§1ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ
Ἀλλὰ ποιητὴν μὲν ἄριστον εἶναί σε, ὦ Ἡσίοδε, καὶ τοῦτο παρὰ Μουσῶν λαβεῖν μετὰ τῆς δάφνης αὐτός τε δεικνύεις ἐν οἷς ποιεῖς—ἔνθεα γὰρ καὶ σεμνὰ πάντα—καὶ ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν οὕτως ἔχειν.
\nLYCINUS\nBut that you are the best poet, Hesiod, and that you received this from the Muses along with the laurel, you yourself show in your works—for they are all inspired and solemn—and we also believe it to be so.
ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἀπορῆσαι ἄξιον, τί δήποτε προειπὼν ὑπὲρ σαυτοῦ ὡς διὰ τοῦτο λάβοις τὴν θεσπέσιον ἐκείνην ᾠδὴν παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ὅπως κλείοις καὶ ὑμνοίης τὰ παρεληλυθότα καὶ θεσπίζοις τὰ ἐσόμενα, θάτερον μὲν καὶ πάνυ ἐντελῶς ἐξενήνοχας θεῶν τε γενέσεις διηγούμενος ἄχρι καὶ τῶν πρώτων ἐκείνων, χάους καὶ γῆς καὶ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἔρωτος—ἔτι δὲ γυναικῶν ἀρετὰς καὶ παραινέσεις γεωργικάς, καὶ ὅσα περὶ Πλειάδων καὶ ὅσα περὶ καιρῶν ἀρότου καὶ ἀμήτου καὶ πλοῦ καὶ ὅλως τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων· θάτερον δὲ καὶ ὃ χρησιμώτερον ἦν τῷ βίῳ παρὰ πολὺ καὶ θεῶν δωρεαῖς μᾶλλον ἐοικός—λέγω δὲ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων προαγόρευσιν—, οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐξαπέφηνας, ἀλλὰ τὸ μέρος τοῦτο πᾶν λήθῃ παραδέδωκας οὐδαμοῦ τῆς ποιήσεως ἢ τὸν Κάλχαντα ἢ τὸν Τήλεμον ἢ τὸν Πολύειδον ἢ καὶ Φινέα μιμησάμενος οἳ μηδὲ παρὰ Μουσῶν τούτου τυχόντες ὅμως προεθέσπιζον καὶ οὐκ ὤκνουν χρᾶν τοῖς δεομένοις. §2Ὥστε ἀνάγκη σοι τῶν τριῶν τούτων αἰτῶν μιᾷ γε πάντως ἐνέχεσθαι· ἢ γὰρ ἐψεύσω, εἰ καὶ πικρὸν εἰπεῖν, ὡς ὑποσχομένων σοι τῶν Μουσῶν καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα προλέγειν δύνασθαι· ἢ αἱ μὲν ἔδοσαν ὥσπερ ὑπέσχοντο, σὺ δὲ ὑπὸ φθόνου ἀποκρύπτεις καὶ ὑπὸ κόλπου φυλάττεις τὴν δωρεὰν οὐ μεταδιδοὺς αὐτῆς τοῖς δεομένοις· ἢ γέγραπται μέν σοι καὶ τοιαῦτα πολλά, οὐδέπω δὲ αὐτὰ τῷ βίῳ παραδέδωκας οὐκ οἶδα εἰς ὃν καιρόν τινα ἄλλον ταμιευόμενος τὴν χρῆσιν αὐτῶν.
But that which is worthy of wonder is why, after declaring beforehand on your own behalf that you received that divine song from the gods in order that you might celebrate and hymn the past and prophesy the future, you have set forth the former quite completely, recounting the generations of the gods down to those very first ones, Chaos, Earth, Heaven, and Love—and moreover, the virtues of women and agricultural exhortations, and all about the Pleiades, and the proper seasons for plowing, harvest, and sailing, and all other things in general; but the latter, which was far more useful to life and more fitting for the gifts of the gods—I mean the foretelling of the future—you have not revealed at all from the beginning, but have left this whole part to oblivion, in no way imitating Calchas, Telemus, Polyeidus, or Phineus in your poetry, who, though they did not obtain this from the Muses, nevertheless prophesied and did not hesitate to give oracles to those in need.\n\nConsequently, you must absolutely be bound by one of these three reasons: either you lied, bitter though it is to say, that the Muses promised you the power to foretell the future as well; or they gave it as they promised, but you conceal the gift out of envy and keep it in your bosom, not sharing it with those in need; or many such things have indeed been written by you, but you have not yet delivered them to life, storing up their use for some other time I know not what.
ἐκεῖνο μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲ τολμήσαιμ' ἂν εἰπεῖν, ὡς αἱ Μοῦσαι δύο σοι παρέξειν ὑποσχόμεναι τὸ μὲν ἔδοσαν, ἐξ ἡμισείας δὲ ἀνεκαλέσαντο τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν—λέγω δὲ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν—καὶ ταῦτα προτέραν αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ ἔπει ὑπεσχημέναι. §3Ταῦτα οὖν παρὰ τίνος ἄλλου, Ἡσίοδε, ἢ παρ' αὐτοῦ σοῦ μάθοι τις ἄν;
For I would not even dare to say that the Muses, having promised to provide you with two things, gave the one but revoked their promise by half—I mean the knowledge of the future—and that too after having promised it first in your poem.\n\nFrom whom else then, Hesiod, could one learn these things than from your very self?
πρέποι γὰρ ἄν, ὥσπερ οἱ θεοὶ “δωτῆρες ἐάων” εἰσίν, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὑμῖν, τοῖς φίλοις καὶ μαθηταῖς αὐτῶν, μετὰ πάσης ἀληθείας ἐξηγεῖσθαι περὶ ὧν ἴστε καὶ λύειν ἡμῖν τὰς ἀπορίας. §4ΗΣΙΟΔΟΣ
Ἐνῆν μέν μοι, ὦ βέλτιστε, ῥᾳδίαν ἀπόκρισιν ἀποκρίνεσθαί σοι περὶ ἁπάντων, ὅτι μηδέν ἐστιν τῶν ἐρραψῳδημένων ὑπ' ἐμοῦ ἴδιον ἐμόν, ἀλλὰ τῶν Μουσῶν, καὶ ἐχρῆν σε παρ' ἐκείνων τοὺς λογισμοὺς τῶν τε εἰρημένων καὶ τῶν παραλελειμμένων ἀπαιτεῖν.
For it would be fitting, just as the gods are "givers of good things," so also for you, their friends and disciples, to explain with all truthfulness about what you know and to resolve our difficulties.\n\nHESIOD\nIt would have been easy for me, my excellent friend, to give you a simple answer to all this: that nothing of what has been rhapsodized by me is my own, but belongs to the Muses, and you ought to demand the accounts of what has been said and what has been omitted from them.
ἐγὼ δὲ ὑπὲρ μὲν ὧν ἰδίᾳ ἠπιστάμην—λέγω δὲ τοῦ νέμειν καὶ ποιμαίνειν καὶ ἐξελαύνειν καὶ βδάλλειν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα ποιμένων ἔργα καὶ μαθήματα—δίκαιος ἂν εἴην ἀπολογεῖσθαι· αἱ θεαὶ δὲ τὰς αὐτῶν δωρεὰς οἷς τε ἂν ἐθέλωσι καὶ ἐφ' ὅσον ἂν οἴωνται καλῶς ἔχειν μεταδιδόασιν.
But while I would be justified in defending myself regarding what I personally understood—I mean grazing, shepherding, driving, milking, and other tasks and lessons of shepherds—the goddesses distribute their gifts to whomsoever they wish and as far as they think is well.
ἀπολογίας.
Defense.