§9ἔστω τοίνυν ἡμῖν ὕπαρ τὸ ὄναρ· σὺ δʼ, ὦ δέσποινα Ἀθηνᾶ, τήν τε ἄλλην δίδου τύχην καὶ χάριν καὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἔφαψαι λόγου, τά τε φανθέντα τέλει πρὸς τὴν ἀξίαν, ὡς ἐναργῆ τῆς νυκτὸς ἐδείκνυτο· ὡς δὲ καὶ ἔργῳ συμβῆναι σαφῆ καὶ βέβαια, ὅδε σοὶ λόγος ἔσται μικτὸς εὐχῆς τε καὶ ὕμνου τὰ νῦν.
Let our dream then be a waking reality for us; and do you, Sovereign Athena, grant all other fortune and grace, and take hold of this present speech, and bring to completion what appeared in accordance with its worth, just as they were shown clearly during the night; so that they may also turn out in deed clear and secure, this speech shall now be for you a mixture of prayer and hymn.
πάντα μὲν οὖν τὰ κάλλιστα περὶ Ἀθηνᾶν τε καὶ ἐξ Ἀθηνᾶς, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀξιολογώτατον αἱ γοναὶ τῆς θεοῦ, κεφάλαιον μὲν εἰπεῖν ὅτι τοῦ πάντων δημιουργοῦ καὶ βασιλέως παῖς ἐστι μόνη δὴ μόνου.
Now, all the most beautiful things are indeed concerning Athena and from Athena, but among these the birth of the goddess is most worthy of account; to speak in sum, she is the daughter of the creator and king of all, she alone indeed of him alone.
οὐ γὰρ εἶχεν ἐξ ὅτου ὁμοτίμου ποιήσειεν αὐτὴν, ἀλλʼ ἀναχωρήσας αὐτὸς εἰς αὑτὸν αὐτὸς ἐξ αὑτοῦ γεννᾷ τε καὶ τίκτει τὴν θεόν· ὥστε ἐστὶ μόνη βεβαίως γνησία τοῦ πατρὸς, ἐξ ἴσου καὶ ὁμολογοῦντος ἑαυτῷ τοῦ γένους γενομένη.
For he had no equal from whom he might create her, but withdrawing himself into himself, he himself from himself generates and gives birth to the goddess; so that she is truly the only legitimate daughter of her father, having been born from an equal race that agrees with himself.
τὸ δὲ ἔτι τούτου μεῖζον, ὅτι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ καλλίστου τῶν ἑαυτοῦ, ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς, ἀνῆκεν αὐτὴν, ὡς ἄρα οὔτε ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνου κεφαλῆς κάλλιον ἦν ἀνελθεῖν οὐδὲν οὔτε Ἀθηνᾷ τόπος βελτίων ἀνασχεῖν· ἀλλὰ κατʼ ἀξίαν ἄμφω συνέβαινε.
But what is still greater than this: that he sent her forth from the most beautiful of his own parts, from his head, as if indeed nothing more beautiful could have come forth from his head, nor was there any better place for Athena to rise up; but both things happened in accordance with worth.
γενομένη δʼ ἐκ Διὸς καὶ μόνου καὶ ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς οὐχ ἧττον τούτων θαυμαστὸν τὸ τέταρτον ἐφείλκετο, ὃ δή φασι συμβῆναι περὶ τὸ χάσμα τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ θεοῦ φάσμα· ἀνῄει γὰρ εὐθὺς ἔνοπλος, ὥσπερ ἥλιος ἀνίσχων ὁμοῦ ταῖς ἀκτῖσιν, ἔνδοθεν κοσμηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ
And having been born from Zeus alone and from his head, she brought with herself a fourth wonder no less than these, a vision which they say occurred around the cleft of the god's head; for she arose straightway in arms, just like the sun rising together with its rays, having been adorned from within by her father.
§10πατρός. διὸ δὴ καὶ οὐ θέμις οὐδέποτε αὐτὴν καταλιπεῖν τὸν πατέρα, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ πάρεστί τε καὶ συνδιαιτᾶται, καθάπερ συμπεφυκυῖα, ἀναπνεῖ τε εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ σύνεστι μόνη μόνῳ τῆς γενέσεως μεμνημένη, καὶ τῶν ὠδίνων ἀποδιδοῦσα πρέποντα τὸν μισθόν.
Wherefore indeed it is never lawful for her to leave her father, but she is always present and dwells with him, as if grown together, and she breathes into him and is with him, alone with him alone, remembering her birth, and returning a fitting reward for his birth-pangs.
δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ πρεσβυτάτη θεῶν φῦναι, ἢ κομιδῆ τινῶν εὐαριθμήτων καὶ τῶν πρώτων ὄντων ἐν τῷ τότε· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἄλλως ἕκαστα ὁ Ζεὺς διεῖλεν, εἰ μὴ πάρεδρόν τε καὶ σύμβουλον τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν παρεκαθίσατο.
And she seems to me to have been born even as the eldest of the gods, or at least equal to some very few who were the first in those days; for Zeus would not otherwise have distributed each thing, unless he had seated Athena beside him as his assessor and counselor.
καὶ γάρ τοι μόνη μὲν τὴν αἰγίδα διʼ αἰῶνος φορεῖ, μόνη δὲ τοῖς τοῦ πατρὸς ὅπλοις εἰς τὸν Ὁμηρικὸν πόλεμον κοσμεῖται· οἷα δὲ ἐν αὐλῇ θαυματοποιῶν ἅμα τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὅ τε Ζεὺς καὶ ἡ θεὸς χρῆται.
For indeed she alone wears the aegis through all time, and she alone is adorned with her father's weapons for the Homeric war; and Zeus and the goddess use the same things together, like the props of magicians in a courtyard.
οὕτως δʼ ἐστὶν αἰδέσιμος τῷ πατρὶ καὶ πάντων κεκοινώνηκε καὶ τὰ πρεσβεῖα μόνη κατείληφεν, ὥστε καὶ τῶν ποιητῶν οὓς ἂν μάλιστά τις εἴποι τυχεῖν τῆς θεοῦ, Ὅμηρος μὲν τῆς αἰγίδος αὐτῆς μνησθεὶς καὶ τοῦ τρῶσαι δαίμονος ἐπιχειρήσαντος λέγει
"σμερδαλέην, ἣν οὐδὲ Διὸς δάμνησι κεραυνὸς,"
λέγων ἀσφαλῶς, ἐπειδή γε καὶ τῷ Διὶ τῶν σκηπτῶν καὶ κεραυνῶν πλείονος ἄξια τὰ παρὰ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς.
And she is so revered by her father and has shared in all things and alone has obtained the privileges, that even of the poets whom one might say especially hit upon the truth of the goddess, Homer, on the one hand, mentioning her aegis itself and the one who attempted to wound the deity, says: "terrible, which not even the thunderbolt of Zeus subdues," speaking accurately, since indeed even for Zeus the things from Athena are of more value than his scepters and thunderbolts.
Πίνδαρος δʼ αὖ φησι δεξιὰν κατὰ χεῖρα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτὴν καθεζομένην τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῖς θεοῖς ἀποδέχεσθαι.
And Pindar, on the other hand, says that she, sitting at the right hand of her father, receives his commands for the gods.
ἀγγέλου μὲν γάρ ἐστι μείζων, ἥ γε τῶν ἀγγέλων ἄλλοις ἄλλα ἐπιτάττει πρώτη παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς παραλαμβάνουσα, ἀντʼ ἐξηγητοῦ τινος οὖσα τοῖς θεοῖς [καὶ εἰσαγωγέως, ὅταν καὶ τούτου δέῃ].
For she is greater than a messenger, she who first receives from her father and commands different things to different messengers, being like a kind of interpreter to the gods and an introducer, when there is need of this too.
ἅτε δὲ ἐν κορυφῇ τε τοῦ Ὀλύμπου καὶ ἐκ κορυφῆς τοῦ Διὸς γενομένη πόλεών τε πασῶν τὰς κορυφὰς ἔχει κατὰ κράτος ὡς ἀληθῶς ᾑρηκυῖα καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὅσοι θεοφιλεῖς οὐκ Ἄτη πατεῖ τὰς κεφαλὰς, Ἀθηνᾶ δὲ ἀνέχει καὶ ἐμβατεύει, τηροῦσα τὸ σύμβολον τῆς αὑτῆς γενέσεως.
And since she was both on the peak of Olympus and born from the peak of Zeus, she holds by force the peaks of all cities, having truly taken them, and as for those of men who are beloved of the gods, Ruin does not tread upon their heads, but Athena supports them and walks upon them, keeping the symbol of her own birth.
τὸ μὲν δὴ κράτος τῆς θεοῦ τοσοῦτον ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ γῇ.
Such indeed is the power of the goddess in heaven and on earth.
ὅσου δὲ ἀξία θεοῖς τε καὶ ἀνθρώποις ἐστί τε καὶ γεγένηται καὶ γενήσεται θεῶν μὲν ἂν παῖδες ἄμεινον εἴποιεν ὅσοι χορευταὶ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, πειρατέον δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν
But of how great value she is, has been, and will be to gods and men, those children of the gods who are dancers of Athena could speak better, yet we too must try.