Section I:

Apollo’s Birth, Delos, and the islands of the Aegean

Should I, instead, sing of

places

those which bring pleasure to you in their beauty:

peaks and rolling foothills of high mountains,

rivers flowing into the ocean,

beaches and harbors alongside the sea?

Or perhaps I should sing of

firsts?

[Of how things came to be as they are?]

that first beginning, when

Leto

delivered you

presenting a gift to all mortals^[2] 25

[birthing a remedy for the harsh fates given by heaven.]

bent over in labor,

facing the hillside of Mount Cythnus

on rocky, desolate,

Delos:

island-surrounded-by-the-sea.

On every side, shrill-whistling winds

drive ominous waves upon her shore.

This is your first:

And from this first moment,

from this first place,

your rule and benefit to mortals spreads

until it reaches and echoes back from every land:

[the rich Peloponnese

across Europa (Thrace and Thessaly), and

throughout the water-circled Aegean islands.^[4]

But the path starts here first,

with your power in the Aegean.]

Apollo’s Dominion (I):

The Islands and Aegean Seacoast

First, 

it starts with those

who hold cities on the island of Crete, 30

[and travels] north, up to the city of the Athenians

in sight to the left, the island of Aigina,

but it proceeds to the right, northwest,

along the long coastal shores of Euboea

reaching the harbor cities of Aegai, Iresiai

passing the island beaches of Peparethus.

and crosses into the Aegean.

[Now, a fork:]

[Either–]

it bends north around the coast to the Thracian lands:

northeast, to the peninsula called Athos 

after leaving behind mount Pelion

further east to the island of Samos(thrace)

before you, the shadowy range of Ida.

[Or instead –]

East from Peparethus:

to the island in the center of the sea: Skyros

Then further to the coast and Phocaea

your guide: the far-away peak of Autokane. 35

[Here, the paths rejoin]

In order between Samos and Phocaea:

bustling-and-busy-Imbros;

smoke drifting into the sky: inhospitable Lemnos

and the most holy island of Lesbos

— famous kingdom of Macar, son of Aeolus.

[Heading south now, along the coast–]

it appears shining-white-in-the-sea : Chios

within sight on the coast,

the rocky summits of Mimas and Corycus 

further, past the city which gleams in the sun: Klaros,

staying in the shadow of the peak of Aisagea. 40

Next, the island forever wet-from-the-sea-spray: Samos

across from the tall Mt. Mycale

past the city of Miletus

and the neighboring island of Kos,

–where the Meropians have their city.

ending at that island buffeted-by-the-ocean-winds: Karpathos

and the heights of lofty Mt. Knidos..

Finally, the path turns back to the center of the sea,

northwest, reaching the islands of Naxos,

Paros

and rocky Rheneia.

Until…