§260ὦ Ζεῦ, τί χρήσωμαι;
O Zeus, what am I to do?
πότερον σιωπῶ Σμύρνης κειμένης;
Am I to remain silent while Smyrna lies in ruins?
τίνος μεταλαβὼν ἀδάμαντος φύσιν;
Sharing in the nature of what adamant could I do so?
ἢ τίνα ταύτην καρτερίαν καρτερῶν;
Or enduring what kind of endurance such as this?
ἀλλʼ ὀδύρωμαι;
Or should I lament?
ποίαν ἁρμονίαν ἁρμοσάμενος, ἢ τίνα τόλμαν τοσαύτην λαβών;
Attuning myself to what kind of harmony, or taking up what kind of great daring?
ὅσαι γὰρ Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβάρων φωναὶ, τῶν τε ὑπὲρ γῆς ἔτι καὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς αἰῶνος γενομένων, εἰς ταυτὸν ἅπασαι λόγῳ συνελθοῦσαι ἐλάττους τοῦδε τοῦ πράγματος ἐγχειρῆσαι μόνον, μὴ ὅτι τὴν ἀξίαν σῶσαι.
For all the voices of Greeks and barbarians, both of those still upon the earth and of those who have existed through all time, if they should all come together into one in speech, would be too few merely to lay hands on this matter, let alone to preserve its worthy memory.
ὦ μήκιστα μηκίστων ἰδὼν καὶ ἀκούσας ἐγώ.
O I who have seen and heard the greatest of the greatest calamities!
ὦ πάντα φέρων χρόνος, οἵαν ἰδέαν πόλεως ἐξευρὼν καὶ τεχνησάμενος, εἶτα ἀναλώσας ἔχεις.
O time that brings all things, what a form of a city you found and fashioned, and then have utterly destroyed!
ὦ πάντα ἀνόμοια τοῖς πρότερον.
O how all things are unlike those of before!
τὰ μὲν ἀρχαῖα Κουρήτων χοροὶ καὶ τροφαὶ καὶ γενέσεις θεῶν καὶ Πέλοπες διαβαίνοντες ἐνθένδε, καὶ Πελοπόννησος ἀποικία, καὶ Θησεὺς οἰκιστὴς τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν Σίπυλον τόπων, καὶ Ὁμήρου γοναὶ, καὶ ἀγῶνες καὶ τρόπαια καὶ νῖκαι παρὰ τοῖς ἄρχουσι καὶ διὰ πάντων ἐθνῶν, καὶ λογίων περιηγήσεις, ἀναγραφόντων καλλίστην τῶν ἁπασῶν.
The ancient things indeed are the dances and nurturings of the Curetes, the births of gods, the Pelopes crossing over from here, and the colonization of the Peloponnese, and Theseus the founder of the places beneath Sipylus, and the birth of Homer, and the contests, trophies, and victories under the rulers and through all nations, and the descriptions of the learned writers, who record it as the most beautiful of all.
καὶ μὴν τά γε ὁρώμενα κρείττω διηγήσεως.
And yet indeed, the things now seen are beyond description.
προσιόντι μὲν §261εὐθὺς ἀστραπὴ κάλλους καὶ μεγεθῶν ἀριθμοὶ, καὶ μέτρα καὶ στάσεις ὥσπερ ἁρμονίας μιᾶς· πόδες μὲν ἐπʼ ἠιόνων καὶ λιμένων καὶ ἀλσῶν ἐρειδόμενοι, μεσότης δὲ ἴσον τοῦ πεδίου τε ὑπεραίρουσα καὶ τῶν ἄνωθεν ἀπολείπουσα, ἐσχατιὰ δὲ μεσημβρινὴ κατὰ μικρὸν ὑψουμένη, διʼ ὁμοίου τοῦ παντὸς λάθρα λήγουσα εἰς ἀκρόπολιν, σκοπιὰν τῆς τε θαλάττης καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἔχουσαν.
To one approaching, immediately there is a flash of beauty and numbers of great dimensions, and measures and positions as if of a single harmony; the feet indeed resting upon shores, harbors, and groves, the middle part rising equally above the plain and leaving behind the things from above, and the southern extremity rising gradually, ending secretly through a uniform whole at the acropolis, which has a lookout over both the sea and the city.
τὸ δὲ οὔτε λόγῳ ῥητὸν οὔτε ὄψει βεβαίως καταληπτὸν, ἀλλʼ ἐκφεῦγον οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως, ἐπιθυμίαν δὲ τοῦ συλλαβεῖν αὐτὸ παριστὰν ἀεὶ δή ποτε τὸ ὑπὲρ πάσης τῆς πόλεως ἑστηκὸς γάνος· οὐ διαφθεῖρον τὰς ὄψεις, ὡς ἔφη Σαπφὼ, ἀλλʼ αὖξον καὶ τρέφον καὶ ἄρδον ἅμα εὐθυμίᾳ· ὑακινθίνῳ μὲν ἄνθει οὐδαμῶς ὅμοιον, ἀλλʼ οἷον οὐδὲν πώποτε γῆ καὶ ἥλιος ἀνθρώποις ἔφηναν.
And that which is neither utterable in speech nor firmly graspable by sight, but escaping somehow, yet always presenting a desire to grasp it, is the gleam that stands over the whole city; not destroying the sight, as Sappho said, but increasing, nourishing, and watering it at the same time with gladness; in no way like the hyacinth flower, but such as neither earth nor sun ever showed to men.
ὥσπερ δὲ ἄγαλμα ἀκριβῶς πεποικιλμένον πάντη περιιόντι θέαν ἔχει, οὕτω σοι τῇ πρότερον μὲν ὡραιοτάτῃ πόλεων, νυνὶ δʼ ἀωρίαν, περιῆν ἀφʼ ὅτου τις ἀεὶ θεωροίη.
And just as a statue precisely adorned has a view for one who walks all around it, so for you, who were formerly the most beautiful of cities, but now untimely ruined, beauty abounded from wherever one might always view you.
νῦν δὴ τὸ κάλλιστον εἶδος παρέσται δοκεῖν, τοῦτο μὲν ἐξαίφνης ἐκφανὴς ἐγγιγνομένη, τοῦτο δὲ ἀπαντικρὺ γιγνομένῳ, τοῦτο δʼ ἐκ προαστείων, ἐκ πορθμῶν, ἐκ πελάγους, ἐκ γῆς, ἐκ θαλάττης.
Now indeed the most beautiful appearance will be present to be imagined, at one time appearing suddenly to view, at another time directly in front of one, at another time from the suburbs, from the ferries, from the open sea, from the land, from the sea.
ταῦτα μὲν τὰ πρὶν ἐντυχεῖν.
These things indeed were before entering.
συνουσίαι δὲ ὅσαι καὶ ὁμιλίαι τίνα μὲν κόρον ἔσχον ἀνθρώποις;
But what fullness did so many gatherings and conversations hold for men?
τίνι δὲ ἄλλῃ πόλει παρὰ μικρὸν ἐλθεῖν ἀπέλιπον;
To what other city did they leave but little to approach?
ὦ κρῆναι, καὶ θέατρα, καὶ στενωποὶ, καὶ δρόμοι κατάστεγοι καὶ ὕπαιθροι.
O springs, and theaters, and narrow streets, and covered and open-air tracks!
ὦ τῆς ὑπερλάμπρου σχῆμα ἀγορᾶς, ὦ χρυσοῦ τε ἐπώνυμοι καὶ ἱερῶν ὁδοὶ καθʼ ἕκαστον πλαίσιον, ἀντʼ ἀγορᾶς ἅπασαι, ὦ λιμένες ποθοῦντες τὰς τῆς φιλτάτης πόλεως ἀγκάλας, ὦ κάλλη γυμνασίων ἀμύθητα, ὦ ναῶν καὶ περιβόλων χάριτες, ποῖ ποτε γῆς ἔδυτε;
O form of the super-splendid agora! O streets named of gold and of temples at each block, all standing in place of an agora! O harbors longing for the embraces of the dearest city! O unspeakable beauties of the gymnasia, O graces of temples and enclosures, where on earth have you sunk?
ὦ κόσμοι παραλίας, ὦ πάντα ἐκεῖνα ὀνείρατα.
O ornaments of the shore, O all those dreams!
ποῖαι πηγαὶ δακρύων ἱκαναὶ τοσούτῳ κακῷ;
What springs of tears are sufficient for so great an evil?
ποῖαι συναυλίαι καὶ συνῳδίαι χορῶν,
What symphonies and choruses singing together?