Lines 1–4
Ὦ ἄνα, Λητοῦς υἱέ, Διὸς τέκος, οὔποτε σεῖο
λήσομαι ἀρχόμενος οὐδ᾽ ἀποπαυόμενος,
ἀλλ᾽ αἰεὶ πρῶτόν τε καὶ ὕστατον ἔν τε μέσοισιν
ἀείσω: σὺ δέ μοι κλῦθι καὶ ἐσθλὰ δίδου.
O lord, son of Leto, child of Zeus, never
will I forget you, neither beginning nor ending,
but always both first and last and in the midsts
I will sing of you: but you, hear me, and grant good things.
Lines 5–10
Φοῖβε ἄναξ, ὅτε μέν σε θεὰ τέκε πότνια Λητώ,
φοίνικος ῥαδινῇς χερσὶν ἐφαψαμένη,
ἀθανάτων κάλλιστον, ἐπὶ τροχοειδέϊ λίμνῃ,
πᾶσα μὲν ἐπλήσθη Δῆλος ἀπειρεσίη
ὀδμῆς ἀμβροσίης, ἐγέλασσε δὲ γαῖα πελώρη
γήθησεν δὲ βαθὺς πόντος ἁλὸς πολιῆς.
Lord Phoibos, when our queen, goddess Leto,
with slender hands laid upon the palm tree,
bore you, most beautiful of the immortals, beside a round lake,
all boundless Delos was made full of
fragrant ambrosia*, the huge earth laughed,
and the deep sea of grey salt rejoiced.
*This should be flipped: ambrosial fragrance.
Lines 11–14
Ἄρτεμι θηροφόνη, θύγατερ Διός, ἣν Ἀγαμέμνων
εἵσαθ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἐς Τροίην ἔπλεε νηυσὶ θοῇς,
εὐχομένῳ μοι κλῦθι, κακὰς δ᾽ ἀπὸ κῆρας ἄλαλκε:
σοὶ μὲν τοῦτο, θεά, σμικρόν, ἐμοὶ δὲ μέγα.
Artemis, slayer of beasts, daughter of Zeus, whose image Agamemnon
set up and dedicated when he sailed into Troy on swift ships,
hear me praying, and ward off evil fates:
For you, goddess, this is a small matter, but for me it is great.
Lines 15–18
Μοῦσαι καὶ Χάριτες, κοῦραι Διός, αἵ ποτε Κάδμου
ἐς γάμον ἐλθοῦσαι καλὸν ἀείσατ᾽ ἔπος:
‘ὅττι καλόν, φίλον ἐστι, τὸ δ᾽ οὐ καλὸν οὐ φίλον ἐστίν:’
τοῦτ᾽ ἔπος ἀθανάτων ἦλθε διὰ στομάτων.
Muses and Graces, daughters of Zeus, who once
went into the wedding of Kadmos and sang a beautiful song:
“That which is beautiful is dear, and that which is not beautiful is not dear:”
This song came from your immortal lips.
Lines 19–38
Κύρνε, σοφιζομένῳ μὲν ἐμοὶ σφρηγὶς ἐπικείσθω
τοῖσδ᾽ ἔπεσιν, λήσει δ᾽ οὔποτε κλεπτόμενα,
οὐδέ τις ἀλλάξει κάκιον τοὐσθλοῦ παρεόντος,
ὧδε δὲ πᾶς τις ἐρεῖ: ‘Θεύγνιδός ἐστιν ἔπη
τοῦ Μεγαρέως πάντας δὲ κατ᾽ ἀνθρώπους ὀνομαστοῦ,’
ἀστοῖσιν δ᾽ οὔπω πᾶσιν ἁδεῖν δύναμαι:
οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν, Πολυπαΐδη: οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ Ζεὺς
οὔθ᾽ ὕων πάντεσσ᾽ ἁνδάνει οὔτ᾽ ἀνέχων.
σοὶ δ᾽ ἐγὼ εὖ φρονέων ὑποθήσομαι, οἷά περ αὐτός,
Κύρν᾽, ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν παῖς ἔτ᾽ ἐὼν ἔμαθον.
πέπνυσο, μηδ᾽ αἰσχροῖσιν ἐπ᾽ ἔργμασι μηδ᾽ ἀδίκοισιν
τιμὰς μηδ᾽ ἀρετὰς ἕλκεο μηδ᾽ ἄφενος.
ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως ἴσθι: κακοῖσι δὲ μὴ προσομίλει
ἀνδράσιν, ἀλλ᾽ αἰεὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔχεο:
καὶ παρὰ τοῖσιν πῖνε καὶ ἔσθιε, καὶ μετὰ τοῖσιν
ἵζε καὶ ἅνδανε τοῖς, ὧν μεγάλη δύναμις.
ἐσθλῶν μὲν γὰρ ἄπ᾽ ἐσθλὰ μαθήσεαι: ἢν δὲ κακοῖσιν
συμμίσγῃς, ἀπολεῖς καὶ τὸν ἐόντα νόον.
ταῦτα μαθὼν ἀγαθοῖσιν ὁμίλεε, καὶ ποτε φήσεις
εὖ συμβουλεύειν τοῖσι φίλοισιν ἐμέ.
Kyrne, let the seal to me be pressed upon
these lines, and they will not be stolen unawares,
and no one will change into bad from being good,
in this way all words will say: “These lines are of Theognis
of Megara, famous throughout all the world,”
but I am not yet able to please all townsmen:
This is nothing marvelous, son of Polypaus: for Zeus
pleases not all, neither sending rain nor withholding it.
But I, well-intending, will suggest to you, Kyrne, such as even myself
yet learned from good men as a child.
Be wise, neither by shameful nor unjust deeds
attract neither honors nor virtues nor riches.
In this way know and do these things: do not associate with bad
men, but always cling to the good:
and beside them drink and eat, and among them
sit and please them, whose power is great.
For you will learn good from good men: but if with the bad
you mingle, you will lose even the mind you have.
Understanding these, keep company with good, and at some time you will say
that I counsel my friends well.
Lines 39–42
Κύρνε, κύει πόλις ἥδε, δέδοικα δὲ μὴ τέκῃ ἄνδρα
εὐθυντῆρα κακῆς ὕβριος ἡμετέρης.
ἀστοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἔθ᾽ οἵδε σαόφρονες, ἡγεμόνες δὲ
τετράφαται πολλὴν ἐς κακότητα πεσεῖν.
Kyrne, this city travails, and I have feared that she may give birth to a man,
a corrector of our wicked hubris.
For these townsmen are still discreet, but their leaders
have turned to descend into much wickedness.
Passing time caring for critters.
Creating while they nap.
