(Next Zeus thus addressed Helios: “Thou seest yonder thine own child.”[240] (Now this was a certain kinsman of those brothers who had been cast aside and was despised though he was that rich man's nephew and the cousin of his heirs.) “This child,” said Zeus, “is thine own offspring. Swear then by my sceptre and thine that thou wilt care especially for him and cure him of this malady. For thou seest how he is as it were infected with smoke and filth and darkness and there is danger that the spark of fire which thou didst implant in him will be quenched, unless thou clothe thyself with might.[241] Take care of him therefore and rear him. For I and the Fates yield thee this task.” When King Helios heard this he was glad and took pleasure in the babe, since he perceived that in him a small spark of himself was still preserved. And from that time he reared the child whom he had withdrawn)
ἔκ θ᾽ αἵματος ἔκ τε κυδοιμοῦ
[230] Ἔκ τ᾽ ἀνδροκτασίης.
(“from the blood and noise of war and the slaughter of men.”[242] )
ὁ πατὴρ δὲ ὁ Ζεὺς ἐκέλευσε καὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν τὴν ἀμήτορα, τὴν παρθένον ἅμα τῷ Ἡλίῳ τὸ παιδάριον ἐκτρέφειν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐτράφη καὶ νεανίας ἐγένετο
(And father Zeus bade Athene also, the Motherless Maiden, share with Helios the task of bringing up the child. And when, thus reared, he had become a youth)
Πρῶτον ὑπηνήτης, τοῦπερ χαριεστάτη ἥβη,
(“With the first down on his chin, when youth has all its charms,”[243])
κατανοήσας τῶν κακῶν τὸ πλῆθος. ὁπόσον τι περὶ τοὺς ξυγγενεῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἀνεψιοὺς ἐγεγόνει, ἐδέησε μὲν αὑτὸν εἰς τὸν τάρταρον προέσθαι πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος τῶν κακῶν ἐκπλαγείς. [B] ἐπεὶ δὲ Ἥλιος εὐμενὴς ὢν μετὰ τῆς Προνοίας Ἀθηνᾶς ὕπνον τινὰ καὶ κάρον ἐμβαλὼν τῆς ἐπινοίας ταύτης ἀπήγαγεν, αὖθις ἀνεγερθεὶς ἄπεισιν εἰς ἐρημίαν. εἶτα ἐκεῖ λίθον τινὰ εὑρὼν μικρὸν ἀνεπαύσατο καὶ πρὸς αὑτὸν ἐσκόπει, τίνα τρόπον ἐκφεύξεται τῶν τοσούτων κακῶν τὸ μέγεθος· ἤδη γὰρ αὐτῷ πάντα ἐφαίνετο μοχθηρά, [C] καλὸν δὲ οὐδὲν οὐδαμοῦ τέως. Ἑρμῆς οὖν αὐτῷ· καὶ γὰρ εἶχεν οἰκείως πρὸς αὐτόν· ὥσπερ ἡλικιώτης νεανίσκος φανεὶς ἠσπάσατό τε φιλοφρόνως καί, Δεῦρο, εἶπεν, ἡγεμών σοι ἐγὼ ἔσομαι λειοτέρας[244] καὶ ὁμαλεστέρας ὁδοῦ τουτὶ τὸ μικρὸν ὑπερβάντι τὸ σκολιὸν καὶ ἀπότομον χωρίον, οὗ πάντας ὁρᾶς προσπταίοντας καὶ ἀπιόντας ἐντεῦθεν ὀπίσω. καὶ ὁ νεανίσκος ἀπιὼν ᾤχετο μετὰ πολλῆς εὐλαβείας ἔχων παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ ξίφος τε καὶ ἀσπίδα καὶ δόρυ,[245] γυμνὰ δὲ αὐτῷ τέως ἦν τὰ περὶ τὴν κεφαλήν. [D] πεποιθὼς οὖν αὐτῷ προῆγεν εἰς τὸ πρόσω διὰ λείας ὁδοῦ καὶ ἀθρύπτου καθαρᾶς τε πάνυ καὶ καρποῖς βριθούσης ἄνθεσί τε πολλοῖς καὶ ἀγαθοις, ὅσα ἐστὶ θεοῖς φίλα, καὶ δένδρεσι κιττοῦ καὶ δάφνης καὶ μυρρίνης. ἀγαγὼν δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπί τι μέγα καὶ ὑψηλὸν ὄρος, Ἐπὶ τούτου, ἔφη, τῆς κορυφῆς ὁ πατὴρ πάντων κάθηται τῶν θεῶν. ὅρα οὖν· ἐνταῦθά ἐστιν ὁ μέγας κίνδυνος· ὅπως αὐτὸν ὡς εὐαγέστατα προσκυνήσεις, αἰτήσῃ δὲ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὅ, τι ἂν [pg 140] ἐθέλῃς· [231] ἕλοιο δέ, ὦ παῖ, τὰ βέλτιστα. ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἀπέκρυψεν ἑαυτὸν Ἑρμῆς πάλιν. ὁ δὲ ἐβούλετο μὲν παρὰ τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ πυθέσθαι, τί ποτε αἰτήσασθαι χρὴ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν θεῶν, ὡς δὲ πλησίον ὄντα οὐ κατεῖδεν, Ἐνδεὴς μέν, ἔφη, καλὴ δὲ ὅμως ἡ ξυμβουλή. αἰτώμεθα οὖν ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ τὰ κράτιστα καίπερ οὔπω σαφῶς τὸν πατέρα τῶν θεῶν ὁρῶντες. Ὦ Ζεῦ πάτερ ἢ ὅ,τι σοι φίλον ὄνομα καὶ ὅπως ὀνομάζεσθαι· δείκνυέ μοι τὴν ἐπὶ σὲ φέρουσαν ὁδὸν ἄνω. [B] κρείττονα γάρ μοι τὰ ἐκεῖ φαίνεται χωρία παρὰ σὲ μαντευομένῳ τὸ παρὰ σοὶ κάλλος ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τούτοις ὅθεν πεπορεύμεθα τέως ἀγλαΐας.
(he learned numerous disasters that had befallen his kinsmen and his cousins, and had all but hurled himself into Tartarus, so confounded was he by the extent of those calamities. Then Helios of his grace, aided Athene, Goddess of Forethought, threw him into a slumber or trance, and so diverted him from that purpose. Then when he had waked from this he went away into the desert. And there he found a stone and rested for a while thereon, debating within himself how he should escape evils so many and so vast. For all things now appeared grievous to him and for the moment there was no hope anywhere. Then Hermes, who had an affinity for him,[246] appeared to him in the guise of a youth of his own age, and greeting him kindly said, “Follow me, and I will guide thee by an easier and smoother road as soon as thou hast surmounted this winding and rugged place where thou seest all men stumbling and obliged to go back again.” Then the youth set out with great circumspection, carrying a sword and shield and spear, though as yet his head was bare. Thus relying on Hermes he went forward by a road smooth, untrodden and very bright, and overhung with fruits and many lovely flowers such as the gods love, and with trees also, ivy and laurel and myrtle. Now when Hermes had brought him to the foot of a great and lofty mountain, he said, “On the summit of this mountain dwells the father of all the gods. Be careful then—for herein lies the greatest risk of all[247]—to worship him with the utmost piety and ask of him whatever thou wilt. Thou wilt choose, my child, only what is best.” So saying Hermes once more became invisible, though the youth was fain to learn from him what he ought to ask from the father of the gods. But when he saw that he was no longer at his side he said, “The advice though incomplete is good nevertheless. Therefore let me by the grace of fortune ask for what is best, though I do not as yet see clearly the father of the gods. Father Zeus—or whatever name thou dost please that men should call thee by,[248]—show me the way that leads upwards to thee. For fairer still methinks the region where thou art, if I may judge of the beauty of thy abode from the splendour of the place whence I have come hither.”)