§25τίνος μὲν οὐ λαμπρότερα τῶν Ἑλληνίδων;
Of which of the Greek cities are the deeds not more glorious than here?
τίνος δὲ οὐκ ἐπισημότερα ἢ κατὰ γῆν ἢ κατὰ θάλατταν;
Of which are they not more renowned, either by land or by sea?
τίνων δὲ ἔργα καὶ πράξεις περιφανέστεραι;
Of whom are the works and actions more illustrious?
ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐ πολέμων ὁ παρὼν καιρός· ὥστʼ οὐδὲ ἡ μνήμη ἐν καιρῷ ἂν ἐρρήθη τῶν τοιούτων, πανηγυριζόντων τε τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ ὁμονοούντων ἐν τῇ καλλίστῃ τῶν πανηγύρεων τῇδε καὶ ὀνομαστοτάτῃ, διὰ δυοῖν δὶς εἰς ἓν συνιούσῃ, διπλασιαζομένῃ τε παρὰ τὰς ἄλλας καὶ προσιούσῃ, καὶ φθανούσῃ τὰς λοιπὰς καὶ αὖθις ἐπικαταλαμβανούσῃ ἀτεχνῶς ὥσπερ ἐν ἁρματηλασίαις, εἴ πως ἦν ἰδεῖν ἀνθρώποις οὖσι φερόμενον τὸ Ποσειδῶνος ἅρμα, καὶ ἐπὶ κοινὸν κρατῆρα συνιόντων καὶ σπενδόντων τε ἅμα καὶ θυόντων, καὶ θεωρίας ἀπαγόντων τῷ τε Ποσειδῶνι καὶ τῇ Ἀμφιτρίτῃ καὶ τῷ Παλαίμονι καὶ τῇ Λευκοθέᾳ.
But indeed, the present is not a time for wars; wherefore not even the memory of such things would have been spoken in season, while the Greeks are holding festival and are of one mind in this most beautiful and most famous of festivals, which meets twice in two years into one, being doubled compared to the others and approaching, and anticipating the remaining ones and in turn catching them up, literally as in chariot races, if somehow it were possible for men to see the chariot of Poseidon being borne along, and while they are coming together to a common bowl and both pouring libations and sacrificing at the same time, and bringing embassies of spectators to Poseidon, Amphitrite, Palaemon, and Leucothea.
ταῦτα οὖν καὶ ὑμνεῖν καὶ λέγειν καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι καὶ διάγειν ὑμᾶς ἐν τοῖς περὶ τούτων λόγοις.
It would therefore be well both to sing of and to speak of these things, and for you to pass your time in discourses about them.
τὰ μὲν δὴ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος εἴρηται τρόπον τινὰ καὶ ὕμνηται, οὐ μεμπτῶς ὥς γέ μοι δοκεῖ· ὁρῶ δὲ καὶ ὑμᾶς οὕτω διακειμένους·
Now, the things concerning Poseidon himself have been spoken of and sung in a way, not blameably, as it seems to me; and I see that you also are so disposed.
καὶ νὴ Δία γε καὶ περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς πόλεως ὡς ἐν βραχυτάτῳ τις ἂν εἴποι·
And indeed, by Zeus, concerning the city itself also, one might speak in the briefest terms.
ὁρῶ δὲ λοιπὸν ὄντα ἡμῖν τὸν περὶ τοῖν θεοῖν, τοῦ τε παιδὸς καὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, εἴτε λόγον εἴτε καὶ μῦθον χρὴ φάναι.
But I see that what remains for us is the discourse concerning the two deities, both the boy and his mother, whether we ought to call it a discourse or a myth.
ὃν ἐγὼ δέδοικα καὶ πάνυ ὀρρωδῶ τε καὶ ἀπορῶ ὅπη ποτε χρή με διαθέσθαι μεθʼ ὑμῶν, πότερα ὡς τοῖς πολλοῖς δοκεῖ καὶ Ὁμήρῳ δὲ συνδοκεῖ, θεῶν παθήματα συμπεισθῆναι καὶ ἡμᾶς, οἷον Ἄρεος δεσμὰ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος θητείας καὶ Ἡφαίστου ῥίψεις εἰς θάλατταν, οὕτω δὲ καὶ Ἰνοῦς ἄχη καὶ φυγάς τινας, ἢ τοῦτο μὲν οὔτε ὅσιον οὔτε εὐσεβὲς εἰπεῖν, ἄλλως τε καὶ περὶ τῶν θεῶν τὸν λόγον ποιούμενον, ἀλλὰ τοῦτον μὲν τὸν λόγον ὑπεροριστέον ἡμῖν οὐ μόνον ἔξω τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ καὶ τῆς Πελοποννήσου, ἀλλὰ καὶ ξυμπάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος· καὶ ἀποκαθαρτέον γε καὶ ἐπʼ ἄμφω ταῖν θαλάτταιν ἐλθόντας, εἰ δέοι, τὸν Ἀθάμαντα, ὅστις ποτὲ ἦν, καὶ τὴν μανίαν τὴν ἐκείνου, εἴτε οὖσαν εἴτε ψευδῶς θρυληθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῶν κάκιστα ἀπολωλότων §26τῶν ταῦθʼ ἕκαστα ἡμῖν συνθέντων.
Which I fear and altogether dread, and I am at a loss as to how I must ever arrange it with you: whether, as it seems to the many and also seems good to Homer, we too should be persuaded of the sufferings of the gods, such as the bonds of Ares, the services of Apollo, and the throwings of Hephaestus into the sea, and likewise the griefs of Ino and certain flights; or whether it is neither holy nor pious to say this, especially when making a discourse about the gods, but we must banish this discourse not only outside the Isthmus and Peloponnese, but even outside the whole of Greece; and we must, if necessary, go to both seas and cleanse away Athamas, whoever he was, and his madness, whether it existed or was falsely rumored by those who perished most miserably, who composed each of these things for us.
Ἰνὼ δὲ ἢ οὔτε ἦν οὔτε ἐγένετό ποτε ἣν οἱ πολλοί φασιν, ἢ εἴπερ ἦν καὶ ἐγένετο, ἀλλʼ οὐδέν γε προσήκουσα τοῖς τῇδε γιγνομένοις.
And Ino either never existed nor was ever born as the many say, or, if indeed she existed and was born, she had nothing to do with what happens here.
Λευκοθέα δὲ θεός τʼ ἦν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς εὐθὺς καὶ οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν ἤρξατο ὅθεν οἱ πολλοὶ οἴονται.
And Leucothea was a goddess straight from the beginning, and did not start from where the many think.
εἰ δὲ καὶ αὐδήεσσά γε ἦν, ὡς ἔφη ὁ τοῦτο εἰπὼν, ἀλλὰ βροτός γε οὐκ ἦν.
And even if she was 'endowed with human speech,' as he who said this declared, yet she was not mortal.
Ὅμηρος δὲ καὶ θεοὺς ὄντας πεποίηκεν ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπους, καὶ φθεγγομένους γε ἄντικρυς καὶ ἀνθρώποις διαλεγομένους, καὶ Ἀθηνᾶν καὶ Ἑρμῆν καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Ποσειδῶνα.
And Homer has made even those who are gods like men, both speaking outright and conversing with men, both Athena and Hermes and Poseidon himself.
τὸ δʼ ἐπὶ τούτοις καλῶς ἂν ἡμᾶς ἴσως ἔχοι καὶ φίλως τοῖς θεοῖς λέγειν τε καὶ ἀκούειν ἐν ἀλλήλοις, ἐρασθῆναι μὲν Ποσειδῶνα Λευκοθέας, καὶ ἐρασθέντα γε ἔχειν αὐτὴν παρʼ ἑαυτῷ· ὃν τρόπον καὶ Τυροῦς τῆς Σαλμωνέως καὶ Ἀμυμώνης καὶ ἄλλης τινὸς καλῆς, καὶ κρύψαι γε ταύτην ὑπὸ τῷ κύματι, τὰς δὲ ὁδοὺς αὐτῆς τὰς δεῦρο ἐκεῖθεν, εἰ ἄρα καὶ ταύτας παραδέξασθαι ἡμᾶς χρὴ, οὐ φυγῇ φευγούσης γενέσθαι, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ θάλαμον ἰούσης τὴν θάλατταν· οὐδὲ τὸν παῖδα, ὃς ἦν ἐξ ἑτέρου λέχους ἄρα, αὐτὴν φέρειν ἁρπάσασαν, ἀλλὰ παρακαταθήκην καὶ ἄθυρμα καὶ δῶρον Ποσειδῶνι.
And in addition to these things, it would perhaps be well for us and pleasing to the gods to speak and hear among one another, that Poseidon fell in love with Leucothea, and having fallen in love, held her with himself, in the same manner as Tyro daughter of Salmoneus, and Amymone, and any other beautiful woman, and hid her under the wave; and that her journeys from there to this place, if indeed we must accept these too, were not those of one fleeing in flight, but as of one going to the sea as to a bridal chamber; nor did she carry the boy, who was indeed from another bed, by snatching him away, but as a deposit, a plaything, and a gift to Poseidon.
δηλοῖ δὲ ὅτι ταῦτα τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον τό τε ἀληθὲς αὐτὸ καὶ τὰ περὶ αὐτῶν ἔτι καὶ νῦν λεγόμενά τε καὶ δρώμενα ὡς περὶ θεῶν.
And both the truth itself and what is still even now said and done concerning them as concerning gods show that these things are in this way.
κακὰ γὰρ οὔτε ἔστιν ἐν θεοῖς, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἂν δύναιτο γενέσθαι ποτέ· ὑπερωρίσθαι γὰρ ταῦτά γε εἰς τὸν πρὸς γῆν τόπον· οὐδὲ παθήματά τε καὶ συμφοραί.
For evil is neither in the gods, nor could it ever be; for these things have been banished to the place toward the earth; nor are there sufferings and misfortunes.
τοσούτου δὴ τοῦτο ἂν ἀρχὴ γένοιτο τοῦ ἀθανάτου τινί.
So far would this be from being the beginning of immortality for anyone.
κακὰ γὰρ ἐκ κακῶν, ἀγαθὰ δὲ ἔργα τὰ θεῶν.
For evil comes from evil, but the works of the gods are good.
ἄλλως δὲ οὐδαμῆ θέμις γίγνεσθαι.
Otherwise it is in no way lawful for it to be.
ἀλλʼ εἰ μὲν ἄνθρωπος οὐκ εὐτυχὴς ἦν, πῶς ἂν οὖν θεὸς ἐγένετο εἰπέ μοι·
But if she was an unfortunate human, how then did she become a god, tell me?
εἰ δʼ ἦν θεοφιλὴς, οὐδʼ ἂν ἐδυστύχησε πώποτε.
But if she was beloved of the gods, she would never have been unfortunate.
καὶ εἴ γε μὴ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἦν τοιαύτη, οὐδʼ ἂν ἐγένετο μετὰ ταῦτα—εἰ γὰρ ἀπαλλάξαι κακῶν οἷοί τέ εἰσιν οἱ θεοὶ, μηδὲ προσελθεῖν τὰ κακὰ ἐᾶσαι ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἔστι· καὶ μὴν εἴ γε ἀντιδοῦναι ἀγαθὰ κακῶν, καὶ τὸ
And if she was not such from the beginning, she would not have become so afterwards—for if the gods are able to rid of evils, it is possible not even to permit evils to approach them; and indeed, if they are able to give good things in return for evils, also this...