Nemean 10 For Theaeus of Argos Wrestling ? 444 B. C. E.
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Graces, sing of the city of Danaus and his fifty daughters on their splendid thrones, Hera’s Argos, a home suitable for a god; it blazes with countless excellences because of its bold deeds. Long indeed is the story of Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa,
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and many are the cities founded in Egypt by the devising of Epaphus. Nor did Hypermnestra go astray, when she restrained in its scabbard her sword, which was alone in its verdict.
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And once the golden-haired, gray-eyed goddess made Diomedes an immortal god; and the earth in Thebes, thunder-struck by the bolts of Zeus, swallowed up the prophetic son of Oicles, Amphiaraus, the storm-cloud of war.
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And Argos has long been the best city for women with beautiful hair; Zeus made this saying clear by visiting Alcmena and Danae, and he united the fruit of intelligence with straightforward justice in the father of Adrastus and in Lynceus.
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And Zeus nourished the spear of Amphitryon, who attained the height of prosperity and entered into kinship with that god, when, clad in bronze armor,
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he slew the Teleboae. Taking on the appearance of Amphitryon, the king of the immortals entered the hall of that hero, bearing the fearless seed of Heracles; whose bride Hebe, the most beautiful of the goddesses, walks forever in Olympus beside her mother Hera, goddess of marriage.
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My mouth is too small to tell the whole story of all the noble things in which the precinct of Argos has a share.
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And there is also the satiety of men, which is grievous to encounter. But nevertheless, awaken the well-strung lyre, and take thought of wrestling; the contest for the bronze shield calls the people to the sacrifice of oxen in honor of Hera and to the trial of contests. There the son of Ulias, Theaeus, was victorious twice, and gained forgetfulness of toils that were bravely borne.
