Queenly Muse, our mother! come, I beseech thee, on the festal day of Nemea, to the hospitable isle of the Dorian Aegina. For, lo! beside the Asépian water,) youthful craftsmen of honey-sweet triumph-songs are waiting, longing for thy voice. Various deeds thirst for various rewards ; but victory in the games loveth beyond all things the meed of song, the fittest accompaniment of crowns and of valiant exploits. Grant thou thereof no grudging share, the fruit of mine own fancy ; and, in honour of the ruler of the cloud-wrapt heaven, do thou, his daughter, begin a hymn approved of all, while I shall blend it with the lays of those singers, and with the lyre. It will be a gladsome toil to glorify the land, where dwelt the Myrmidons of old, the ancient fame of whose meeting for the games Aristocleides, thanks to thy favour, did not sully with dishonour by proving himself too weak amid the host that strove in the pancratium ; but, in the deep
plain of Nemea, he carrieth off his victory as a healing remedy for all those weary blows. But, if the son of Aristophanes, being fair to look upon, and doing deeds that befit the fairness of his form, embarked on the highest achievements of manly prowess, no further is it easy for him to sail across the trackless sea beyond the pillars of Heracles, which that hero and god set up as far-famed witnesses of the furthest limit of voyaging. He quelled the monstrous beasts amid the seas, and tracked to the very end the streams of the shallows, there where he reached the bourne that sped him home again ; and he made known the limits of the land. To what foreign foreland,.O my fancy, art thou turning aside the course of thy voyage? I bid thee summon the Muse in honour of Aeacus, but the flower of justice still attendeth the precept, “ praise the noble.” Nor should any man prefer to foster passionate longings for what belongeth to others. Search at home, and thou hast won a fitting theme for praise, to prompt sweet melody. For, among older examples of valour is king Péleus, who rejoiced in having cloven a matchless spear,—who, alone, without a host, overcame Iolcus, and after many a struggle seized as a captive the sea-nymph Thetis.
And Laomedon was laid low by Telamon, whose might is famed afar as comrade of Iolaüs, whom erst followed, to fight the mighty Amazons with their brazen bows ; nor did fear, that quelleth men, ever subdue that heroic soul. “Tis by means of inborn valour that a man hath mighty power, but he who hath learnt all his lore, dwelleth in darkness, breathing changeful purposes, never entering the lists with a firm step, but essaying countless forms of prowess with ineffectual spirit. Whereas Achilles of the golden hair, while lingering in the home of Philyra, and while yet a child, disported himself in mighty deeds, full often brandishing in his hands a javelin with its tiny blade; and fleet as the wind, he was wont to deal slaughter in fight with savage lions, and he would slay wild boars and carry their panting bodies to the Centaur, son of Cronus, at six years of age at first, but afterwards for all his time: while Artemis and bold Athéné gazed at him with wonder, as he slew stags without help of hounds or of crafty nets, for he excelled in fleetness of foot. Oft told by men of yore is the tale I have to tell :— The sage Cheiron, dwelling under a rocky roof, nurtured the youth of Jason, and after him that of Asclépius, whom he taught the gentle-handed lore of simples. In due time he won in wedlock for
Péleus the bright-bosomed daughter of Néreus, and fondly fostered for her their matchless offspring,’ bracing his spirit with all things fitting, that so, when sped on his way to the walls of Troy by the blasts that breathe athwart the sea, he might withstand the clashing onset and the war-shout of the Lycians, and the Phrygians and Dardanians, and, after closing in conflict with the Ethiopians that wield the spear, might set it in his soul that their Prince should not return to his home, even Memnon the inspired kinsman of Helenus. Hence it was that the far-shining splendour of the Aeacidae hath been made immortal; for they are thy blood, O Zeus, and thine is the contest on which my song hath lighted, a song that chanteth with the voice of youths the glory of the land. That burst of song doth well beseem the triumph of Aristocleides, who linked this isle with glorious praise, and the holy Theoric temple of the Pythian god with bright ambitions. For it is trial that maketh manifest the prime of those virtues, in which any one shall have proved himself preéminent, whether as a boy among boys, a man among men, or, thirdly, as an elder among elders, according to the several portions of life which we, the race of men, possess. But mortal life will bring as many as four
virtues, and it prompteth us to be prudent as regards the present; and of these virtues thou hast a goodly share. Farewell, my friend! Lo! I am sending thee this honey-sweet strain, mingled with white milk and the foam of its mingling mantleth around it,—a draught of minstrelsy accompanied by the breathing of Aeolian flutes, late though it be. Swift among birds is the eagle, who, swooping down from afar, suddenly seizeth with his talons his blood-stained quarry ; meanwhile the chattering daws have a low range of flight. Verily on thyself, by grace of Clio on her beauteous throne, and in virtue of thy athlete-spirit, from Nemea and Epidaurus and Megara light hath looked [. . .]
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