§25.1ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Ἔχεις μοι εἰπεῖν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, πότερος ὁ Κάστωρ ἐστὶ τούτων ἢ πότερος ὁ Πολυδεύκης;
APOLLO Can you tell me, Hermes, which of these is Castor, or which is Polydeuces?
ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐκ ἂν διακρίναιμι αὐτούς.
For I cannot distinguish them.
ΕΡΜΗΣ
Ὁ μὲν χθὲς ἡμῖν ξυγγενόμενος ἐκεῖνος Κάστωρ ἦν, οὗτος δὲ Πολυδεύκης.
HERMES That one who was with us yesterday was Castor, and this one is Polydeuces.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Πῶς διαγινώσκεις;
APOLLO How do you distinguish them?
ὅμοιοι γάρ.
For they are alike.
ΕΡΜΗΣ
Ὅτι οὗτος μέν, ὦ Ἄπολλον, ἔχει ἐπὶ τοῦ προσώπου τὰ ἴχνη τῶν τραυμάτων ἃ ἔλαβε παρὰ τῶν ἀνταγωνιστῶν πυκτεύων, καὶ μάλιστα ὁπόσα ὑπὸ τοῦ Βέβρυκος Ἀμύκου ἐτρώθη τῷ Ἰάσονι συμπλέων, ἅτερος δὲ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐμφαίνει, ἀλλὰ καθαρός ἐστι καὶ ἀπαθὴς τὸ πρόσωπον.
HERMES Because this one, Apollo, has on his face the marks of the wounds which he received from his opponents while boxing, and especially those which were inflicted on him by Amycus the Bebrycian when he was sailing with Jason; but the other shows nothing of the kind, but is clean and unhurt in his face.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Ὤνησας διδάξας τὰ γνωρίσματα, ἐπεὶ τά γε ἄλλα πάντα ἴσα, τοῦ ᾠοῦ τὸ ἡμίτομον καὶ ἀστὴρ ὑπεράνω καὶ ἀκόντιον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ καὶ ἵππος ἑκατέρῳ λευκός, ὥστε πολλάκις ἐγὼ τὸν μὲν προσεῖπον Κάστορα Πολυδεύκην ὄντα, τὸν δὲ τῷ τοῦ Πολυδεύκους ὀνόματι.
APOLLO You have done me a service by teaching me the distinguishing marks, since everything else indeed is equal: the half of the egg, and the star above, and the javelin in the hand, and the white horse for each, so that I have often addressed the one who was Polydeuces as Castor, and the other by the name of Polydeuces.
ἀτὰρ εἰπέ μοι καὶ τόδε, τί δήποτε οὐκ ἄμφω ξύνεισιν ἡμῖν, ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἡμισείας ἄρτι μὲν νεκρός, ἄρτι δὲ θεός ἐστιν ἅτερος αὐτῶν;
But tell me this also: why on earth do they not both dwell with us, but by halves, now one of them is a dead man, and now a god?
§25.2ΕΡΜΗΣ
Ὑπὸ φιλαδελφίας τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν· ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔδει ἕνα μὲν τεθνάναι τῶν Λήδας υἱέων, ἕνα δὲ ἀθάνατον εἶναι, ἐνείμαντο οὕτως αὐτοὶ τὴν ἀθανασίαν.
HERMES They do this out of brotherly love; for when it was necessary that one of Leda's sons should die, and the other be immortal, they themselves divided immortality in this way.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Οὐ ξυνετήν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, τὴν νομήν, οἵ γε οὐδὲ ὄψονται οὕτως ἀλλήλους, ὅπερ ἐπόθουν, οἶμαι, μάλιστα· πῶς γάρ, ὁ μὲν παρὰ θεοῖς, ὁ δὲ παρὰ τοῖς φθιτοῖς ὤν;
APOLLO Not a wise division, Hermes, since they will not even see each other in this way, which I suppose they desired most of all; for how could they, one being among the gods, and the other among the dead?
πλὴν ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἐγὼ μαντεύομαι, ὁ δὲ Ἀσκληπιὸς ἰᾶται, σὺ δὲ παλαίειν διδάσκεις παιδοτρίβης ἄριστος ὤν, ἡ δὲ Ἄρτεμις μαιεύεται καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστος ἔχει τινὰ τέχνην ἢ θεοῖς ἢ ἀνθρώποις χρησίμην, οὗτοι δὲ τί ποιήσουσιν ἡμῖν;
But, except that as I prophesy, and Asclepius heals, and you teach wrestling, being an excellent trainer of youth, and Artemis acts as midwife, and each of the others has some art useful to gods or to men, what will these two do for us?
ἢ ἀργοὶ εὐωχήσονται τηλικοῦτοι ὄντες;
Or will they, being so big, feast in idleness?
ΕΡΜΗΣ
Οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ προστέτακται αὐτοῖν ὑπηρετεῖν τῷ Ποσειδῶνι καὶ καθιππεύειν δεῖ τὸ πέλαγος καὶ ἐάν που ναύτας χειμαζομένους ἴδωσιν, ἐπικαθίσαντας ἐπὶ τὸ πλοῖον σῴζειν τοὺς ἐμπλέοντας.
HERMES By no means, but they have been commanded to serve Poseidon; and they must ride over the sea, and if they see sailors anywhere caught in a storm, they must sit upon the ship and save those who are sailing in it.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ
Ἀγαθήν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, καὶ σωτήριον λέγεις τὴν τέχνην.
APOLLO An excellent and saving art you speak of, Hermes.