Texte grec :
| [1,65] ἐπεὶ δὲ ἑώρα βουλόμενον ἄρχειν αὐτόν, οὐ τῶν ἡδονῶν οὐδὲ τῶν
πλεονεξιῶν ἐπιθυμοῦντα, ὧν ἕνεκεν οἱ πολλοὶ τούτου ἐρῶσιν, ἀλλ´
ὡς ἂν δύνηται πλεῖστα καὶ πλείστους εὖ ποιεῖν, ἐπιστάμενος
αὐτοῦ γενναίαν οὖσαν τὴν φύσιν, ὅμως δὲ ὑπονοῶν ὅσον ἦν ἐν
αὐτῷ θνητόν, καὶ ὅτι πολλὰ παραδείγματα ἐν ἀνθρώποις πονηρὰ
{εἴη} τρυφῆς καὶ ἀκολασίας καὶ πολλοὶ παρατρέπουσιν ἄκοντα τὸν
πεφυκότα ὀρθῶς ἔξω τῆς αὑτοῦ φύσεώς τε καὶ γνώμης, ταῦτα
λογιζόμενος Ἑρμῆν ἔπεμψε, κελεύσας ἃ δεῖ ποιεῖν.
(66) ὁ δὲ ἀφικόμενος εἰς Θήβας, ἔνθα νέος ὢν ἐτρέφετο Ἡρακλῆς, ἔφραζέν
τε ὃς εἴη καὶ παρ´ ὅτου πεμφθείς, καὶ ἄγει λαβὼν αὐτὸν ἄφραστον καὶ
ἄβατον ἀνθρώποις ὁδόν, ἕως ἦλθεν ἐπί τινα ὑπεροχὴν ὄρους περιφανῆ
καὶ σφόδρα ὑψηλήν, τὰ δὲ ἔξωθεν δεινῶς ἀπότομον κρημνοῖς
ὀρθίοις καὶ βαθείᾳ φάραγγι ποταμοῦ κύκλῳ περιρρέοντος, πολὺν
ψόφον τε καὶ ἦχον ἀναδιδόντος, ὡς τοῖς κάτωθεν ἀναβλέπουσι
μίαν ὁρᾶσθαι τὴν ἄνω κορυφήν, τὸ δὲ ἀληθὲς ἦν δίδυμος ἐκ μιᾶς
ῥίζης, καὶ πολύ γε ἀλλήλων διεστήκεσαν.
(67) ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ αὐτῶν ἡ μὲν βασίλειος ἄκρα, ἱερὰ Διὸς βασιλέως, ἡ δὲ ἑτέρα
τυραννική, Τυφῶνος ἐπώνυμος. δύο δὲ εἶχον ἔξωθεν ἐφόδους εἰς αὑτάς,
{ἑκατέρα} ἡ μὲν βασίλειος ἀσφαλῆ καὶ πλατεῖαν, ὡς ἀκινδύνως
τε καὶ ἀπταίστως δι´ αὐτῆς εἰσιέναι ἐφ´ ἅρματος ἐλαύνοντα,
εἴ τῳ δεδομένον εἴη παρὰ τοῦ μεγίστου θεῶν· ἡ δὲ ἑτέρα
στενήν τε καὶ σκολιὰν καὶ βίαιον, ὡς τοὺς πλείστους πειρωμένους
αὐτῆς οἴχεσθαι κατὰ τῶν κρημνῶν καὶ τοῦ ῥεύματος, ἅτε οἶμαι
παρὰ δίκην ἰόντας.
(68) φαίνεται μὲν οὖν, ὅπερ ἔφην, τοῖς πολλοῖς,
ἅτε ὁρῶσι μακρόθεν, ἄμφω μία τε καὶ ἐν ταὐτῷ σχεδόν, ὑπερέχει
δὲ ἡ βασίλειος κορυφὴ τοσοῦτον ὥστ´ ἐκείνη μὲν ἐπάνω τῶν νεφῶν
ἐστιν, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ {τε} καθαρῷ καὶ αἰθρίῳ ἀέρι, ἡ δὲ ἑτέρα πολὺ
κατωτέρω, περὶ αὐτὴν μάλιστα τὴν τῶν νεφῶν συστροφήν, σκοτεινὴ
καὶ ἀχλυώδης.
(69) ἄγων οὖν ἐκεῖσε ὁ Ἑρμῆς ἐπέδειξε τὴν φύσιν τοῦ χωρίου.
τοῦ δὲ Ἡρακλέους, ἅτε νέου καὶ φιλοτίμου, προθυμουμένου
θεάσασθαι τἄνδον, Οὐκοῦν ἕπου, φησίν, ἵνα καὶ σαφῶς ἴδῃς
τὴν διαφορὰν τῶν ἄλλων, ἃ λανθάνει τοὺς ἀνοήτους.
|
|
Traduction française :
| [1,65] And when he saw that the lad wished
to be a ruler, not through desire for pleasure and
personal gain, which leads most men to love power,
but that he might be able to do the greatest good to
the greatest number, he recognized that his son
was naturally of noble parts, and yet suspected how
much in him was mortal and thought of the many
baneful examples of luxurious and licentious living
among mankind, and of the many men there were to
entice a youth of fine naturel qualities away from
his true nature and his principles even against his will.
So with these considerations in mind he despatched
Hermes after instructing hirn as to what he should
do. Hermes therefore came to Thebes, where the
lad Heracles was being reared, and told him who he
was and who had sent him. Then, taking him in
charge, he led him over e secret path untrodden of
man till he came to a conspicuous and very lofty
mountain-peak whose sides were dreadfully steep
with sheer precipices and with the deep gorge of a
river that encompassed it, whence issued a mighty
rumbling and roaring. Now to anyone looking up
from below the crest above seemed single; but it
was in fact double, rising from a single base ; and the
two peaks were far indeed from each other. The
one of them bore the name Peak Royal and was
sacred to Zeus the King; the other, Peak Tyrannous,
was named after the giant Typhon. There were two
approaches to them from without, each having one.
The path that led to Peak Royal was safe and broad,
so that a person mounted on a car might enter
thereby without peril or mishap, if he had the permission
of the greatest of the gods. The other was
narrow, crooked, and difficult, so that most of those
who attempted it were lost over the cliffs and in the
flood below, the reason being, methinks, that they
transgressed justice in taking that path. Now, as I
have said, to most persons the two peaks appear to
be practically one and undivided, inasmuch as they
see them from a distance; but in fact Peak Royal
towers so high above the other that it stands above
the clouds in the pure and serene ether itself, whereas
the other is much lower, lying in the very thick of the
clouds, wrapped in darkness and fog.
(69) " Hermes then explained the nature of the place to
Heracles as he led him thither. But when Heracles,
ambitious youth that he was, longed to see what was
within, he said, ` Follow, then, that you may see with
your own eyes the difference in all other respects
also, things hidden from the foolish.'
|
|
