Zeno game

O Zeus, king and guardian of the city,

you who direct the play of unfathomable dice,

grant that he may gain this most subtle position, starting from the white point,

he who, even when moving backwards, still finds the right path.

The sixth point held seven men, the ninth had one;

while the summit, bearing two men around it, was equal to the tenth.

The one that must, after the summit, hold two men and another single one

is the point on which the last piece has been placed.

But Black has left two men on the eighth point,

and just as many on the eleventh position.

On the twelfth, others were spread out like wings,

and on the thirteenth there lay a single man.

So arranged in pairs, they formed Antigonus’ order;

but he himself also had, in equal shares, a move on the fifteenth.

On the eighteenth he had his whole household, and elsewhere

another stood in a group of four, born of double throws.

But above, when he has drawn the white sign, the men will be borne off,

and with this move he wins, unaware of his own missteps.

May fortune grant them a better path of destiny, may the eight

win with a single throw and outstrip all the others.

And may the senseless oaths of that Fortune slip away from their fated lot.