§619ἥξει σὺν ὑμῖν, τῆσδε γῆς φίλον κράτος.
Will he arrive with you, the beloved power of this land?
There is no way that I could tell pleasant falsehoods for my friends to enjoy for a long time.
§622πῶς δῆτ᾽ ἂν εἰπὼν κεδνὰ τἀληθῆ τύχοις;
How then, by speaking what is true, might you also hit upon what is good?
§623σχισθέντα δ᾽ οὐκ εὔκρυπτα γίγνεται τάδε.
When these two are severed, they are not easily hidden.
The man is vanished from the Achaean host, himself and his ship.
οὐ ψευδῆ λέγω.
I do not speak falsehood.
Did he set sail openly from Ilium, or did a storm, a common distress, snatch him away from the army?
You hit the mark like a master archer; you have expressed a long suffering in brief.
Was his rumor reported by other mariners as living or dead?
No one knows so as to report clearly, except the Sun who nurtures the earth's nature.
How do you say that the storm came upon the naval host and ended through the anger of the gods?
It is not fitting to stain a day of good omen with a tongue of ill tidings; the honor of the gods is kept separate.
§638ὅταν δ᾽ ἀπευκτὰ πήματ᾽ ἄγγελος πόλει §639στυγνῷ προσώπῳ πτωσίμου στρατοῦ φέρῃ, §640πόλει μὲν ἕλκος ἓν τὸ δήμιον τυχεῖν, §641πολλοὺς δὲ πολλῶν ἐξαγισθέντας δόμων §642ἄνδρας διπλῇ μάστιγι, τὴν Ἄρης φιλεῖ, §643δίλογχον ἄτην, φοινίαν ξυνωρίδα: §644τοιῶνδε μέντοι πημάτων σεσαγμένον §645πρέπει λέγειν παιᾶνα τόνδ᾽ Ἐρινύων.
But when a messenger with gloomy face brings to a city the detestable woes of a fallen army— that the state has received one common wound, and that many men from many homes have been driven out by the double whip which Ares loves, a two-pronged ruin, a bloody pair— when, packed with such woes, it is fitting to sing this paean of the Erinyes.
§646σωτηρίων δὲ πραγμάτων εὐάγγελον §647ἥκοντα πρὸς χαίρουσαν εὐεστοῖ πόλιν, §648πῶς κεδνὰ τοῖς κακοῖσι συμμίξω, λέγων §649χειμῶν᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς οὐκ ἀμήνιτον θεῶν;
But as a messenger of good tidings of saving events, coming to a city rejoicing in prosperity, how shall I mingle good news with bad, by telling of a storm that came upon the Achaeans, not without the anger of the gods?
§650ξυνώμοσαν γάρ, ὄντες ἔχθιστοι τὸ πρίν, §651πῦρ καὶ θάλασσα, καὶ τὰ πίστ᾽ ἐδειξάτην §652φθείροντε τὸν δύστηνον Ἀργείων στρατόν.
For they swore an oath together, though they were most hostile before, Fire and Sea, and they displayed their pledges of faith by destroying the wretched Argive host.
§653ἐν νυκτὶ δυσκύμαντα δ᾽ ὠρώρει κακά.
In the night arose the woes of the heavy seas.
§654ναῦς γὰρ πρὸς ἀλλήλαισι Θρῄκιαι πνοαὶ §655ἤρεικον: αἱ δὲ κεροτυπούμεναι βίᾳ §656χειμῶνι τυφῶ σὺν ζάλῃ τ᾽ ὀμβροκτύπῳ, §657ᾤχοντ᾽ ἄφαντοι, ποιμένος κακοῦ στρόβῳ.
For Thracian blasts dashed the ships against one another; and they, violently struck by the storm-typhoon and the rain-beaten spray, went out of sight, whirled by an evil shepherd.
§658ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἀνῆλθε λαμπρὸν ἡλίου φάος, §659ὁρῶμεν ἀνθοῦν πέλαγος Αἰγαῖον νεκροῖς §660ἀνδρῶν Ἀχαιῶν ναυτικοῖς τ᾽ ἐρειπίοις.
And when the bright light of the sun arose, we saw the Aegean sea blossoming with the corpses of Achaean men and naval wreckage.
§661ἡμᾶς γε μὲν δὴ ναῦν τ᾽ ἀκήρατον σκάφος §662ἤτοι τις ἐξέκλεψεν ἢ ᾽ξῃτήσατο §663θεός τις, οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, οἴακος θιγών.
But as for us and our ship, its hull undamaged, some god, not a man, either stole us away or begged us off, laying his hand upon the helm.
§664τύχη δὲ σωτὴρ ναῦν θέλουσ᾽ ἐφέζετο, §665ὡς μήτ᾽ ἐν ὅρμῳ κύματος ζάλην ἔχειν §666μήτ᾽ ἐξοκεῖλαι πρὸς κραταίλεων χθόνα.
And Savior Fortune sat upon our ship of her own will, so that we neither suffered the swelling of the waves at anchorage, nor ran aground on the rocky shore.
§667ἔπειτα δ᾽ Ἅιδην πόντιον πεφευγότες, §668λευκὸν κατ᾽ ἦμαρ, οὐ πεποιθότες τύχῃ, §669ἐβουκολοῦμεν φροντίσιν νέον πάθος, §670στρατοῦ καμόντος καὶ κακῶς σποδουμένου.
Then, having escaped the watery Hades, in the white day, not trusting our fortune, we shepherded in our thoughts our fresh grief, for our army that was weary and miserably battered.
And now, if any of them is still breathing, they speak of us as perished, why not?
§673ἡμεῖς τ᾽ ἐκείνους ταὔτ᾽ ἔχειν δοξάζομεν.
And we imagine that they suffer the same.
§674γένοιτο δ᾽ ὡς ἄριστα.
May it turn out for the best.
Μενέλεων γὰρ οὖν §675πρῶτόν τε καὶ μάλιστα προσδόκα μολεῖν.
And as for Menelaus, expect him to return first and foremost.
§676εἰ δ᾽ οὖν τις ἀκτὶς ἡλίου νιν ἱστορεῖ §677καὶ ζῶντα καὶ βλέποντα, μηχαναῖς Διός, §678οὔπω θέλοντος ἐξαναλῶσαι γένος, §679ἐλπίς τις αὐτὸν πρὸς δόμους ἥξειν πάλιν.
If indeed some ray of the sun knows him to be alive and seeing the light, by the devices of Zeus, who does not yet wish to destroy the race utterly, there is some hope that he will return home again.
§680τοσαῦτ᾽ ἀκούσας ἴσθι τἀληθῆ κλύων.
Having heard so much, know that you have heard the truth.
§681τίς ποτ᾽ ὠνόμαζεν ὧδ᾽ §682ἐς τὸ πᾶν ἐτητύμωσ— §683μή τις ὅντιν᾽ οὐχ ὁρῶ- §684μεν προνοίαισι τοῦ πεπρωμένου §685γλῶσσαν ἐν τύχᾳ νέμων; — §686τὰν δορίγαμβρον ἀμφινει- §687κῆ θ᾽ Ἑλέναν;
Who was it that named her thus in all truth— was it someone whom we do not see, guiding his tongue in fortune by providences of destiny?— Helen, the bride of the spear and object of strife?
ἐπεὶ πρεπόντως §688ἑλένας, ἕλανδρος, ἑλέπτολις, §690ἐκ τῶν ἁβροτίυων §691προκαλυμμάτων ἔπλευσε §692ζεφύρου γίγαντος αὔρᾳ,
Since fittingly, a destroyer of ships, destroyer of men, destroyer of cities, from her delicate, costly veils she sailed forth before the breath of the giant Zephyr.
§693πολύανδροί τε φεράσπιδες §695κυναγοὶ κατ᾽ ἴχνος πλατᾶν ἄφαντον §696κελσάντων Σιμόεντος §697ἀκτὰς ἐπ᾽ ἀεξιφύλλους §698δι᾽ ἔριν αἱματόεσσαν.
And many shield-bearing hunters followed along the invisible track of her oars to where they put in at the leafy shores of Simois because of bloody strife.
§699Ἰλίῳ δὲ κῆδος ὀρθ- §700ώνυμον τελεσσίφρων §701μῆνις ἤλασεν, τραπέ- §702ζας ἀτίμωσιν ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ §703καὶ ξυνεστίου Διὸς §704πρασσομένα τὸ νυμφότι- §706μον μέλος ἐκφάτως τίοντας, §707ὑμέναιον, ὃς τότ᾽ ἐπέρρεπεν §708γαμβροῖσιν ἀείδειν.
But a wrath that works its will brought to Ilium a marriage-alliance truly named, punishing in after-time the dishonor of the table and of Zeus who shares the hearth, upon those who loudly celebrated the bride-honoring song, the hymenaeal chant which then fell to the bridegroom's kin to sing.
§709μεταμανθάνουσα δ᾽ ὕμνον §710Πριάμου πόλις γεραιὰ §711πολύθρηνον μέγα που στένει §712κικλήσκουσα Πάριν τὸν αἰνόλεκτρον, §713παμπορθῆ πολύθρηνον §715αἰῶνα διαὶ πολιτᾶν §716μέλεον αἷμ᾽ ἀνατλᾶσα.
But learning a new song, Priam's ancient city now groans aloud, calling Paris 'the ill-wedded', in great mourning, enduring a life of utter ruin and much lamentation because of the pitiful blood of her citizens.
§717ἔθρεψεν δὲ λέοντος ἶ- §718νιν δόμοις ἀγάλακτον οὕ- §719τως ἀνὴρ φιλόμαστον, §720ἐν βιότου προτελείοις §721ἅμερον, εὐφιλόπαιδα §722καὶ γεραροῖς ἐπίχαρτον.
So a man reared in his house a lion's cub, robbed of its milk, still longing for the breast, in the first stage of its life, gentle, fond of children, and a delight to the old.
§723πολέα δ᾽ ἔσκ᾽ ἐν ἀγκάλαις
And often it was in their arms,