Φύσει, ἐπειδὴ πρῶτα τομὴν ἐν ὄρεσσι λέλοιπεν,
Οὐδ' ἀναθηλήσει· περὶ γάρ ῥά ἑ χαλκὸς ἔλεψε
Φύλλα τε καὶ φλοιόν· νῦν αὖτε μιν υἷες Ἀχαιῶν
Ἐν παλάμῃς φορέουσι δικασπόλοι, οἵ τε θέμιστας
Πρὸς Διὸς εἰρύαται·"
"Now, by this sacred sceptre hear me swear
Which never more shall leaves or blossoms bear,
Which, severed from the trunk, (as I from thee,)
On the bare mountains left its parent tree;
This sceptre, formed by tempered steel to prove