§256ὦ πάλαι ποτὲ ἡδίων ᾁδειν Ἐλευσὶς ἐμοὶ τίς Ὀρφεὺς ἢ Θάμυρις ἢ ποῖος Ἐλευσίνιος οἰκήτωρ Μουσαῖος ἀρκέσει τοσούτῳ πράγματι;
O Eleusis, once so sweet for me to sing of, what Orpheus or Thamyris, or what Eleusinian dweller Musaeus will suffice for so great a matter?
ποίαις κιθάραις ἢ λύραις τὸ κοινὸν πτῶμα, τὸ κοινὸν τῆς γῆς, ἀνακλαύσεται;
With what citharas or lyres will the common fall, the common fall of the earth, be lamented?
τίνα ταύτην προὔβαλες ὦ Ζεῦ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν;
What is this theme you have set before us, O Zeus?
ἐγὼ μὲν καὶ προσάγων ἐμαυτὸν τῷ λόγῳ ναρκῶ καὶ ἀναστρέφω καὶ καθʼ ἓν τοῦτο λέγειν ἀναγκάζομαι, ὅτι σιγᾶν οὐκ ἔχω.
I, indeed, as I bring myself to the speech, grow numb and turn back, and am forced to say this one thing, that I cannot keep silent.
τίς γὰρ Ἑλλήνων ἢ τίς βαρβάρων οὕτω σκαιὸς ἢ ἀνήκοος, ἢ τίς οὕτω σφόδρα ἔξω τῆς γῆς ἢ θεῶν, ἢ συλλήβδην εἰπεῖν καλῶν ἀναίσθητος, πλὴν τῶν κάκιστʼ ἀπολουμένων, οἳ ταῦτʼ ἔδρασαν, ὅστις οὐ κοινόν τι τῆς γῆς τέμενος τὴν Ἐλευσῖνα ἡγεῖτο, καὶ πάντων ὅσα θεῖα ἀνθρώποις, ταυτὸν φρικωδέστατόν τε καὶ φαιδρότατον;
For who of the Greeks or who of the barbarians is so clumsy or ignorant, or who so utterly outside the earth or the gods, or, to speak briefly, insensible to beautiful things—except those most wretchedly doomed men who did these things—who did not consider Eleusis a common sanctuary of the earth, and of all things that are divine to humans, at once the most awesome and the most radiant?
τίνι δʼ ἄλλῳ χωρίων ἢ μύθων φῆμαι θαυμαστότερα ἐφύμνησαν, ἢ τὰ δρώμενα μείζω ἔσχε τὴν ἔκπληξιν, ἢ μᾶλλον εἰς ἐφάμιλλον §257κατέστη ταῖς ἀκοαῖς τὰ ὁρώμενα;
To what other of places have the reports of myths sung more wonderful things, or did the things performed possess greater astonishment, or did the things seen stand more in rivalry with the things heard?
ὅσα μὲν δὴ θέας ἐχόμενα εἶδον γενεαὶ παμπληθεῖς εὐδαιμόνων ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν ἐν τοῖς ἀρρήτοις φάσμασιν· ἃ δʼ εἰς τὸ μέσον ποιηταὶ καὶ λογοποιοὶ καὶ συγγραφεῖς πάντες ὑμνοῦσι, κόρην τὴν Δήμητρος ἀφανῆ γενέσθαι χρόνον ἔστιν ὃν, Δήμητρα δʼ ἐπέρχεσθαι γῆν πᾶσαν καὶ θάλατταν ζητοῦσαν τὴν θυγατέρα, τέως μὲν οὖν οὐχ οἵαν τε εἶναι εὑρεῖν, ἐλθοῦσαν δʼ εἰς Ἐλευσῖνα τήν τε ἐπωνυμίαν δοῦναι τῷ τόπῳ καὶ τὴν κόρην εὑροῦσαν ποιῆσαι τὰ μυστήρια· καὶ γενέσθαι δὴ τὸν σῖτον παρὰ μὲν ταῖν θεαῖν τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, παρὰ δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων καὶ Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις· —καὶ τούτοις Κελεός τε καὶ Μετάνειρα καὶ Τριπτόλεμος ἐπιφημίζονται καὶ ἅρματα δὴ δρακόντων ὑπόπτερα ὑπὲρ πάσης γῆς καὶ θαλάττης φερόμενα· — μυηθῆναι δὲ ξένων πρώτους Ἡρακλέα καὶ Διοσκούρους, ἀγῶνά τε γυμνικὸν γενέσθαι πρῶτον Ἐλευσῖνι τῆς Ἀττικῆς, καὶ τὸ ἆθλον εἶναι τοῦ καρποῦ τοῦ φανθέντος, πειρωμένων τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὅσον εἰς ἰσχὺν ἐκ τῆς ἡμέρου τροφῆς ἐπέδοσαν· ἀπάγειν δὲ καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀπαρχὰς τῶν καρπῶν ἑκάστοτε Ἀθήναζε ὡς μητροπόλει σφῶν τε αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν καρπῶν τῶν Ἀθηναίων τῇ πόλει.
Indeed, all those things pertaining to the spectacle which countless generations of blessed men and women saw in the ineffable visions; and what things, into the public sphere, poets, chroniclers, and historians all sing of: that the Daughter of Demeter disappeared for a certain time, and that Demeter traversed all land and sea seeking her daughter, and that for a time indeed she was unable to find her, but having come to Eleusis, she both gave the name to the place and, having found her daughter, established the mysteries; and indeed that grain came from the two goddesses to the Athenians, and from the Athenians to both Greeks and barbarians;—and with these things Celeus, Metaneira, and Triptolemus are celebrated, and indeed winged chariots of dragons borne over all land and sea;—and that of strangers Heracles and the Dioscuri were the first to be initiated, and that an athletic contest was first held at Eleusis in Attica, and that the prize was of the grain that had been revealed, as humans tested how much they had increased in strength from civilized food; and that the Greeks also brought first-fruits of their crops each time to Athens, as to the mother-city of both themselves and the crops, to the city of the Athenians.
Εὐμολπίδαι δὲ καὶ Κήρυκες εἰς Ποσειδῶ τε καὶ Ἑρμῆν ἀναφέροντες οἱ μὲν ἱεροφάντας, οἱ δὲ δᾳδούχους παρείχοντο.
And the Eumolpidae and the Kerykes, tracing their lineage back to Poseidon and Hermes respectively, provided, the former the hierophants, the latter the torchbearers.
καὶ τὰ μὲν εἰς μύθους ἀνήκοντα τοιαῦτα.
And such are the matters belonging to myths.
τὰ δʼ ὕστερον Ἡρακλειδῶν εἰς Πελοπόννησον κατελθόντων καὶ χρόνου διαγενομένου Δωριεῖς ἐπʼ Ἀθήνας ἐστράτευον.
As for later events, after the Heracleidae returned to the Peloponnese and some time had passed, the Dorians marched against Athens.
ὡς δʼ Ἐλευσῖνι γίγνονται, καταισχυνθέντες, εἴτε καὶ δείσαντες χρὴ λέγειν, ἀπιόντες ᾤχοντο τὴν αὐτήν.
But when they arrived at Eleusis, whether out of shame or fear one should say, they departed and went back by the same way.
ἡ δʼ ἐκείνων τότε κίνησις Ἰωνίαν οἰκίζει παρʼ ἡμῖν.
And their movement at that time settled Ionia from our land.
γενομένου δὲ τοῦ Μηδικοῦ στόλου καὶ μεγίστων δὴ πραγμάτων καὶ κινδύνων οὐ μόνον τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶν ὅσον ἔξω τῆς
And when the Persian fleet came, and indeed the greatest events and dangers [threatened] not only Greece, but also all that is outside...