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[1], 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[2].
O blessed spirit, thine is it to win hereto the husband of Hera, and the grey-eyed maid[3]; and thou art able to give to mortals strength ever and again against baffling perplexities. Make thou to cleave to them[4] 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[5].
