HaveThe Epigrams are preserved in the pseudo-Herodotean reverence for him who needs a home and stranger’s dole,
1
all ye who dwell in the high city of Cyme, the lovely maiden,
hard by the foothills of lofty Sardene,
ye who drink the heavenly water of the divine stream,
eddying Hermus, whom deathless Zeus begot.
Speedily may my feet bear me to some town of righteous men;
2
for their hearts are generous and their wit is best.
I am a maiden of bronze and am set upon the tomb of Midas.
3
While the waters flow and tall trees flourish,
and the sun rises and shines and the bright moon also;
while rivers run and the sea breaks on the shore,
ever remaining on this mournful tomb,
I tell the passer-by that Midas here lies buried.
To what a fate did Zeus the Father give me a prey
4
even while he made me to grow, a babe at my mother’s knees!
By the will of Zeus who holds the aegis
the people of Phricon, riders on wanton horses,
more active than raging fire in the test of war,
once built the towers of Aeolian Smyrna, wave-shaken neighbor to the sea,
through which glides the pleasant stream of sacred Meles;
thence arose the daughters of Zeus, glorious children,
and would fain have made famous that fair country and the city of its people.
But in their folly those men scorned the divine voice and renown of song,
and in trouble shall one of them remember this hereafter—
he who with scornful words to themThe councillors of Cyme who refused to support Homer at the public expense. contrived my fate.
Yet I will endure the lot which heaven gave me even at my birth,
bearing my disappointment with a patient heart.
My dear limbs yearn not to stay in the sacred streets
of Cyme, but rather my great heart urges me
to go unto another country, small though I am.
Thestorides, full many things there are that mortals cannot sound;
5
but there is nothing more unfathomable than the heart of man.
Hear me, Poseidon, strong shaker of the earth,
6
ruler of wide-spread, tawny Helicon!
Give a fair wind and sight of safe return
to the shipmen who speed and govern this ship.
And grant that when I come to the nether slopes of towering Mimas
I may find honorable, god-fearing men.
Also may I avenge me on the wretch who deceived me
and grieved Zeus the lord of guests and his own guest-table.
