Ὣς φάτ' Ἀθηναίη. τῷ δὲ φρένας ἄφρονι πεῖθεν:
αὐτίκ' ἐσύλᾶ τόξον ἐΰξοων ϊξάλου αἰγὸς
ἀγρίου: ὅν ῥά ποτ' αὐτὸς ὑπὸ στέρνοιο τυχήσας
πέτρης ἐκβαίνοντα. δεδεγμένος ἐν προδοκῇσι.
βεβλήκει πρὸς στῆθος: ὁδ' ὕπτιος ἔμπεσε πέτρῃ:
τοῦ κέρᾱ ἐκ κεφαλῆς ἑκκαιδεκάδωρα πεφύκει:
καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀσκήσας κεραοξόος ἤραρε τέκτων:
πᾶν δ' εὖ λειήνᾱς. χρυσέην ἐπέθηκε κορώνην:
καὶ τὸ μὲν εὖ κατέθηκε τανυσσάμενος, ποτι γαίῃ
ἀγκλίνᾱς: πρόσθεν δὲ σάκεα σχέθον ἐσθλοὶ ἑταῖροι.
μὴ πρὶν ἀναΐξειαν ἀρήϊοι υἷες Ἀχαιῶν.
πρὶν βλῆσθαι Μενέλαον ἀρήϊον Ἀτρέος υἱόν:
αὐτὰρ ὃ σύλᾱ πῶμα φαρέτρης: ἐκ δ' ἕλετ' ἰ̈ὸν
ἀβλῆτα πτερόεντα: μελαινέων έρμ' ὀδυνά̄ων:
αῖψα δ' ἐπὶ νευρῇ κατεκόσμει πικρὸν ὀϊστόν:
εὔχετο δ' Ἀπόλλωνι Λυκηγενέϊ κλυτοτόξῳ.
ἀρνῶν πρωτογόνων ῥέξειν κλειτὴν ἑκατόμβην
οἴκαδε νοστήσας. ἱερῆς εἰς ἄστυ Ζελείης:
ἕλκε δ' ὁμοῦ γλυφίδας τε λαβών λαβὼν καὶ νεῦρα βόεια:
νευρὴν μὲν μαζῷ πέλασεν. τόξῳ δὲ σίδηρον:
αὐτὰρ ἐπειδὴ κυκλοτερὲς μέγα τόξον ἔτεινε.
λίγξε βιὸς, νευρὴ δὲ μέγ' ΐαχεν: ἆλτο δ' ὀϊστὸς
ὀξυβελὴς καθ' ὅμιλον ἐπιπτέσθαι μενεαίνων:
So spake Athene, and persuaded his heart in his folly. Straightway he uncovered his polished bow of the horn of a wild ibex, that himself on a time had smitten beneath the breast as it came forth from a rock, he lying in wait the while in a place of ambush, and had struck it in the chest, so that it fell backward in a cleft of the rock. From its head the horns grew to a length of sixteen palms; these the worker in horn had wrought and fitted together, and smoothed all with care, and set thereon a tip of gold. This bow he bent, leaning it against the ground, and laid it carefully down; and his goodly comrades held their shields before him, lest the warrior sons of the Achaeans should leap to their feet or ever Menelaus, the warlike son of Atreus, was smitten. Then opened he the lid of his quiver, and took forth an arrow, a feathered arrow that had never been shot, freighted with dark pains; and forthwith he fitted the bitter arrow to the string, and made a vow to Apollo, the wolf-born god, famed for his bow, that he would sacrifice a glorious hecatomb of firstling lambs, when he should come to his home, the city of sacred Zeleia. And he drew the bow, clutching at once the notched arrow and the string of ox's sinew: the string he brought to his breast and to the bow the iron arrow-head. But when he had drawn the great bow into a round, the bow twanged and the string sang aloud, and the keen arrow leapt, eager to wing its way amid the throng.
