1. XANTHUS: Take me to you, Sea, for I’ve suffered terribly. Please put a stop to my burning wounds. SEA: What’s this, Xanthus? Who has burnt you?
1. ΞΑΝΘΟΣ: Δέξαι με, ὦ θάλασσα, δεινὰ πεπονθότα καὶ κατάσβεσόν μου τὰ τραύματα. ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ: Τί τοῦτο, ὦ Ξάνθε; τίς σε κατέκαυσεν;
XANTHUS: Hephaestus. See how I’ve been charred to cinders all over, poor thing that I am, and am at boiling point. SEA: Whatever made him attack you with his fire?
ΞΑΝΘΟΣ: Ὁ Ἥφαιστος. ἀλλ’ ἀπηνθράκωμαι ὅλος ὁ κακοδαίμων καὶ ζέω. ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ: Διὰ τί δαί σοι καὶ ἐνέβαλε τὸ πῦρ;
XANTHUS: It’s all because of the son of Thetis here. He was butchering the Phrygians, and I begged him to relent from his anger, but he wouldn’t; he only blocked up my stream with their bodies. Out of pity for the poor wretches, I attacked him, hoping to swallow him in a flood, and frighten him away from them.
ΞΑΝΘΟΣ: Διὰ τὸν ταύτης υἱὸν τῆς Θέτιδος· ἐπεὶ γὰρ φονεύοντα τοὺς Φρύγας ἱκετεύσας οὐκ ἔπαυσα τῆς ὀργῆς, ἀλλ’ ὑπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν ἐνέφραττέ μοι τὸν ῥοῦν, ἐλεήσας τοὺς ἀθλίους ἐπῆλθον ἐπικλύσαι ἐθέλων, ὡς φοβηθεὶς ἀπόσχοιτο τῶν ἀνδρῶν.
2. XANTHUS: Then Hephaestus, happening to be near, attacked me, with all the fire he had in his forge it seemed to me, yes, with all his fire in Etna, and burnt my elms and tamarisks, roasting my unhappy fish and my eels, and making me myself bubble all over, and nearly dry all up. You can see the state I’m in from my burns. SEA: You’re muddy and hot, Xanthus, as is only natural, what with the blood from the bodies and the heat from that fire you’ve been talking about—and quite right too, when you had the cheek to attack my grandson though he was the son of a Nereid!
2. ΞΑΝΘΟΣ: ἐνταῦθα ὁ Ἥφαιστος—ἔτυχε γὰρ πλησίον που ὤν—πᾶν οἶμαι ὅσον ἐν τῇ καμίνῳ πῦρ εἶχεν καὶ ὅσον ἐν τῇ Αἴτνῃ φέρων ἐπῆλθέ μοι, καὶ ἔκαυσε μὲν τὰς πτελέας μου καὶ μυρίκας, ὤπτησε δὲ καὶ τοὺς κακοδαίμονας ἰχθῦς καὶ τὰς ἐγχέλεις, αὐτὸν δὲ ἐμὲ ὑπερκαχλάσαι ποιήσας μικροῦ δεῖν ὅλον ξηρὸν εἴργασται. ὁρᾷς γοῦν ὅπως διάκειμαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐγκαυμάτων. ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ: Θολερός, ὦ Ξάνθε, καὶ θερμός, ὡς εἰκός, τὸ αἷμα μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἡ θέρμη δέ, ὡς φῄς, ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρός· καὶ εἰκότως, ὦ Ξάνθε, ὃς ἐπὶ τὸν ἐμὸν υἱ⟨ων⟩ὸν ὥρμησας οὐκ αἰδεσθεὶς ὅτι Νηρεΐδος υἱὸς ἦν.
XANTHUS: Was it wrong for me, then, to feel sorry for my neighbours of Phrygia? SEA: Or wrong for Hephaestus to be sorry for Thetis’ son, Achilles?
ΞΑΝΘΟΣ: Οὐκ ἔδει οὖν ἐλεῆσαι γείτονας ὄντας τοὺς Φρύγας; ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ: Τὸν Ἥφαιστον δὲ οὐκ ἔδει ἐλεῆσαι Θέτιδος υἱὸν ὄντα τὸν Ἀχιλλέα;