§1.1ΔΩΡΙΣ
Καλὸν ἐραστήν, ὦ Γαλάτεια, τὸν Σικελὸν τοῦτον ποιμένα φασὶν ἐπιμεμηνέναι σοί.
DORIS People say, Galatea, that this Sicilian shepherd is madly in love with you—a handsome lover indeed!
ΓΑΛΑΤΕΙΑ
Μὴ σκῶπτε, Δωρί· Ποσειδῶνος γὰρ υἱός ἐστιν, ὁποῖος ἂν ᾖ.
GALATEIA Do not mock, Doris; for he is a son of Poseidon, whatever he may be like.
ΔΩΡΙΣ
Τί οὖν;
DORIS What of it?
εἰ καὶ τοῦ Διὸς αὐτοῦ παῖς ὢν ἄγριος οὕτως καὶ λάσιος ἐφαίνετο καί, τὸ πάντων ἀμορφότατον, μονόφθαλμος, οἴει τὸ γένος ἄν τι ὀνῆσαι αὐτὸν πρὸς τὴν μορφήν;
Even if he were the son of Zeus himself, appearing so wild and shaggy, and, most deformed of all, one-eyed, do you think his lineage would benefit him at all in comparison to his appearance?
ΓΑΛΑΤΕΙΑ
Οὐδὲ τὸ λάσιον αὐτοῦ καί, ὡς φῄς, ἄγριον ἄμορφόν ἐστιν—ἀνδρῶδες γάρ—ὅ τε ὀφθαλμὸς ἐπιπρέπει τῷ μετώπῳ οὐδὲν ἐνδεέστερον ὁρῶν ἢ εἰ δύ' ἦσαν.
GALATEIA Neither his shagginess nor his wildness, as you call it, is ugly—for it is manly—and his eye suits his forehead, seeing no less well than if there were two.
ΔΩΡΙΣ
Ἔοικας, ὦ Γαλάτεια, οὐκ ἐραστὴν ἀλλ’ ἐρώμενον ἔχειν τὸν Πολύφημον, οἷα ἐπαινεῖς αὐτόν.
DORIS You seem, Galatea, to have Polyphemus not as a lover, but as your beloved, judging by the way you praise him.
§1.2ΓΑΛΑΤΕΙΑ
Οὐκ ἐρώμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸ πάνυ ὀνειδιστικὸν τοῦτο οὐ φέρω ὑμῶν, καί μοι δοκεῖτε ὑπὸ φθόνου αὐτὸ ποιεῖν, ὅτι ποιμαίνων ποτὲ ἀπὸ τῆς σκοπῆς παιζούσας ἡμᾶς ἰδὼν ἐπὶ τῆς ἠϊόνος ἐν τοῖς πρόποσι τῆς Αἴτνης, καθ' ὃ μεταξὺ τοῦ ὄρους καὶ τῆς θαλάσσης αἰγιαλὸς ἀπομηκύνεται, ὑμᾶς μὲν οὐδὲ προσέβλεψεν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐξ ἁπασῶν ἡ καλλίστη ἔδοξα, καὶ μόνῃ ἐμοὶ ἐπεῖχε τὸν ὀφθαλμόν.
GALATEIA Not my beloved, but I cannot bear this utterly reproachful attitude of yours, and it seems to me that you do this out of envy; because once, while shepherding, when he saw us playing from his lookout on the shore at the foot of Etna—where the beach stretches out between the mountain and the sea—he did not even look at you, but I appeared the most beautiful of all, and he fixed his eye on me alone.
ταῦτα ὑμᾶς ἀνιᾷ· δεῖγμα γάρ, ὡς ἀμείνων εἰμὶ καὶ ἀξιέραστος, ὑμεῖς δὲ παρώφθητε.
This is what vexes you; for it is proof that I am better and worthy of love, while you were overlooked.
ΔΩΡΙΣ
Εἰ ποιμένι καὶ ἐνδεεῖ τὴν ὄψιν καλὴ ἔδοξας, ἐπίφθονος οἴει γεγονέναι;
DORIS If you seemed beautiful to a shepherd who is defective in his sight, do you think you have become an object of envy?
καίτοι τί ἄλλο ἐν σοὶ ἐπαινέσαι εἶχεν ἢ τὸ λευκὸν μόνον;
And yet, what else could he find to praise in you except your whiteness alone?
καὶ τοῦτο, οἶμαι, ὅτι συνήθης ἐστὶ τυρῷ καὶ γάλακτι· πάντα οὖν τὰ ὅμοια τούτοις ἡγεῖται καλά.
And that, I suppose, is because he is accustomed to cheese and milk; so he considers everything similar to them to be beautiful.
§1.3ΔΩΡΙΣ
ἐπεὶ τά γε ἄλλα ὁπόταν ἐθελήσῃς μαθεῖν, οἵα τυγχάνεις οὖσα τὴν ὄψιν, ἀπὸ πέτρας τινός, εἴ ποτε γαλήνη εἴη, ἐπικύψασα ἐς τὸ ὕδωρ ἰδὲ σεαυτὴν οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ χροίαν λευκὴν ἀκριβῶς· οὐκ ἐπαινεῖται δὲ τοῦτο, ἢν μὴ ἐπιπρέπῃ αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ ἐρύθημα.
DORIS For as to other things, whenever you wish to learn what sort of appearance you happen to have, lean over into the water from some rock when there is a calm, and look at yourself: you are nothing else but a perfectly white skin; and this is not praised unless a blush also distinguishes it.
ΓΑΛΑΤΕΙΑ
Καὶ μὴν ἐγὼ μὲν ἡ ἀκράτως λευκὴ ὅμως ἐραστὴν ἔχω κἂν τοῦτον, ὐμῶν δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ἥντινα ἢ ποιμὴν ἢ ναύτης ἢ πορθμεὺς ἐπαινεῖ·
GALATEIA And yet, completely white as I am, I still have at least this lover, whereas there is not one of you whom either a shepherd, a sailor, or a ferryman praises.
ὁ δέ γε Πολύφημος τά τε ἄλλα καὶ μουσικός ἐστι.
And Polyphemus, besides his other qualities, is also musical.
§1.4ΔΩΡΙΣ
Σιώπα, ὦ Γαλάτεια·
DORIS Be silent, Galatea!
ἠκούσαμεν αὐτοῦ ᾄδοντος ὁπότε ἐκώμασε πρῴην ἐπὶ σέ·
We heard him singing when he came serenading you the other day.
Ἀφροδίτη φίλη, ὄνον ἄν τις ὀγκᾶσθαι ἔδοξεν.
Dear Aphrodite, one would have thought a donkey was braying!
καὶ αὐτὴ δὲ ἡ πηκτὶς οἵα;
And what of his harp itself?
κρανίον ἐλάφου γυμνὸν τῶν σαρκῶν, καὶ τὰ μὲν κέρατα πήχεις ὥσπερ ἦσαν, ζυγώσας δὲ αὐτὰ καὶ ἐνάψας τὰ νεῦρα, οὐδὲ κολλάβοις περιστρέψας, ἐμελῴδει ἄμουσόν τι καὶ ἀπῳδόν, ἄλλο μὲν αὐτὸς βοῶν, ἄλλο δὲ ἡ λύρα ὑπήχει, ὥστε οὐδὲ κατέχειν τὸν γέλωτα ἐδυνάμεθα ἐπὶ τῷ ἐρωτικῷ ἐκείνῳ ᾄσματι·
A stag's skull stripped of flesh, and the horns served as arms; having joined them with a yoke and fastened the strings without even turning them with tuning pegs, he played a discordant and out-of-tune melody, with himself shouting one thing and the lyre sounding another, so that we could not even hold back our laughter at that love song.
ἡ μὲν γὰρ Ἠχὼ οὐδὲ ἀποκρίνεσθαι αὐτῷ ἤθελεν οὕτω λάλος οὖσα βρυχομένῳ, ἀλλ’ ᾐσχύνετο, εἰ φανείη μιμουμένη τραχεῖαν ᾠδὴν καὶ καταγέλαστον.
For Echo, talkative though she is, did not even want to answer him as he bellowed, but was ashamed lest she should appear to mockingly imitate a harsh and ridiculous song.
§1.5ΔΩΡΙΣ
ἔφερεν δὲ ὁ ἐπέραστος ἐν ταῖς ἀγκάλαις ἀθυρμάτιον ἄρκτου σκύλακα τὸ λάσιον αὐτῷ προσεοικότα.
DORIS And that lovely suitor was carrying in his arms, as a toy, a bear cub that resembled him in shagginess.
τίς οὐκ ἂν φθονήσειέ σοι, ὦ Γαλάτεια, τοιούτου ἐραστοῦ;
Who would not envy you, Galatea, such a lover?
ΓΑΛΑΤΕΙΑ
Οὐκοῦν σύ, Δωρί, δεῖξον ἡμῖν τὸν σεαυτῆς, καλλίω δῆλον ὅτι ὄντα καὶ ᾠδικώτερον καὶ κιθαρίζειν ἄμεινον ἐπιστάμενον.
GALATEIA Then you, Doris, show us your own lover, who is clearly more handsome, more musical, and knows how to play the lyre better.
ΔΩΡΙΣ
Ἀλλὰ ἐραστὴς μὲν οὐδεὶς ἔστι μοι οὐδὲ σεμνύνομαι ἐπέραστος εἶναι· τοιοῦτος δὲ οἷος ὁ Κύκλωψ ἐστί, κινάβρας ἀπόζων ὥσπερ ὁ τράγος, ὠμοβόρος, ὥς φασι, καὶ σιτούμενος τοὺς ἐπιδημοῦντας τῶν ξένων, σοὶ γένοιτο καὶ πάντοτε σὺ ἀντερῴης αὐτοῦ.
DORIS Well, I have no lover, nor do I boast of being lovely; but may a man like the Cyclops—smelling of filth like a he-goat, a raw-flesh eater, as they say, and feeding on visiting strangers—be yours, and may you love him back forever!