Two crimes brought punishment on this hero:

he was the first to pollute mortals with the taint of kindred bloodshed—

not without cunning—and once in the recesses of her great bedchamber

he made an attempt to rape the wife of Zeus.

One must always gauge everything by one’s own station.

Illicit sexual passions hurl men into utter ruin,

and they also proved his undoing,

for—ignorant man—he pursued a lovely deception and coupled with a cloud,

which mimicked the shape of heaven’s supreme goddess, the daughter of Cronus.

Zeus’ ingenuity contrived this as a trap for him—a beautiful misfortune.

And so he earned his own ruin, bound to the four-spoked wheel.

Caught in inescapable bonds, he was given a message that touches us all.

That singular mother bore him a singular monstrous son

without the Graces’ favour, one not honoured among men or in the gods’ society.

She raised it and called it Centaurus,*and it mated with mares of Magnesia*

in the foothills of Pelion, from which sprang a remarkable brood,

resembling both its parents: the mother’s parts below, and the father’s above.

A god accomplishes his every plan as he intends—

a god, who can outstrip even the winged eagle

and overtake the dolphin of the sea,

who forces many a haughty mortal to yield while giving others eternal glory.

I must avoid the violent bite of slander;

in times long gone I have seen the censorious Archilochus*often suffering

because he fattened himself on harsh words of hatred.

Wealth allied to good fortune is the best destiny poetic wisdom can give.

You clearly possess this, and can display it with a liberal spirit,

ruler and master of many well-fortified streets and of a numerous people.

If anyone today says that another man of former times in Greece

was superior to you in possessions and reputation,

he is empty-minded, and wrestles to no purpose.

To proclaim your prowess I shall board a flower-garlanded ship.

In terrible wars youth is supported by boldness,

and I say that there too you have acquired your boundless glory,

on campaigns with horsemen and with foot-soldiers.

Your counsels, mature in your later years,

allow me to praise you freely on every account.

Farewell; this song is sent to you over the grey sea like Phoenician merchandise.

As for the other, the song of Castor*sung to Aeolian strings,

look favourably upon it, the splendour of the seven-stringed lyre, as you meet it.

You have learnt what kind of a person you are: now become that man.

In the eyes of children, as we know, the ape is a handsome thing—always handsome;

but Rhadamanthys*prospers because fate has allotted him

the excellent fruit of a sound mind, and in his heart

he takes no pleasure in the kind of deceptions

that always keep mortals company, through whisperers’ artfulness.

Spreaders of slander cause irresistible harm to both parties,

for their natures are exactly those of foxes.

But what real gain comes from this kind of trickery?

None, for while the rest of the fisherman’s gear does its work in the sea’s depths

I am like a cork bobbing unsubmerged on its salt surface.

A dishonest citizen cannot utter weighty words in good men’s company,

but such a man will fawn on everyone, weaving his webs of delusion.

I wish no part in his audacity. Let me be a friend to my friend,

but my enemy—since I am his enemy—I shall hunt down

like a wolf, tracking him here and there on zigzag paths.

In every polity the straight-speaking man is best—whether under a tyranny

or when the violent mob or the wise watch over it.

One should not fight against the god,

who now raises a man up and then again gives great glory to others.

But not even this thought cheers the minds of the envious,

who stretch the measuring line too tight

and so inflict a painful wound in their own heart

before they can achieve what they have devised in their minds.

It is best to accept the yoke on one’s neck and bear it lightly;

truly, kicking against the goad makes for a slippery path.

May it be my fate to enjoy the approval of good men, and to keep their company.

Hecata