1. PANOPE: Did you see, Galene, what Discord did yesterday at the banquet in Thessaly, because she wasn’t invited? GALENE: I wasn’t with you people in person at the banquet. For Poseidon had told me, my dear Panope, to keep the sea calm while it lasted. But what did the absent Discord do?
1. ΠΑΝΟΠΗ: Εἶδες, ὦ Γαλήνη, χθὲς οἷα ἐποίησεν ἡ Ἔρις παρὰ τὸ δεῖπνον ἐν Θετταλίᾳ, διότι μὴ καὶ αὐτὴ ἐκλήθη εἰς τὸ συμπόσιον; ΓΑΛΗΝΗ: Οὐ συνειστιώμην ὑμῖν ἔγωγε· ὁ γὰρ Ποσειδῶν ἐκέλευσέ με, ὦ Πανόπη, ἀκύμαντον ἐν τοσούτῳ φυλάττειν τὸ πέλαγος. τί δ’ οὖν ἐποίησεν ἡ Ἔρις μὴ παροῦσα;
PANOPE: Thetis and Peleus had already left and gone to their chamber, escorted by Amphitrite and Poseidon. Meanwhile Discord had crept in unseen by all—that was easy enough, with the guests drinking, applauding, or listening to Apollo’s playing or the Muses’ singing—and she threw a beautiful apple amongst the guests—an apple of solid gold, my dear, with the inscription “For the queen of Beauty”. The apple rolled, as if aimed, to where Hera, Aphrodite and Athena were at table.
ΠΑΝΟΠΗ: Ἡ Θέτις μὲν ἤδη καὶ ὁ Πηλεὺς ἀπεληλύθεσαν ἐς τὸν θάλαμον ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀμφιτρίτης καὶ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος παραπεμφθέντες, ἡ Ἔρις δὲ ἐν τοσούτῳ λαθοῦσα πάντας—ἐδυνήθη δὲ ῥᾳδίως, τῶν μὲν πινόντων, ἐνίων δὲ κροτούντων ἢ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι κιθαρίζοντι ἢ ταῖς Μούσαις ᾀδούσαις προσεχόντων τὸν νοῦν—ἐνέβαλεν ἐς τὸ συμπόσιον μῆλόν τι πάγκαλον, χρυσοῦν ὅλον, ὦ Γαλήνη· ἐπεγέγραπτο δὲ “ἡ καλὴ λαβέτω.” κυλινδούμενον δὲ τοῦτο ὥσπερ ἐξεπίτηδες ἧκεν ἔνθα Ἥρα τε καὶ Ἀφροδίτη καὶ Ἀθηνᾶ κατεκλίνοντο.
2. PANOPE: Then Hermes picked it up, and read out the inscription, but we Nereids held our tongues. What could we do when such august ladies were present? Each of them laid claim to the apple, insisting it should rightly be hers, and it would have come to blows, if Zeus hadn’t parted them, saying, “I won’t judge this matter myself”,—though they kept insisting he should—“but you go to Priam’s son on Ida. He knows how to decide between beauties, for he’s a connoisseur of beauty; his verdict is bound to be right.” GALENE: And what have the goddesses done, Panope?
2. ΠΑΝΟΠΗ: κἀπειδὴ ὁ Ἑρμῆς ἀνελόμενος ἐπελέξατο τὰ γεγραμμένα, αἱ μὲν Νηρεΐδες ἡμεῖς ἐσιωπήσαμεν. τί γὰρ ἔδει ποιεῖν ἐκείνων παρουσῶν; αἱ δὲ ἀντεποιοῦντο ἑκάστη καὶ αὑτῆς εἶναι τὸ μῆλον ἠξίουν, καὶ εἰ μή γε ὁ Ζεὺς διέστησεν αὐτάς, καὶ ἄχρι χειρῶν ἂν τὸ πρᾶγμα προὐχώρησεν. ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνος, Αὐτὸς μὲν οὐ κρινῶ, φησί, περὶ τούτου,—καίτοι ἐκεῖναι αὐτὸν δικάσαι ἠξίουν—ἄπιτε δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἴδην παρὰ τὸν Πριάμου παῖδα, ὃς οἶδέ τε διαγνῶναι τὸ κάλλιον φιλόκαλος ὤν, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἐκεῖνος κρίναι κακῶς. ΓΑΛΗΝΗ: Τί οὖν αἱ θεαί, ὦ Πανόπη;
PANOPE: They’ll be going to Ida today, I believe, and we’ll soon have a messenger with news of the winner. GALENE: I can tell you that now. Only Aphrodite can win, if she competes—unless the umpire is very short-sighted.
ΠΑΝΟΠΗ: Τήμερον, οἶμαι, ἀπίασιν εἰς τὴν Ἴδην, καί τις ἥξει μετὰ μικρὸν ἀπαγγέλλων ἡμῖν τὴν κρατοῦσαν. ΓΑΛΗΝΗ: Ἤδη σοί φημι, οὐκ ἄλλη κρατήσει τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἀγωνιζομένης, ἢν μὴ πάνυ ὁ διαιτητὴς ἀμβλυώττῃ.