰ μὲν γὰρ ὁκόσα ἐς τὴν Ἀφροδίτην αὐτῷ καὶ τοῦ Ἄρεος τὴν μοιχείην λέλεκται, καὶ ταῦτα ἐμφανέα οὐκ ἄλλοθεν ἢ ἐκ τῆσδε τῆς σοφίης πεποιημένα· ἡ γὰρ δὴ ὦν Ἀφροδίτης καὶ τοῦ Ἄρεος ὁμοδρομίη τὴν Ὁμήρου ἀοιδὴν ἀπεργάζεται.
And when he relates the chain of Zeus and the cattle of the Sun—which I conjecture to be days—and the cities which Hephaestus made on the shield, and the dance, and the vineyard; for all the things that have been said by him concerning Aphrodite and the adultery of Ares, these too are clearly made from no other source than from this wisdom; for indeed the conjoined running of Aphrodite and Ares produces Homer's song.
ἐν ἄλλοισι δὲ ἔπεσι τὰ ἔργα ἑκάστου αὐτῶν διωρίσατο, τῇ Ἀφροδίτῃ μὲν εἰπών,
"ἀλλὰ σύ γʼ ἱμερόεντα μετέρχεο ἔργα γάμοιο· "
τὰ δὲ τοῦ πολέμου,
"ταῦτα δʼ Ἄρηι θοῷ καὶ Ἀθήνῃ πάντα μελήσει. "
And in other verses he distinguished the works of each of them, saying to Aphrodite, "But do you rather attend to the lovely works of marriage;" and the things of war, "and all these shall be the care of swift Ares and Athena."