The weaving of wreaths is an easy thing:  tarry a little:  behold the Muse fasteneth together gold and white ivory, and a lily flower withal, that she hath plucked from beneath the deep sea’s dew[7].

Of Zeus be mindful when thou tellest of Nemea, and guide the multitudinous voices of our song with a quiet mind:  meet is it that with gentle voice we celebrate in this land the king of gods:  for they tell how he begat Aiakos of a mortal mother, to be for his own fortunate land a ruler of cities, and for thee, Herakles, a loving friend and brother.

And if man receiveth aught from man, then may we say that neighbour is to neighbour a joy worth all else, if he loveth him with steadfast soul:  now if even a god will consent hereto, then in such bond with thee, O conqueror of the giants[8], is Sogenes fain to dwell happily in the well-built sacred street of his ancestors, cherishing a mind of tenderness toward his sire:  for as when four horses are yoked together in a car, so hath he his house in the midst of thy holy places, and goeth in unto them both on the right hand and on the left[9].

O blessed spirit, thine is it to win hereto the husband of Hera, and the grey-eyed maid[10]; and thou art able to give to mortals strength ever and again against baffling perplexities.  Make thou to cleave to them[11] a life of steadfast strength, and wind the bliss thereof amid both youth and a serene old age, and may their children’s children possess continually the honours that they now have, and greater in the time to come.

Never shall my heart confess that I have outraged Neoptolemos with irreclaimable words.  But thrice and four times to tell over the same tale is emptiness in the end thereof, even as he of the proverb that babbleth among children how that Korinthos was the son of Zeus[12].

[Footnote 1:  Retaining the reading [Greek:  hupo kerdei balon].  I conjecture it to mean, ’do not in their eagerness for trade choose an unfavourable and dangerous time for their voyage, but wait for the [Greek:  kairos], the right opportunity.’]

[Footnote 2:  The kingdom of Epeiros.  Pyrrhos, the invader of Italy, called himself a descendant of Neoptolemos (who was also called Pyrrhos).]

[Footnote 3:  Delphi.]

[Footnote 4:  Father of Sogenes.]

[Footnote 5:  Pindar would seem to have been [Greek:  proxenos] at Thebes for some state of Epeiros, to which fact he appeals as a proof that he stood well with the Epirot descendants of Neoptolemos.]

[Footnote 6:  The Pentathlon was composed of five contests, namely, the jump, throwing the disk, throwing the javelin, the foot-race, and wrestling.  The prize was for the best man in three contests out of the five.  These came in the order in which they are enumerated above; thus if the best javelin-thrower had already won two of the other matches he would not be challenged to wrestle, as the prize of the Pentathlon