§16.1ΕΡΜΗΣ
Τί κατηφὴς εἶ, ὦ Ἄπολλον;
HERMES Why are you downcast, O Apollo?
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Ὅτι, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, δυστυχῶ ἐν τοῖς ἐρωτικοῖς.
APOLLO Because, Hermes, I am unfortunate in matters of love.
ΕΡΜΗΣ
Ἄξιον μὲν λύπης τὸ τοιοῦτο· σὺ δὲ τί δυστυχεῖς;
HERMES Such a thing is indeed worthy of grief; but what is your misfortune?
ἢ τὸ κατὰ τὴν Δάφνην σε λυπεῖ ἔτι;
Or does the affair of Daphne still grieve you?
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Οὐδαμῶς· ἀλλὰ ἐρώμενον πενθῶ τὸν Λάκωνα τὸν Οἰβάλου.
APOLLO Not at all; but I am mourning my beloved, the Laconian, the son of Oebalus.
ΕΡΜΗΣ
Τέθνηκε γάρ, εἰπέ μοι, ὁ Ὑάκινθος;
HERMES For is Hyacinthus dead, tell me?
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Καὶ μάλα.
APOLLO Very much so.
ΕΡΜΗΣ
Πρὸς τίνος, ὦ Ἄπολλον;
HERMES By whom, O Apollo?
ἢ τίς οὕτως ἀνέραστος ἦν ὡς ἀποκτεῖναι τὸ καλὸν ἐκεῖνο μειράκιον;
Or who was so unlovely as to kill that beautiful boy?
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Αὐτοῦ ἐμοῦ τὸ ἔργον.
APOLLO It was the deed of myself.
ΕΡΜΗΣ
Οὐκοῦν ἐμάνης, ὦ Ἄπολλον;
HERMES Were you mad then, O Apollo?
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Οὔκ, ἀλλὰ δυστύχημά τι ἀκούσιον ἐγένετο.
APOLLO No, but it was an involuntary misfortune.
ΕΡΜΗΣ
Πῶς;
HERMES How?
ἐθέλω γὰρ ἀκοῦσαι τὸν τρόπον.
For I wish to hear the manner of it.
§16.2ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Δισκεύειν ἐμάνθανε κἀγὼ συνεδίσκευον αὐτῷ, ὁ δὲ κάκιστα ἀνέμων ἀπολούμενος ὁ Ζέφυρος ἤρα μὲν ἐκ πολλοῦ καὶ αὐτός, ἀμελούμενος δὲ καὶ μὴ φέρων τὴν ὑπεροψίαν ταῦτα εἰργάσατο·
APOLLO He was learning to throw the discus, and I was throwing it with him. But Zephyrus, who of all winds deserves to perish most miserably, had also loved him for a long time; and being neglected and unable to bear this slight, he did this.
ἐγὼ μὲν ἀνέρριψα, ὥσπερ εἰώθειμεν, τὸν δίσκον εἰς τὸ ἄνω, ὁ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ταϋγέτου καταπνεύσας ἐπὶ κεφαλὺν τῷ παιδὶ ἐνέσεισε φέρων αὐτόν, ὥστε ἀπὸ τῆς πληγῆς αἷμα ῥυῆναι πολὺ καὶ τὸν παῖδα εὐθὺς ἀποθανεῖν.
I threw the discus upward, as we were accustomed, but he, blowing down from Taygetus, carried it and dashed it against the boy's head, so that from the blow much blood flowed and the boy died immediately.
ἀλλὰ ἐγὼ τὸν μὲν Ζέφυρον αὐτίκα ἠμυνάμην κατατοξεύσας, φεύγοντι ἐπισπόμενος ἄχρι τοῦ ὄρους, τῷ παιδὶ δὲ καὶ τὸν τάφον μὲν ἐχωσάμην ἐν Ἀμύκλαις, ὅπου ὁ δίσκος αὐτὸν κατέβαλε, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος ἄνθος ἀναδοῦναι τὴν γῆν ἐποίησα ἥδιστον, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, καὶ εὐανθέστατον ἀνθῶν ἁπάντων, ἔτι καὶ γράμματα ἔχον ἐπαιάζοντα τῷ νεκρῷ.
However, I immediately punished Zephyrus by shooting him with arrows, pursuing him as he fled as far as the mountain; and for the boy, I raised a tomb in Amyclae where the discus struck him down, and from his blood I made the earth bring forth a flower, O Hermes, the sweetest and most beautiful of all flowers, which even has letters mourning the dead.
ἆρά σοι ἀλόγως λελυπῆσθαι δοκῶ;
Do I seem to you to grieve unreasonably?
ΕΡΜΗΣ
Ναί, ὦ Ἄπολλον· ᾔδεις γὰρ θνητὸν πεποιημένος τὸν ἐρώμενον· ὥστε μὴ ἄχθου ἀποθανόντος.
HERMES Yes, O Apollo; for you knew that you had made a mortal your beloved; so do not grieve that he has died.