Daughter of Rhea, who hast the hearths of States allotted to thy care, Hestia, thou sister of Zeus supreme and of Héra, the consort of his throne ! welcome Aristagoras to thy hall, welcome also, to a place beside thy gleaming sceptre, those comrades who, while paying due honour unto thee, are upholding Tenedos, oft with libations adoring thee, as first of the goddesses, and oft with savour of sacrifice. At their bidding peal the lyre and the lay ; and Themis is venerated ever at the perpetual feasts ruled by the god of hospitality. Heaven grant that he may pass with glory through his time of twelve moons with heart unscathed. As for our hero, I deem his father Hagésilas blessed, and I praise his own goodly frame, and his inborn constancy of soul. But, if any man who hath riches, excelleth others in beauty of form, and is wont to display prowess by his courage in the games, let him
remember that the limbs he is robing are mortal, and that, in the end of all, he will be clad in a vesture of clay. Yet right it is that he should be praised with friendly words by his fellow citizens ; right it is that we should celebrate him by adorning his fame with honey-sweet strains. For, by those who dwell around him, Aristagoras and his famous clan were crowned by sixteen glorious victories in the wrestling-match and in the proud pancratium. But the halting hopes of his parents restrained his strength, as a boy, from competing for the prizes at Pytho and Olympia. Else, I solemnly aver that, in my judgment, had he entered the lists, he would have returned with greater glory than his rivals, whether they strove beside Castalia, or beside the tree-clad hill of Cronus, after celebrating the quadrennial festival ordained by Heracles, and after binding his hair with gleaming garlands. But, among mortals, one is cast down from his blessings by empty-headed conceit, whereas another, underrating his strength too far, hath been thwarted from winning the honours within his reach, by an uncourageous spirit that draggeth him back by the hand. It was easy indeed to infer his Spartan descent from Peisander of old, who came from Amyclae with Orestes, bringing hither an armed host of Aetolians, and also the blending of his blood with that of his mother’s ancestor Melanippus, beside the stream of
Isménus. But the virtues of olden time yield strong men, as their progeny, in alternate generations; for neither do the dark fields give us of their harvest for evermore, nor are the fruit-trees wont, in all the circling years, to bear a fragrant blossom equal in wealth of produce, but in alternation only. Even so is the race of mortal men driven by the breeze of destiny. As for that which cometh from Zeus, there is no clear sign in heaven that waiteth on man; but yet we embark upon bold endeavours, yearning after many exploits; for our limbs are fettered by unfortunate hope, while the tides of foreknowledge lie far away from our sight. In our quest of gain, it is right to pursue the due measure; but far too keen are the pangs of madness that come from unattainable longings.
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