---
title: "Dialogues of the Gods · Θεῶν διάλογοι"
author: "Lucian"
translator: "Matthew Donald Macleod"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 16 of 25
url: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-gods/16/
cite: "Lucian, tr. Matthew Donald Macleod, Dialogues of the Gods · Θεῶν διάλογοι, section 16. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-gods/16/"
---

# Dialogues of the Gods · Θεῶν διάλογοι

*Lucian, tr. Matthew Donald Macleod*

The Olympians gossip, quarrel and complain: Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Ganymede and Eros.

> Greek: ed. Matthew Donald Macleod, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0062.tlg068, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Matthew Donald Macleod, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0062.tlg068.perseus-eng3). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 16. Dialogue 16

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-gods/16/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-gods/16/#p-N

[¶0] 1. HERMES: Why so down in the mouth, Apollo?

> Greek: 1. ΕΡΜΗΣ: Τί κατηφὴς εἶ, ὦ Ἄπολλον;

[¶1] APOLLO: It’s my bad luck in love, Hermes.

> Greek: ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Ὅτι, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, δυστυχῶ ἐν τοῖς ἐρωτικοῖς.

[¶2] HERMES: Ah, yes, that could well make a chap sad. But what’s your bad luck? Still sore about Daphne?

> Greek: ΕΡΜΗΣ: Ἄξιον μὲν λύπης τὸ τοιοῦτο· σὺ δὲ τί δυστυχεῖς; ἢ τὸ κατὰ τὴν Δάφνην σε λυπεῖ ἔτι;

[¶3] APOLLO: Oh, no; I’m in mourning for my Laconian darling, Oebalus’ son.

> Greek: ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Οὐδαμῶς· ἀλλὰ ἐρώμενον πενθῶ τὸν Λάκωνα τὸν Οἰβάλου.

[¶4] HERMES: Is Hyacinthus dead then?

> Greek: ΕΡΜΗΣ: Τέθνηκε γάρ, εἰπέ μοι, ὁ Ὑάκινθος;

[¶5] APOLLO: He certainly is.

> Greek: ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Καὶ μάλα.

[¶6] HERMES: Who did it, Apollo? Who was so insensible to charm as to kill that lovely boy?

> Greek: ΕΡΜΗΣ: Πρὸς τίνος, ὦ Ἄπολλον; ἢ τίς οὕτως ἀνέραστος ἦν ὡς ἀποκτεῖναι τὸ καλὸν ἐκεῖνο μειράκιον;

[¶7] APOLLO: I did it with my own hand.

> Greek: ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Αὐτοῦ ἐμοῦ τὸ ἔργον.

[¶8] HERMES: What! Were you mad, Apollo?

> Greek: ΕΡΜΗΣ: Οὐκοῦν ἐμάνης, ὦ Ἄπολλον;

[¶9] APOLLO: No, it was an unlucky accident.

> Greek: ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Οὔκ, ἀλλὰ δυστύχημά τι ἀκούσιον ἐγένετο.

[¶10] HERMES: How? I’d like to hear how it happened.

> Greek: ΕΡΜΗΣ: Πῶς; ἐθέλω γὰρ ἀκοῦσαι τὸν τρόπον.

[¶11] 2. APOLLO: He was learning to throw the quoit, and I was throwing it with him, when Zephyrus did it—curse that wind above them all—Zephyrus, too, had been in love with him for a long time, but the boy wouldn’t look at him, and he couldn’t stand his contempt. Well, I threw my quoit as usual, and Zephyrus blew down from Taygetus, and dashed it down on the boy’s head. Blood poured out where it hit him, and he died on the spot, poor lad. I shot back at Zephyrus with my arrows and chased him hard, all the way back to the mountain. The boy I’ve had buried in Amyclae, where he was struck down by the discus, and I’ve made the earth send up from his blood the sweetest and fairest flower of them all, one which bears lettering of mourning for the dead one. Do you think it’s unreasonable of me to have a broken heart?

> Greek: 2. ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Δισκεύειν ἐμάνθανε κἀγὼ συνεδίσκευον αὐτῷ, ὁ δὲ κάκιστα ἀνέμων ἀπολούμενος ὁ Ζέφυρος ἤρα μὲν ἐκ πολλοῦ καὶ αὐτός, ἀμελούμενος δὲ καὶ μὴ φέρων τὴν ὑπεροψίαν ταῦτα εἰργάσατο· ἐγὼ μὲν ἀνέρριψα, ὥσπερ εἰώθειμεν, τὸν δίσκον εἰς τὸ ἄνω, ὁ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ταϋγέτου καταπνεύσας ἐπὶ κεφαλὺν τῷ παιδὶ ἐνέσεισε φέρων αὐτόν, ὥστε ἀπὸ τῆς πληγῆς αἷμα ῥυῆναι πολὺ καὶ τὸν παῖδα εὐθὺς ἀποθανεῖν. ἀλλὰ ἐγὼ τὸν μὲν Ζέφυρον αὐτίκα ἠμυνάμην κατατοξεύσας, φεύγοντι ἐπισπόμενος ἄχρι τοῦ ὄρους, τῷ παιδὶ δὲ καὶ τὸν τάφον μὲν ἐχωσάμην ἐν Ἀμύκλαις, ὅπου ὁ δίσκος αὐτὸν κατέβαλε, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος ἄνθος ἀναδοῦναι τὴν γῆν ἐποίησα ἥδιστον, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, καὶ εὐανθέστατον ἀνθῶν ἁπάντων, ἔτι καὶ γράμματα ἔχον ἐπαιάζοντα τῷ νεκρῷ. ἆρά σοι ἀλόγως λελυπῆσθαι δοκῶ;

[¶12] HERMES: Yes I do, my good chap. You knew you’d chosen a mortal to love; so you mustn’t be vexed at his death.

> Greek: ΕΡΜΗΣ: Ναί, ὦ Ἄπολλον· ᾔδεις γὰρ θνητὸν πεποιημένος τὸν ἐρώμενον· ὥστε μὴ ἄχθου ἀποθανόντος.