§928θεοῦ μέγιστον δῶρον.
That is the greatest gift of God.
ὀλβίσαι δὲ χρὴ §929βίον τελευτήσαντ᾽ ἐν εὐεστοῖ φίλῃ.
And we must call happy the one who has ended his life in beloved prosperity.
§930εἰ πάντα δ᾽ ὣς πράσσοιμ᾽ ἄν, εὐθαρσὴς ἐγώ.
If I could act in all things in this way, I should be of good courage.
§931καὶ μὴν τόδ᾽ εἰπὲ μὴ παρὰ γνώμην ἐμοί.
And yet, tell me this, not contrary to my wish.
§932γνώμην μὲν ἴσθι μὴ διαφθεροῦντ᾽ ἐμέ.
Know well that I shall by no means corrupt my resolve.
§933ηὔξω θεοῖς δείσας ἂν ὧδ᾽ ἔρδειν τάδε;
Would you, having feared the gods, have vowed to do this in this way?
§934εἴπερ τις, εἰδώς γ᾽ εὖ τόδ᾽ ἐξεῖπον τέλος.
If anyone ever did, I, with full knowledge, have declared this final decision.
§935τί δ᾽ ἂν δοκεῖ σοι Πρίαμος, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἤνυσεν;
And what do you think Priam would have done, if he had accomplished this?
§936ἐν ποικίλοις ἂν κάρτα μοι βῆναι δοκεῖ.
I think indeed that he would have walked upon embroidered cloths.
§937μή νυν τὸν ἀνθρώπειον αἰδεσθῇς ψόγον.
Do not then be ashamed of human censure.
§938φήμη γε μέντοι δημόθρους μέγα σθένει.
Yet clamorous popular rumor has great power.
§939ὁ δ᾽ ἀφθόνητός γ᾽ οὐκ ἐπίζηλος πέλει.
But the one who is unenvied is not envied.
§940οὔτοι γυναικός ἐστιν ἱμείρειν μάχης.
It is surely not a woman's part to desire battle.
§941τοῖς δ᾽ ὀλβίοις γε καὶ τὸ νικᾶσθαι πρέπει.
But for the prosperous, even to be defeated is becoming.
§942ἦ καὶ σὺ νίκην τήνδε δήριος τίεις;
Do you also value this victory in our strife?
§943πιθοῦ: κράτος μέντοι πάρες γ᾽ ἑκὼν ἐμοί.
Yield; but yield the victory to me willingly.
Well, if this is your pleasure, let someone quickly loose my boots, the foot's slave-like support.
And as I walk upon these purple cloths of the gods, may no envy of a god's eye strike me from afar.
For there is great shame in destroying the house with feet, ruining our wealth and fabrics bought with silver.
§950τούτων μὲν οὕτω: τὴν ξένην δὲ πρευμενῶς §951τήνδ᾽ ἐσκόμιζε: τὸν κρατοῦντα μαλθακῶς §952θεὸς πρόσωθεν εὐμενῶς προσδέρκεται.
So much for these things; but receive this foreign woman kindly; on the one who rules gently, god looks from afar with favor.
§953ἑκὼν γὰρ οὐδεὶς δουλίῳ χρῆται ζυγῷ.
For no one willingly submits to the slave's yoke.
And she, the chosen flower of many possessions, the gift of the army, has followed me.
Since I have been subdued to obey you in these things, I will go into the halls of my house, treading upon purple.
§958ἔστιν θάλασσα, τίς δέ νιν κατασβέσει; §959τρέφουσα πολλῆς πορφύρας ἰσάργυρον §960κηκῖδα παγκαίνιστον, εἱμάτων βαφάς.
There is the sea—and who shall dry it up?— nurturing the ever-renewed, silver-equal ooze of abundant purple, the dye for garments.
And our house, by the favor of the gods, has plenty of these, O king, to possess; the house does not know how to be poor.
§963πολλῶν πατησμὸν δ᾽ εἱμάτων ἂν ηὐξάμην, §964δόμοισι προυνεχθέντος ἐν χρηστηρίοις, §965ψυχῆς κόμιστρα τῆσδε μηχανωμένῃ.
I would have vowed the trampling of many garments, had it been proposed to our house in the oracle, as I contrived the means of bringing back this soul.
For while the root exists, leafage comes to the house, spreading shade against the Dog-star.
§968καὶ σοῦ μολόντος δωματῖτιν ἑστίαν, §969θάλπος μὲν ἐν χειμῶνι σημαίνεις μολόν: §970ὅταν δὲ τεύχῃ Ζεὺς ἀπ᾽ ὄμφακος πικρᾶς §971οἶνον, τότ᾽ ἤδη ψῦχος ἐν δόμοις πέλει, §972ἀνδρὸς τελείου δῶμ᾽ ἐπιστρωφωμένου.
And when you come to the hearth of your home, you signify warmth coming in winter; and when Zeus makes wine from the bitter, unripe grape, then indeed coolness comes into the house, when the complete man visits his home.
Zeus, Zeus the Completer, fulfill my prayers; and may you care for whatever you are about to fulfill.
§975τίπτε μοι τόδ᾽ ἐμπέδως §976δεῖμα προστατήριον §977καρδίας τερασκόπου ποτᾶται, §978μαντιπολεῖ δ᾽ ἀκέλευστος ἄμισθος ἀοιδά, §980οὐδ᾽ ἀποπτύσαι δίκαν §981δυσκρίτων ὀνειράτων §982θάρσος εὐπειθὲς ἵζει §983φρενὸς φίλον θρόνον;
Why does this hovering terror, firmly stationed before my heart, flutter before my prophesying mind, singing an unbidden, unpaid song of prophecy, nor can trustworthy confidence sit upon my mind's beloved throne, spitting it out like hard-to-interpret dreams?
χρόνος δ᾽ ἐπὶ §984πρυμνησίων ξυνεμβολαῖς §985ψαμμίας ἀκάτας παρή- §986βησεν, εὖθ᾽ ὑπ᾽ Ἴλιον §987ὦρτο ναυβάτας στρατός.
Time has grown old since the casting together of the stern-cables, for the sandy ships, when the seafaring host started for Ilium.
§988πεύθομαι δ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ὀμμάτων §989νόστον, αὐτόμαρτυς ὤν: §990τὸν δ᾽ ἄνευ λύρας ὅμως ὑμνῳδεῖ §991θρῆνον Ἐρινύος αὐτοδίδακτος ἔσωθεν §992θυμός, οὐ τὸ πᾶν ἔχων §993ἐλπίδος φίλον θράσος.
And I learn of their return from my eyes, being myself a witness; yet my inner soul, self-taught, nevertheless sings the lyreless dirge of the Erinys, not possessing at all the beloved confidence of hope.
And my heart does not play false, circling in just and complete-bringing eddies against my prophetic mind.
But I pray that these things may fall out contrary to my hope, unto unfulfillment.
§1001μάλα γέ τοι τὸ μεγάλας ὑγιείας §1002ἀκόρεστον τέρμα. νόσος γάρ <ἀεὶ> §1003γείτων ὁμότοιχος ἐρείδει,
Indeed, great health has an insatiable limit; for disease, a close neighbor sharing the same wall, presses hard.
And the straight-sailing fate of man strikes against an unseen reef.
§1008καὶ τὸ μὲν πρὸ χρημάτων §1009κτησίων ὄκνος βαλὼν §1010σφενδόνας ἀπ᾽ εὐμέτρου, §1011οὐκ ἔδυ πρόπας δόμος §1012πημονᾶς γέμων ἄγαν, §1013οὐδ᾽ ἐπόντισε σκάφος.
And if caution throws away a part of the possessions from a well-measured sling, from a well-measured sling, the whole house does not sink, teeming too much with ruin, nor does it submerge the vessel.
Truly, a bountiful gift from Zeus, abundant and from the annual furrows, destroys the disease of hunger.
§1017τὸ δ᾽ ἐπὶ γᾶν πεσὸν ἅπαξ θανάσιμον §1020προπάροιθ᾽ ἀνδρὸς μέλαν αἷμα τίς ἂν §1021πάλιν ἀγκαλέσαιτ᾽ ἐπαείδων;
But once the dark, deadly blood of a man has fallen to the ground before him, who could call it back again with incantations?
Did not Zeus stop the one who knew how to raise the dead from among the deceased, as a caution?