§1Ζηνὸς ἔοι τί κεν ἄλλο παρὰ σπονδῇσιν ἀείδειν §2λώιον ἢ θεὸν αὐτόν, ἀεὶ μέγαν, αἰὲν ἄνακτα, §3Πηλαγόνων ἐλατῆρα, δικασπόλον οὐρανίδῃσι;
At the libations of Zeus, what else is better to sing than the god himself, ever great, forever king, the driver of the Pelagones, the lawgiver to the heavenly ones?
§4πῶς καί μιν, Δικταῖον ἀείσομεν ἠὲ Λυκαῖον;
And how shall we sing of him? As Dictaean or Lycaean?
§5ἐν δοιῇ μάλα θυμός, ἐπεὶ γένος ἀμφήριστον.
My mind is in great doubt, since his birth is disputed.
§6Ζεῦ, σὲ μὲν Ἰδαίοισιν ἐν οὔρεσί φασι γενέσθαι, §7Ζεῦ, σὲ δʼ ἐν Ἀρκαδίῃ· πότεροι, πάτερ, ἐψεύσαντο;
Zeus, some say you were born on the Idaean mountains, Zeus, others say in Arcadia; which of them, Father, have lied?
§8Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται· καὶ γὰρ τάφον, ὦ ἄνα, σεῖο §9Κρῆτες ἐτεκτήναντο· σὺ δʼ οὐ θάνες, ἐσσὶ γὰρ αἰεί.
"Cretans are always liars"; for indeed a tomb, O King, of you the Cretans fashioned; but you did not die, for you exist forever.
§10ἐν δέ σε Παρρασίῃ Ῥείη τέκεν, ἧχι μάλιστα §11ἔσκεν ὄρος θάμνοισι περισκεπές· ἔνθεν ὁ χῶρος §12ἱερός, οὐδέ τί μιν κεχρημένον Εἰλειθυίης §13ἑρπετὸν οὐδὲ γυνὴ ἐπιμίσγεται, ἀλλά ἑ Ῥείης §14ὠγύγιον καλέουσι λεχώιον Ἀπιδανῆες.
And in Parrhasia, Rhea bore you, where especially there was a mountain closely covered with bushes; thence the place is holy, nor does any beast or woman needing Eileithyia approach it, but the Apidanians call it the primeval birth-bed of Rhea.
§15ἔνθα σʼ ἐπεὶ μήτηρ μεγάλων ἀπεθήκατο κόλπων §16αὐτίκα δίζητο ῥόον ὕδατος, ᾧ κε τόκοιο §17λύματα χυτλώσαιτο, τεὸν δʼ ἐνὶ χρῶτα λοέσσαι.
There, when your mother had laid you down from her great womb, she immediately sought a stream of water, with which she might wash away the stains of birth and cleanse your flesh.
§18Λάδων ἀλλʼ οὔπω μέγας ἔρρεεν οὐδʼ Ἐρύμανθος, §19λευκότατος ποταμῶν, ἔτι δʼ ἄβροχος ἦεν ἅπασα §20Ἀρκαδίη· μέλλεν δὲ μάλʼ εὔυδρος καλέεσθαι §21αὖτις· ἐπεὶ τημόσδε, Ῥέη ὅτʼ ἐλύσατο μίτρην, §22ἦ πολλὰς ἐφύπερθε σαρωνίδας ὑγρὸς Ἰάων §23ἤειρεν, πολλὰς δὲ Μέλας ὤκχησεν ἁμάξας, §24πολλὰ δὲ Καρνίωνος ἄνω διεροῦ περ ἐόντος §25ἰλυοὺς ἐβάλοντο κινώπετα, νίσσετο δʼ ἀνὴρ §26πεζὸς ὑπὲρ Κρᾶθίν τε πολύστιόν τε Μετώπην §27διψαλέος· τὸ δὲ πολλὸν ὕδωρ ὑπὸ ποσσὶν ἔκειτο.
But the great Ladon did not yet flow, nor Erymanthus, the clearest of rivers, and all Arcadia was still waterless; yet it was destined to be called well-watered hereafter; since at that time, when Rhea loosed her girdle, indeed many oak trees did the wet Iaon raise above itself, and many chariots did the Melas carry, and many beasts made their dens above the Carnion, damp though it is now, and a foot-traveler walked over the Crathis and the pebbly Metope, thirsty; yet abundant water lay beneath his feet.
§28καί ῥʼ ὑπʼ ἀμηχανίης σχομένη φάτο πότνια Ῥείη· §29Γαῖα φίλη, τέκε καὶ σύ· τεαὶ δʼ ὠδῖνες ἐλαφραί. §30εἶπε καὶ ἀντανύσασα θεὴ μέγαν ὑψόθι πῆχυν §31πλῆξεν ὄρος σκήπτρῳ· τὸ δέ οἱ δίχα πουλὺ διέστη, §32ἐκ δʼ ἔχεεν μέγα χεῦμα·
And so, held by helplessness, lady Rhea said: "Dear Earth, do you bring forth too; your birth-pangs are light." She spoke, and raising her great arm aloft, the goddess struck the mountain with her staff; and it split wide apart for her, and poured forth a great stream.
τόθι χρόα φαιδρύνασα, §33ὦνα, τεὸν σπείρωσε, Νέδῃ δέ σε δῶκε κομίζειν §34κευθμὸν ἔσω Κρηταῖον, ἵνα κρύφα παιδεύοιο, §35πρεσβυτάτῃ Νυμφέων αἵ μιν τότε μαιώσαντο, §36πρωτίστῃ γενεῇ μετά γε Στύγα τε Φιλύρην τε.
There, having cleansed your body, O King, she swaddled you and gave you to Neda to carry into the Cretan hiding-place, so that you might be nurtured in secret— to the eldest of the nymphs who then assisted at her birth, the very first in generation after Styx and Philyra.
§37οὐδʼ ἁλίην ἀπέτεισε θεὴ χάριν, ἀλλὰ τὸ χεῦμα §38κεῖνο Νέδην ὀνόμηνε· τὸ μέν ποθι πουλὺ κατʼ αὐτὸ §39Καυκώνων πτολίεθρον, ὃ Λέπρειον πεφάτισται, §40συμφέρεται Νηρῆι, παλαιότατον δέ μιν ὕδωρ §41υἱωνοὶ πίνουσι Λυκαονίης ἄρκτοιο.
Nor did the goddess repay her with empty thanks, but named that stream Neda; which, flowing in great volume somewhere near the city of the Caucones, which is called Lepreum, mingles with Nereus, and its most ancient water the grandsons of the Lycaonian Bear drink.
§42εὖτε Θενὰς ἀπέλειπεν ἐπὶ Κνωσοῖο φέρουσα, §43Ζεῦ πάτερ, ἡ Νύμφη σε (Θεναὶ δʼ ἔσαν ἐγγύθι Κνωσοῦ), §44τουτάκι τοι πέσε, δαῖμον, ἄπʼ ὀμφαλός· ἔνθεν ἐκεῖνο §45ὀμφάλιον μετέπειτα πέδον καλέουσι Κύδωνες.
When the Nymph left Thenae, carrying you toward Knossos, Father Zeus (and Thenae was near Knossos), then, O divine one, your navel-string fell off; wherefore that plain the Cydonians thereafter call the Plain of the Navel.
§46Ζεῦ, σὲ δὲ Κυρβάντων ἑτάραι προσεπηχύναντο §47Δικταῖαι Μελίαι, σὲ δʼ ἐκοίμισεν Ἀδρήστεια §48λίκνῳ ἐνὶ χρυσέῳ, δὺ δʼ ἐθήσαο πίονα μαζὸν §49αἰγὸς Ἀμαλθείης, ἐπὶ σὲ γλυκὺ κηρίον ἔβρως.
Zeus, the companions of the Cyrbantes, the Dictaean Meliae, took you in their arms, and Adrasteia lulled you to sleep in a golden cradle, and you sucked the rich udder of the goat Amaltheia, and ate the sweet honeycomb.
§50γέντο γὰρ ἐξαπιναῖα Πανακρίδος ἔργα μελίσσης
For the works of the Panacrian bee suddenly came to pass.