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Lucian · Dialogues of The Sea-Gods §7.1-7.2

The Apple of Discord and the Judgment of Paris

Passage 7 of 15 · Greek

Summary

Panope and Galene converse about how Eris threw a golden apple during the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the ensuing dispute among the three goddesses, and Zeus's decision to refer the judgment to Paris.

§7.1ΠΑΝΟΠΗ Εἶδες, ὦ Γαλήνη, χθὲς οἷα ἐποίησεν ἡ Ἔρις παρὰ τὸ δεῖπνον ἐν Θετταλίᾳ, διότι μὴ καὶ αὐτὴ ἐκλήθη εἰς τὸ συμπόσιον;
PANOPÈ Did you see, Galene, what Eris did yesterday during the banquet in Thessaly, because she herself was not invited to the feast?
ΓΑΛΗΝΗ Οὐ συνειστιώμην ὑμῖν ἔγωγε· ὁ γὰρ Ποσειδῶν ἐκέλευσέ με, ὦ Πανόπη, ἀκύμαντον ἐν τοσούτῳ φυλάττειν τὸ πέλαγος.
GALENE I was not feasting with you myself; for Poseidon ordered me, Panope, to keep the sea calm during that time.
τί δ’ οὖν ἐποίησεν ἡ Ἔρις μὴ παροῦσα;
What, then, did Eris do, not being present?
ΠΑΝΟΠΗ Ἡ Θέτις μὲν ἤδη καὶ ὁ Πηλεὺς ἀπεληλύθεσαν ἐς τὸν θάλαμον ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀμφιτρίτης καὶ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος παραπεμφθέντες, ἡ Ἔρις δὲ ἐν τοσούτῳ λαθοῦσα πάντας—ἐδυνήθη δὲ ῥᾳδίως, τῶν μὲν πινόντων, ἐνίων δὲ κροτούντων ἢ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι κιθαρίζοντι ἢ ταῖς Μούσαις ᾀδούσαις προσεχόντων τὸν νοῦν—ἐνέβαλεν ἐς τὸ συμπόσιον μῆλόν τι πάγκαλον, χρυσοῦν ὅλον, ὦ Γαλήνη· ἐπεγέγραπτο δὲ “ἡ καλὴ λαβέτω. ” κυλινδούμενον δὲ τοῦτο ὥσπερ ἐξεπίτηδες ἧκεν ἔνθα Ἥρα τε καὶ Ἀφροδίτη καὶ Ἀθηνᾶ κατεκλίνοντο.
PANOPÈ Thetis and Peleus had already departed to their chamber, escorted by Amphitrite and Poseidon, but Eris meanwhile, escaping everyone's notice—which she could easily do, while some were drinking, others applauding, or paying attention either to Apollo playing the cithara or to the Muses singing—threw into the banquet a very beautiful apple, entirely of gold, Galene; and on it was inscribed, "Let the beautiful one take it." And this, rolling as if on purpose, came to where Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena were reclining.
§7.2ΠΑΝΟΠΗ κἀπειδὴ ὁ Ἑρμῆς ἀνελόμενος ἐπελέξατο τὰ γεγραμμένα, αἱ μὲν Νηρεΐδες ἡμεῖς ἐσιωπήσαμεν. τί γὰρ ἔδει ποιεῖν ἐκείνων παρουσῶν;
PANOPÈ And when Hermes picked it up and read what was written, we Nereids kept silent; for what were we to do in the presence of those goddesses?
αἱ δὲ ἀντεποιοῦντο ἑκάστη καὶ αὑτῆς εἶναι τὸ μῆλον ἠξίουν, καὶ εἰ μή γε ὁ Ζεὺς διέστησεν αὐτάς, καὶ ἄχρι χειρῶν ἂν τὸ πρᾶγμα προὐχώρησεν.
But they contested it, each claiming the apple as her own, and if Zeus had not separated them, the matter would even have come to blows.
ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνος, Αὐτὸς μὲν οὐ κρινῶ, φησί, περὶ τούτου,—καίτοι ἐκεῖναι αὐτὸν δικάσαι ἠξίουν—ἄπιτε δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἴδην παρὰ τὸν Πριάμου παῖδα, ὃς οἶδέ τε διαγνῶναι τὸ κάλλιον φιλόκαλος ὤν, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἐκεῖνος κρίναι κακῶς. ΓΑΛΗΝΗ Τί οὖν αἱ θεαί, ὦ Πανόπη;
But he said, "I myself will not judge of this,"—although they demanded that he should judge—"but go to Ida to the son of Priam, who knows how to distinguish the more beautiful, being a lover of beauty, and he would not judge badly." GALENE What then did the goddesses do, Panope?
ΠΑΝΟΠΗ Τήμερον, οἶμαι, ἀπίασιν εἰς τὴν Ἴδην, καί τις ἥξει μετὰ μικρὸν ἀπαγγέλλων ἡμῖν τὴν κρατοῦσαν.
PANOPÈ Today, I think, they are departing for Ida, and someone will come in a little while to report the winner to us.
ΓΑΛΗΝΗ Ἤδη σοί φημι, οὐκ ἄλλη κρατήσει τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἀγωνιζομένης, ἢν μὴ πάνυ ὁ διαιτητὴς ἀμβλυώττῃ.
GALENE I tell you right now, no other will win with Aphrodite competing, unless the judge is utterly dim-sighted.

Notes

  1. §7.1διότι μὴ καὶ αὐτὴ ἐκλήθη — In the causal clause introduced by `διότι`, `μή` is used instead of the expected `οὐ` with the indicative. This either expresses a subjective reason ("on the grounds that she herself was not invited") or reflects the expanding use of `μή` in post-classical Greek.
  2. ¦301¦τῶν μὲν πινόντων, ἐνίων δὲ κροτούντων ἢ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι κιθαρίζοντι ἢ ταῖς Μούσαις ᾀδούσαις προσεχόντων τὸν νοῦν — A complex genitive absolute construction consisting of multiple genitive participles (`πινόντων`, `κροτούντων`, `προσεχόντων`). The phrase `προσεχόντων τὸν νοῦν` ("paying attention") governs the dative, which takes the coordinated dative noun-participle combinations `τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι κιθαρίζοντι` ("to Apollo playing the cithara") and `ταῖς Μούσαις ᾀδούσαις` ("to the Muses singing").
  3. §7.2εἰ μή γε ὁ Ζεὺς διέστησεν αὐτάς, καὶ ἄχρι χειρῶν ἂν τὸ πρᾶγμα προὐχώρησεν — A past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The protasis consists of `εἰ` with an aorist indicative (`διέστησεν`), and the apodosis consists of `ἄν` with an aorist indicative (`προὐχώρησεν`), expressing an unfulfilled past possibility: "if Zeus had not separated them, the matter would have come to blows."
  4. §7.2φιλόκαλος ὤν — The present participle `ὤν` agrees in gender, number, and case (masculine singular nominative) with the subject of the clause (`ὁ Πριάμου παῖς`, i.e., Paris), functioning adverbially to express cause ("since he is a lover of beauty").

Cite this passage

Lucian, Dialogues of The Sea-Gods §7.1-7.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0062.tlg067.humanitext-grc3:7.1-7.2

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