Lucian's dialogues, namely, the dialogues of the gods, of the sea-gods, and of the dead; Zeus the tragedian, the ferry-boat, etc. Translated with notes and a preliminary memoir by Howard Williams
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Full text[1] in a Howard Williams translation
Front matter
BOHN'S CLASSICAL LIBRARY
LUCIAN'S DIALOGUES
LUCIAFS DIALOGUES
NAMELY
THE DIALOGUES OP THE GODS, OF THE SEA- GODS, AND OF THE DEAD ; ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN, THE FERRY-BOAT
ETC.
TRANSLATED WITH NOTES AND A PRELIMINARY MEMOIR
BY
HOWARD WILLIAMS, M.A.
LATE SCHOLAR OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
LONDON : GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET COVENT GARDEN
1888
pa ted i
% Ik
CHISWICK l'KESS : — C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT,
CHANCERY LANE.
CONTENTS.
Page
Preface xii *
Dialogues of the Gods. I. Prometheus obtains his release from Zeus by a
prophecy 1
II. Zeus threatens to put Eros in fetters .... 3 III. Zeus orders Hermes to slay Argus, and to conduct
Io to Egypt • ^
IV. Zeus instructs Ganymedes as to the nature of his
duties in heaven 5
V. Hera upbraids Zeus with his love for Ganymedes . 9
VI. Ixion makes love to Hera 12
VII. Hephaestus recounts to Apollo the actions of the
infant prodigy, Hermes 15
VIII. Hephaestus assists at the parturition of Zeus and the
birth of Athena IV
IX. Hermes refuses Poseidon admission to Zeus, and assigns as the reason the lying-in of the king of
Gods and men with Bacchus 18
X. Hermes conveys to Helios the order of Zeus : that he is to refrain from driving his chariot, until the completion of the amour of the king of gods and
men with Alkmene 21
XI. Aphrodite charges Selene with her love for Endy- mion, and, at the same time, laments the tyranny
of her son, Eros, over herself 22
XII. Aphrodite upbraids Eros for his mischievous conduct in the past, and cautions him for the future. Eros defends himself .24
XIII. Asklepius and Herakles quarrel on a question of pre-
cedence in heaven ....... 25
XIV. Apollo recounts to Hermes the manner of the death
of Hyakinthus, and his grief for the same . . 27 XV. Hermes and Apollo envy the deformed Hephaestus
the possession of his beautiful wives . . ^ . 29 XVI. Hera and Leto dispute about the merits of their
respective children .... 30
vi CONTENTS.
Page XVII. Hermes relates to Apollo the adultery of Ares and
Aphrodite, and the revenge of Hephaestus . . 33 XVIII. Hera denounces, and Zeus defends, the character of
Bacchus 34
XIX. Eros explains to his mother why he does not assail
Athena, the Musse, and Artemis .... 36 XX. The Judgment of Paris 38
XXI. Ares ridicules the threat of Zeus, and the Chain let
down from heaven ....... 49
XXII. Pan urges his claims to be the son of Hermes, who
is unwilling to admit his paternity ... 50
XXIII. Apollo remarks to Bacchus on the heterogeneousness
of Aphrodite's children ; while Bacchus exposes
the character of Priapus ..... 52
XXIV. Hermes complains to his mother of the multiplicity
of his employments ...... 54
XXV. Helios, accused by Zeus of rash conduct in giving up
his chariot to his son, obtains a conditional pardon 56 XXVI. Apollo asks Hermes to point out to him, of the twin Dioscuri which is Kastor, and which Polydeukes ; and takes the opportunity of criticizing their divine pretensions . ....... 58
Dialogues of the Sea-Gods. I. Doris ridicules the figure and manners of Polyphemus,
the lover of Galateia 61
II. Polyphemus complains to Poseidon, his father, of his
treatment at the hands of Odysseus . . . .63
III. Poseidon questions Alpheius, a river-god, respecting
his amour with the nymph Arethusa. ... 65
IV. Menelaus expresses to Proteus his incredulity in regard
to the alleged miraculous transformations of that di- vinity 66
V. Panope relates to Galene the scene of the introduction of the golden apple by Eris into the nuptial feast of Peleus and Thetis, the discord between the three rival Goddesses, and their dismissal to Mount Ida for judgment ......... 68
VI. The rape of Amymone by Poseidon .... 69
VII. Zephyrus recounts to Notus the metamorphosis and
adventures of Io . . . . . . .71
VIII. At Poseidon's request, the dolphins narrate to him the
story of Arion's escape 72
IX. Poseidon and Amphitrite dispute as to the fitting place
of burial for Helle, drowned in the Hellespont. Po- seidon directs the Nereids to take up her body, and bury it in the Troad ....... 74
X. Iris conveys to Poseidon the commands of Zeus that he
should keep the island of Delos stationary, where Leto was to lie-in 75
CONTENTS. VII
Page XL The river Xanthus supplicates Thalassa (the Sea) to receive him, and cure the burns inflicted upon him by Hephaestus on behalf of Achilleus .... 76 XII. Thetis relates to Doris the story of the exposure of
Danae and her infant, Perseus ..... 77
XIII. Enipeus reproaches Poseidon with the fraudulent seduc-
tion of the nymph Tyro. Poseidon excuses himself 78
XIV. A Triton relates to the Nereids the story of the rescue
of Andromeda by Perseus 80
XV. Zephyrus relates to Notus the manner of the rape of Europa, and the marine pomp with which she was conducted to her nuptials with Zeus .... 83
Dialogues of the Dead.
I. Diogenes commissions Polydeukes, about to return to the upper world, to inform Menippus of the actual condition of things in the land of shades, and to deliver admonitory messages to various sorts of men — the rich, the powerful, the proud ; and, finally, to the poor, whom, when they complain of their lot on earth, he is to console by representing the complete equality (((Tori/xia) which prevails in the regions of the dead .86
II. Krcesus, Midas, and Sardanapalus complain to Pluto of Menippus that he derides them for their lamenta- tions over the loss of the power, wealth, and luxury which belonged to them on earth. Menippus, in spite of Pluto's remonstrances, persists in his ridicule . 90
III. Menippus ridicules the oracles of Trophonius and Am-
philochus ......... 92
IV. Hermes demands from Charon arrears of payment due
to him for his services on the Styx. Charon excuses himself on the plea of bad times ; no great war or famine, as it happened, ravaging the earth at that moment. Hermes moralizes on the causes of death, different from those of old, which despatch men in
crowds to Hades. . 93
V. Pluto directs Hermes to bring him the fortune and legacy -hunters and flatterers of a certain rich man, and to suffer the latter to outlive his fawning satel- lites 95
VI. Terpsion, a legacy-hunter, accuses Pluto and the Fates in that, although only thirty years of age, they had caused him to predecease the object of his tender regards, the millionaire nonagenarian, Thukritus. Pluto convinces Terpsion of the injustice of his accu- sation ; and the legacy-hunter consoles himself in the prospect of being soon joined in Hades by his late rivals on earth .97
VII. Zenophantes and Kallidemides, two parasites, bewail
Vlll CONTENTS.
Page
one to the other their fates, in having been in the midst of their scheming unexpectedly s dismissed to Hades. Kallidemides, in particular, recounts the pleasant manner in which he brought about his own death 99
VIII. Knemon, a legacy-hunter, laments to his neighbour Damnippus, that, whereas he had publicly, in his will, bequeathed all his wealth to the millionaire Hermolaus, in the expectation that the latter would reciprocate the benefit, he, the speculating testator, by his sudden death, had been frustrated of all his hopes, and, besides, had left his family destitute . 101 IX. Polystratus, a centenarian plutocrat, upon arriving in Hades, narrates to his friend Simylus how, by reason of his great wealth, he had enjoyed the adulation of the world and an abundance of gifts from speculating flatterers, and how he had disappointed them all by
his will 102
X. An alarming number of ghosts crowd to the Styx. Charon, fearing for his boat, directs Hermes to see that they were entirely stripped of their various insignia of power, rank, wealth, and the weighty load of vices, before they are admitted on board. Menippus, who is one of the passengers, avails him- self of the opportunity for ridiculing and railing at the bewailing ghosts ...... 105
XI. Krates and Diogenes, meeting in Hades, indulge their satire on the subject of the fates of two millionaire merchants (cousins) who had been constantly plot- ting, in the usual manner, each for the other's legacy, and who had both perished on the same day by shipwreck. The two eminent Cynics congratu- late themselves on the recollection of the very diffe- rent character of their own objects in life . .112 XII. Alexander of Macedon and Hannibal, quarrelling for precedence, submit the arbitrament of their cause to Minos. Each recounts his exploits. Scipio, the conqueror of Carthage, intervenes, and pronounces in favour of Alexander, claiming the second place for himself, and assigning the third place to Hannibal . 114
XIII. Diogenes jeers at Alexander of Macedon for his late pretensions to divinity, at the same time satirizing the servile attitude of the conquered Greek States to- wards him. He proceeds to remind the arrogant conqueror of all his vain power and glory, and casts large part of the blame on Alexander's preceptor, Aristotle, for flattering and fostering the pride and ambition of his pupil. Diogenes, finally, recom- mends the dead potentate to drink the waters of the river Lethe 120
CONTENTS. IX
Page XIV. Philip, King of Macedon, ridicules his son Alexan- der s absurd arrogance in claiming to be the son of Amnion, and calls in question the greatness of his military achievements. Alexander defends him- self 124
XV. Antilochus, the son of Nestor (one of the Greek heroes who fell during the siege of Ilium), remonstrates with his friend Achilleus for having given utterance to the words put into his mouth by the poet of the Odyssey — that he would rather be a slave on earth than king in Hades — shows him the uselessness of regrets in the under-world, and, at the same time, attempts to console him with the reflection that he is far from being alone in his fate. Achilleus takes the admonition of his friend in good part, but refuses to be comforted ..... 128 XVI. Diogenes, the Cynic, expresses his astonishment to /
Herakles at seeing the son of Zeus in Hades, like the rest. That hero pretends that his actual self is in heaven, while it is his eidolon, or phantom, which is among the dead . . . . .130
XVII. Menippus derides the fable and fate of Tantalus . 133 XVIII. Menippus desires Hermes to point out to him the beautiful women and handsome men celebrated by the poets. Hermes shows him the ghosts of the most famous of them, and, in particular, that of Helene. Menippus cynically expresses his aston- ishment that a bare skull should have caused a great war, and the deaths of so many thousands . 135 XIX. Protesilaus, one of the victims of the Trojan War, seeks to avenge himself by an assault on Helene — vEakus, gatekeeper and one of the high court of justice in Hades, reminds him that it is Menelaus, the commander-in-chief of the Achaean army against Ilium, who is the proper object of his vengeance. Menelaus shifts the responsibility to the shoulders of Paris. Paris lays the blame upon Eros. ^Eakus decides that Protesilaus has only himself to blame for preferring military glory to a young and beau- tiful wife ; but concedes to Protesilaus that the blame, in the last resort, lies with the Fates . 137
XX. ^Eakus, at the especial request of Menippus, intro- duces him to the ghosts of the most celebrated Eotentates of antiquity, when the Cynic avails imself of his opportunity for ridicule and derision. Menippus is next introduced to the most famous philosophers, whom he treats with not much greater consideration. The dialogue concludes with an interview with Socrates, whose foibles, real or pretended, are made the subject of satire . . 139
CONTENTS.
XXI. MenippusinquiresofKerberus, the canine guardian of the entrance to Hades, as to the demeanour of Sokrates upon his first arrival there XXII. Charon demands from Menippus his accustomed fee. Upon the absolute refusal of the Cynic to pay, a lively altercation ensues ....
XXIII. Protesilaus, an Achtean hero, who had fallen before
Ilium, supplicates Pluto to permit him to return to life, for a day, to visit his wife Laodameia, and adduces as precedents the examples of Orpheus and Alkestis. At the intercession of Persephone, Pluto at length grants the favour
XXIV. Diogenes demands of Mausolus, the Karian satrap,
the reason of his arrogance and pride, and ridi- cules the vanity of his grandeur and power on earth, and, in particular, the uselessness to him of his magnificent tomb at Halikarnassus. He concludes his diatribe with contrasting his own complete ignorance and indifference in regard even to the manner, or place, of his own sepul- ture .........
XXV. Nireus and Thersites, disputing which of them was the more distinguished by good looks, appeal to Menippus. Menippus, disregarding the autho- rity of Homer, pronounces the InoKaWog as well as the iaoTiuia, in Hades, to be as complete as it
is unalterable
XXVI. Cheiron imparts to Menippus his reason for pre- ferring Hades to heaven and immortality . XXVII. The philosophers Diogenes, Antisthenes, and Krates resolve to make for the entrance to Orcus, to observe the quality and conduct of the new arrivals. On the way they entertain themselves with recounting their several experiences of the behaviour of their travelling companions to Hades. Upon their arrival at their destination, Diogenes interrogates a poor man as to the cause of his lamentation ......
XXVIII. Menippus ridicules the story of the prophet Tei- resias as found in the poets and theologists, and, in particular, his metamorphosis into a woman . . . .
XXIX. Agamemnon inquires of (Telamonian) Aias the reason of his late cool reception of Odysseus, when he came down to learn the future from Teiresias. Aias justifies his hostile feeling by alleging the conduct of Odysseus to him, in the matter of the competition for the arms df Achil- leus
Page
145
146
148
150
152
154
155
160
163
CONTENTS. XI
Page XXX. Sostratus, for his crimes, about to be consigned by Minos to the tortures of Tartarus, protests against the injustice of his sentence ; since, upon the admissions of his judge himself, he had been a mere instrument in the hands of Fate. Minos, moved by the plausibility of his plea, reprieves him 164
Zeis the Tragedian 168
The Convicted Zeus 209
The Convention of the Gods 225
The Ferry-boat : or, The Tyrant 237
menippus : or, the oracle of the dead .... 262
Index 283
PREFACE.
For the few ascertained facts in the life of the greatest prose satirist and most brilliant wit of Greek and Latin antiquity, we are indebted, almost wholly, to scattered and incidental allusions in his own various writings.
Like his immediate predecessor, Menippus the satirist ; the illustrious Neo-Platonist, Porphyry, in the third ; and the orator, Libanius, in the fourth century, Lucian was Syrian by birth. He was born at Samosata — its heap of ruins still retains the old name almost unchanged — on the Euphrates, not far distant from Edessa, and the chief city of the district of Kommagene, in the extreme north-east of Syria, about the year 120 a.d. Tradition protracts the term of his existence to the age of ninety, or even of one hundred years. He thus lived through the reigns of Hadrian, the two Antonines, and Commodus, and (at all events) the earlier part of the reign of Severus — alto- gether the happiest period of the Roman Empire, and one of the most interesting ages in the world's his- tory. Of his earlier life, the brief record supplied in his incomplete autobiographical sketch, the Dream, so often has been repeated, that it is not necessary to do more than to refer to it here. It is enough briefly to repeat that the deliberations of a family council deter- mined his parents, who were in poor circumstances, to apprentice him, at the age of fifteen, to his maternal uncle, a statuary, for whose art he had shown some boyish incli- nation ; that, by a fortunate accident — fortunate, at least, for the world of literary, if not of plastic, Art — the breaking of a piece of marble, he was induced to run away from his master, in resentment at a severe flogging, and to transfer
X1V PREFACE.
his allegiance to Literature (Paideia 1 ) ; or, rather, to prepare himself, in the first instance, by a severe course of training, for the profession of a rhetor (in modern phrase, a public speaker), which eventually led him to em- brace the career of philosophy and letters.
At this very early stage his memoir, unhappily, comes to an end, and we are left to incidental remarks in his more considerable productions. His experiences for some years lay in the hard school of poverty and neglect (reVi/e tea) aQavfc). In search of employment, or, rather, to master the rudiments of his profession, the young Lucian wan- dered through the cities of the south-western region of the Lesser Asia, the celebrated and highly-cultured Ionia, gradually getting rid of his provincial manner and dialect, but still conspicuous by his Syrian (or, as he calls it, Assyrian) and un-Greek style of dress (The Twice- Accused, 27). In his twentieth year he arrived in Greece, and made his first acquaintance with the Platonic philo- sopher Nigrinus, who gives the title to one of his Dialogues. He next settled in the Syrian capital, Antioch, where he practised at the bar, and acquired considerable reputation as a pleader ; but the chicanery and frauds of the inter- preters of the laws soon caused him to abandon that pur- suit (The Fisherman, 29). The skill thus gained he turned to lucrative account as travelling disputant (sophistes, as it was termed)— a popular and profitable calling, which was as common in the philosophic Hellenic and Roman world in the second century, a.d., as it was in Scholastic Europe of the Middle Ages. In that capacity he traversed Syria and Egypt. Soon afterwards he visited Rome (in the year 150), among other reasons, to consult an oculist; and in his Nigrinus, the literary result of his visit, he stigmatizes the prevail- ing corruptions and laborious trifling of the literary as well as fashionable society of the capital. After a stay of two years in Italy, he proceeded to southern Gaul, at that time, and long previously, celebrated for its schools of
1 The fine allegory of the rivalry of Paideia and Techne (" Trade ") may have been suggested to him, in part, by the charming idyll of Moschus (in which Europe and Asia appear in a dream to the daughter of Kadmus, and contend for her possession), as well as by the Choice of Herakles of Prodikus and Xenophon.
PREFACE. XV
rhetoric. In Gaul he continued his profession of public lecturer for some ten years, his residence in that country bring interrupted only by a visit to Olympia. During this period, probably, he composed many of his published rhetorical pieces.
Having now secured an independent income, at the age of forty, Lucian set out again on his travels, and made a journey through Macedonia and Thessaly, on his way to his Syrian home. His stay at Samosata was only tempo- rary ; and, inducing his surviving family to remove to Athens, in the next year he himself followed them to the literary metropolis, which to him, as to every Greek or phil- Hellenist, doubtless was an object of supreme intellectual curiosity. It was on his journey to Athens that he had the interview with the Paphlagonian prophet, Alexander, which gave birth to his satire of that name. The contempt openly exhibited by him for that eminent miracle- worker had almost, as he assures us (Alex. 56, 57), cost him his life : for the exasperated Alexander had secretly instructed the crew of the vessel, which he had insidiously placed at his visitor's disposal, to make away with their charge — a conspiracy frustrated only by the interposition of the relenting captain. Thus saved from a premature and inglorious end, he proceeded on his journey to Athens, accompanied by that extraordinary adventurer, Peregrinus, or Peregrinus Proteus, whose fiery immolation of himself (like that of another Hercules Furens), be- fore the assembled multitude at Olympia, witnessed by Lucian, in the year 165, forms the principal subject of the Peregrinus.
At Athens Lucian seems — for there is no positive evi- dence — to have taken up his fixed abode for the greater part of his remaining life, occupying himself, as may safely be conjectured, in the highest philosophical and literary studies, and in the enjoyment of the friendship of such exceptional philosophers as Celsus, the famous Platonist- critic of nascent Christianity (in his True Account, known to us only through the Reply of Origen, published fifty years later), of the Stoic Sostratus, and the Eclectic De- monax. His sketch of the career of the last, a meritorious ethical teacher, forms one of the not rare proofs of his
XV1 PREFACE.
esteem for real goodness. 1 During this period appeared his masterpieces— his principal theological, philosophical, and ethical Dialogues — when that consummate skill in the management of the marvellous Attic dialect had been attained which rivals the style of the best masters, and which, as the acquisition of a foreigner, excites the admira- tion of all his editors and critics. Perhaps the only other equally remarkable instance of such kind of excellence is that of the African Terence.
When about the age of seventy, impelled, it would seem, by imminent poverty— for authors, then, even of the highest reputation fell very far short of obtaining from the Sosii of the day the immense pecuniary profits now often secured by ephemeral writers— Lucian once more resumed his old occupation of rhetor or sophist, and produced some of those declamatory essays which appear among his published works. At a fortunate moment, he found relief from his pecuniary difficulties in an official income derived from his appointment to the registrarship or clerkship of the law- courts of the Egyptian capital, the presentation to which office has variously been assigned to Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Severus. Chronology seems, on the whole, to support the claims of the last prince, who became em- peror in 193, to the honour of saving from destitution the greatest literary ornament of the century. To clear him- self from the charge of teaching one thing (in his satire, On Hired Dependants) and practising another, by way of sup- plement to that essay he published his Apology. From it, incidentally, we learn that he derived a large salary (ttoXwu- Xavrog) from his legal post. He alleges the forcible argu- ment that, as the Imperial master of the Roman legions himself — not to mention numerous less exalted personages — by no means refused the richest emoluments of office,
1 The most interesting, and most meritorious, fact recorded in the life of this highly interesting philosopher, who inclined in opinion chiefly to the School of Plato, in practice to that of Antisthenes, is his fine remon- strance addressed to the people of Athens, who were contemplating the introduction of the cruel "sports" of the Roman amphitheatres. " Refrain, Athenians," he protested, " from votirg this, until you have first pulled down your altar erected to Pity " (Dem. 51). See, too, his very rational remark on sacrifices (Dem. 6).
PREFACE. XV11
he, the starving critic, could scarcely be blamed for fol- lowing — in a very humble fashion, and at a very long inter- val — that elevated example For the most part, his official duties at Alexandria he devolved upon a deputy, so that his learned leisure was little disturbed at Athens, where, as already stated, he died at an advanced age, but at what date is quite uncertain.
Such are the somewhat meagre facts collected from his writings. To these his earlier biographers or critics, led by the lexicographer Suidas, have been pleased to make some sensational and apocryphal additions. Suidas, of whom nothing is known except that he belongs to a very late date in Byzantine literary history, having, pro- bably, in mind the story of the tragic end of the infidel Euripides, assures his readers that the " blasphemer " found a well- merited end in having been torn to pieces by wild dogs ; and, not content with so unique a termination to his earthly career, adds, as to his posthumous existence, " in the future, with Satan, he will have his portion in eternal fire." Another equally discreet authority, of the sixteenth century, Raffaelle Maffei (or Yolaterranus, as he is called from his birthplace), avers that he was a mali- cious apostate from Christianity, attributing to him the bon mot, that he had gained nothing from his old creed but change of name — Lucianus in place of Lucius (or Lykinus). To these and similar mendacious assertions Erasmus re- plies, " they attached to him the name of blasphemer, that is, ' evil- speaker ; ' but they who did so, one may be sure, were those whose festering sores he had probed." .To his bitter and persistent satirical assaults upon the establis hed reli gionTand upon the contending sects of (so-called) " ph i- losophy," we may be sure, not a few (epnemeral) replies appeared : but no notices of them have come down to us. While, however, the last echoes of pagan sacerdotal or sectarian animosity, excited by his exposures, died away at the establishment of Christianity, orthodox zeal, on the other side, even still sometimes regards him as the declared enemy of the Christian faith. The hostility of the earlier Christian authorities had been aroused, in particular, by two very famous Dialogues — the Peregrinus and the Philo- patris (" The Patriot ") . As for the latter, it has been proved,
XV1U PREFACE.
beyond reasonable doubt, to have been the production of a much later writer, bearing the same name as the reputed author; while, as for the former, the chief offence origi- nated in a mistaken reading or interpretation of the text, where allusion is made to the Founder of Christianity. 1 ' In fact, the brief all usions of the Greek satirist ta the new faith see m to discover less hostility than is displ ayed in his_r jdicule of the rival Oriental creeds, of the esta blished religion itself, or of the popular systems o f philosophy and
ethics. _ "
If Lucian has been thus vilified by the ignorance or malice of critics of early days, on the other hand, from the first moment of his resurrection, at the restoration of learning — from the first appearance of the editio princeps, in 1496 — he received an enthusiastic recognition of his rare merits from the best scholars of the time. Among them towers conspicuously the illustrious Erasmus, one of the earliest translators (1514), in conjunction with Sir Thomas More, of the great master of Ridicule, whom he himself so admirably imitates in his Encomium Morice
1 According to the text of Hemsterhuis and Lehmann,the especially significant and highly interesting passage in question— by many critics believed to have been purposely mutilated— reads as follows :— " At which time, he [Peregrinus] made himself thoroughly master of the wonderful philosophy of the Christians, associating, in Palestine, with their priests and scribes. And— for what need of details ?— in a short time he brought them to be all mere children in his hands, aspiring to the character of prophet, to be president of their public services, and con- vener of their Assemblies (diaoapxm icai Zvvayioyevg), and he was, in fact, all in all to them. Of their books some he interpreted and expounded) many of them even he himself wrote ; and they regarded him in the' light of some divine being, set him up as their legislator, and chose and publicly acknowledged him as their special patron [here occurs the suspected hiatus]. They, in fact, worship that great man who was crucified in Palestine, because of his introducing into the world this new religious mystery (Te\err)v)."—On the Death of Peregrinus, 11. For fieyav his earlier Christian critics seem to have read fidyov ("magician"), a reading which is approved by Gesner ; while to the epithet " won- derful " has been assigned an ironical meaning. Of Peregrinus a more favourable account is given by Gellius (no very high authority), and Ammianus Marcellinus (a late writer), as well as by the Christian writers Athenagoras and Tertullian. The Philopatris (in which satirical allusion is made to the visions of St. Paul) is assigned to the year 363, the date of the Emperor Julian's Persian expedition. Cf. Phi'lopseudes. 16.
PREFACE. XIX
("Praise of Folly"), and, not altogether so happily, in his Colloquies. Citing the well-known verse of the Latin satirist - poet,
Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci*
he protests : — " no one, if not Lucian, has succeeded in illus- trating this truth. He has imitated the raillery, without copying the wantonness, of the Old Comedy. Gracious heaven ! [deum immortalem is his strong expletive of admira- tion], with what sly humour, with what grace and elegance, he touches everything ! With what power of sarcasm he holds up every folly to ridicule, how he seasons everything with his wonderful wit — touching no absurdity that he does not cover with some irony or satire ! Such grace," con- tinues Erasmus, echoing the dictum of Archbishop Photius, 11 dominates in his style, there is so much felicity of inven- tion, so much elegance in his wit, such pungency in his more serious assaults ; he so tickles with his allusions, so mingles the grave with the gay, in such a way does he enunciate truth with a smile, so admirably does he picture the manners, the characters, the pursuits of men, as it were, with a painter's pencil ; in such a manner does he display things which we can not only read but actually see, that whether one regards entertainment, or utility and instruc- tion, there is no comedy, no satire, that has a right to be put in competition with his Dialogues." At the beginning of the sixteenth century, at least, this high eulogy was scarcely an exaggeration.
Among the Dialogues translated (into Latin) by Erasmus, it is interesting to note, are the Timon and the Alexander ; by More (who, as an ecclesiastical zealot, and as Lord Chan- cellor, so soon forgot the spirit of his author, and the principles of his own Utopia), the Menippus, the Philo- pseudes (" The Lover of Lies "), and the Tyrannicide. Even Melancthon, the associate of Luther in the Reformation struggle in Germany, assisted in the work of annotating the great sceptic (1527). Rabelais, although there is no evi- dence that he took part in illustrating so congenial a mind, must have been greatly indebted to him. Early in the next century (1615) his most considerable French editor, Bour- delot, enthusiastically maintains that, " in proportion as the
XX
PREFACE.
influence of Lucian's writings was diffused, the love of knowledge and virtue increased, which still resides in the hearts of a few ; " and goes so far as to affirm that by such influence the culture, and even civilization, of the philoso- pher s native country perceptibly benefited in the succeeding age. A Dutch critic, Hoogstraaten, believes him to have been not only the greatest genius of his own age, but even of all anbquity." These high eulogiums, for the most part, have been repeated by later critics to the days of Hemster- huis and Keitz (whose judicious settlement of the text and criticism and summary of the labours of preceding editors and annotators, respectively, first made to the world a worthy presentation of his genuine and attributed produc- tions) and by competent judges of our own time. The ±mglish historian of Greek Literature, J. W. Donaldson holds that "his merits can scarcely be over-estimated and "considering him with reference to his own age, and to the Literature of Greece," justly adds the learned his- torian, " a position of the u tmost importance must be assignedjo^^
and of philosophy to whicii_h£_^axe_jLhe__death-blow, and m respect to thecujtivation of a purer Greek style, which he vainly tauglitjind_exemplified." During the sixteenth century sixty-five editions (in Greek or Latin), in the seventeenth twenty-two, in the eighteenth forty-four (be- sides translations), bore ample witness to the estimation m which he was held by the learned world. In England the first edition of him (and that only in part) did not appear till 1677. The first version (in part) in 1634. No English translation of any pretension appeared till that 01 Oarr (1/75-1798), a spirited, but extremely free, presen- tation of him, which was followed by that of Franklin
/i r o onf 0r T, 0f Greek at Cambri dge (1780), and of Tooke (IS20)— branklm's, although not very faithful or accu- rate, being altogether the most valuable of the three chief English presentations of Lucian. Of French translations, lalbot s (1857) has the greatest repute. Of German ver-
/i°?Q^ that ° f Wieland > the well-known poet and romancist (1/88), is easily first; and, indeed, it is generally held to be entitled to the foremost place among all attempts at a modern representation of the Greek wit.
PREFACE. XXI
Lucian is almost encyclopaedic in the extent and rarity of his productions — critic, moralist, philosopher, poli- tician, poet, romancist, litterateur. Of the eighty-four separate writings attributed to him, and published in the editions of his works, not a few find an undeserved place there. Some pieces of inferior merit are the production of his earlier rhetorical period, and show sufficiently evident traces of the stilted style characteristic of the fashionable declamatory essay, as well in matter as in manner. Of his undoubted productions, the shorter pieces — Dialogues of the Gods, of the Sea- Gods, and of the Dead — by reason of their popular subject-matter and peculiar graces of style, have always been most generally read. His more con- siderable masterpieces are Zeus the Tragedian, the Sale of Lives, the Timon, the Ferry Boat, the Twice Accused, the Fisherman, the Fugitives, the Banquet, the Convicted Zeus, the Convention of the Gods, the Charon, the Icaro-Menippus, the True History, the Broinetheus, the Philopseudes, How- History Ought to be Written (the first attempt at a philo- sophy of history, but not of sustained merit throughout), the Peregrinus, On Sacrifices, On Mourning, and the Alex- ander. In the Greek Anthology twenty Epigrams are ascribed to a writer bearing the name of Lucian. Whether the composition of the Lucian or not, they are by no means unworthy of his genius, 1 and they are among the best in the whole extensive Collection.
It is his theological Dialogues that have most contributed
1 Especially admirable are those numbered ix., xni., xcvi. {Westmin- ster Selection); xxxvm., lx., lxii., lxiii. {Eton Selection); xxxn., xl., cclxiii. (Edwards's Selection), Bohn's English edition, 1854. E. g. : — " The wealth of the soul is the only true wealth" (xx., Ed. S.). " Let a seal on words not to be spoken lie on the tongue. A careful watch over words is better than one over wealth " (xi.,Ed. S. ). "Address to the Gout:" — "O Goddess! who hatest the Poor, and art the sole subduer of wealth, who knowest how to live • well' at all times, thou delightest to be supported on strange feet, and knowest how to wear shoes of felt, and ointments are a care to thee. Thee, too, garlands delight, and the liquor of the Ausonian Bacchus. But these things never exist, at any time, for the Poor. And, therefore, thou fliest from the threshold of Poverty, that has no gold, and art delighted, on the other hand, in coming to the feet of Wealth" (xxxn., Ed. S.). This. rich subject for satire inspired the burlesque *ama of Lucian, entitled Tragapodagra (" Gout in Tragedy ").
xxn PREFACE.
to his fame._The inimitable Hellenic arts of architecture and of sculpture which adorned, disguised, and, in some measure, served to redeem the character of the religion of Zeus, or Jupiter, had long shown symptoms of decay, the outward and visible sign of a corresponding coolness in the "religious " feeling of the upper classes ; but the relio-ion of Homer and Hesiod still kept fast hold of the affections of the body of the peoples^as-it continued to do, in fact throughout the country districts, long after the State recognition of Christianity), while the great majority of the educated or influential sections of society regarded it as a useful means of retaining the masses in subjection. 1 To undermine this imposing structure of mingled fraud and imposture, the absurdities, the follies, and' the hypo- crisies of its various adherents, Lucian especially devoted his almost unrivalled powers of wit and sarcasm ; and, if ridicule could inflict a mortal wound, he might have been well satisfied with his brilliant efforts. But reflection on the history of the Past must sometimes have inspired him with some misgiving, or even despair. For he was far from having been the first to expose the character of the orthodox Theology. In the drama, the most popular form of literature in Hellas— in Tragedy, Euripides (of the school of Sokrates) had, in the latter half of the fourth century, given expression to the more rational belief of the best- educated minds of the time ; in Comedy, the conservative Aristophanes, in his inimitable dramas, whether purposely or not, had held up to the most open and undisguised contempt the most sacred objects of the national and popular worship. In the two next centuries Scepticism was rampant. In the lighter forms of literature, the Mimes (" parodies") of Sophron of Syrakuse, and the bitter satires (silloi, as they were termed) of Tim on of Phlius, a disciple of Pyrrho, whose name has given a synonym for the extremest scepticism, held up to derision the occupants of the national Pantheon. Such rationalistic writers, too, as Euhemerus, author of the Sacred Inscriptions; Pala3- phatus, author of the Incredible Legends ; and, in parti- cular, Menippus, were direct predecessors of the satirist of
1 For instances of this doctrine of Expediency, see the remarkably candid admissions of Polybius and of Strabo.
PREFACE. XX111
Samosata. But these more popular writ ers were not_the only assailant's of the Pagan Pantheo n : and it is enough merely to mention the names of Anaxagoras, Xenophanes, Demokritus, Zeno (the founder of the Stoic School), Antisthenes (the founder of the most practical satirists, the Cynics), and, above all, Epikurus, to recall their wide divergences from, and sometimes direct assaults on, the Olympian theology. To Lucian, however, as to Vol- taire, in the last century ^ was reserved, m very special degree, the work of popularizing and bringing within the reach of the most ordinary intelligence the various labours of his ^predecessors. Of his models in the Dialogue form of writing, Plato and Xenophon are most commonly quoted : but the eloquent founder of the Academy, and the author of the CEconomicus, rather improved than originated it. Sophron of Syracuse, and Zeno of Elea in Italy, had already brought it into use. In the following century, Antisthenes also employed it.
As for the ethical character of Lucian, if we may trust to his own representation of himself, it deserves high praise. In the Dream, among the superior advantages offered by Paideia, he gives prominent place to the virtues of justice, mildness, and reasonableness. In his Revived Philosophers, he declares himself to be a hater of falsehood, of imposture, of arrogance, of pride, a lover of truth, of beauty, of sincerity, and all things lovely (oaa rw tyiXeiaQai avyysvfj). He abandoned the profession of the Law from disgust for its iniquity, or for the fraudulent methods of its practisers. He engages, as he declares, in the war against Falsehood quite conscious that he is fighting a desperate battle — that the vast majority are against him (Fisher- man, 20). In his biography of his friend, Demonax, his appreciation of that superior Cynic exhibits him as a sympathetic admirer of true worth. In one department of Morals — on the assumption of his having been the author of the scandalous Erotes ("Loves") — he has been made the subject of undeserved censure ; for its tedious dulness and its frigid and sophisticated tone, alike foreign to Lucian's manner, prove it to be spurious.
It hasjbe en sometimes objected to Lu cian's philosophica l claims, that he made no attempt to build anew upon the ruins
XXIV PREFACE.
of the religiousLsystem overthrown by him. But, in the first place; systems of "faith," or " morals," already abounded ad nauseam, and to have erected another system of " philo- sophy " would have been only to add to the existing confu- sion. The work immediately and urgently needed was that of complete destruction, and the clearing of the ground for the future dissemination of higher and nobler ideas. This he did — at all events, as far as religionism and meta- physical shams were concerned — with the persistent zeal of a sincere reformer. In the second place, if the charge be a substantial one, he shares the blame with almost every destructive critic of after ages, whose opportunities for establishing better faiths have been superior to his. The charge to which he is more justly open— and it is the only grave fault, perhaps, in his writings — is indiscrimi- nation in his assaults on the philosophies of the day. His, apparently, contemptuous treatment, in particular, of Pytha- goreanism, the parent of Platonism, and the philosophical school which was most productive of examples of the higher virtues as well as of intellectual ability, deserves censure. In his Sale of Lives, in the Revived Philosophers, and in one of the Dialogues of the Bead in particular, he seems to have yielded to the temptation — a sort of tempta- tion to which great wits have always been liable — of utilizing matter so promising as the ridiculous fables which the ene^ mies of Pythagoreanism abundantly supplied. 1 That among the (self-styled) followers of Pythagoras were to be found some pretenders, and not a few extravagant expositors of
his teaching — as such are found in all societies or sects
is sufficiently probable ; but to hold up indiscriminately to ridicule what was, in the main, a meritorious system of (ethical) philosophy — that, certainly, did not become the character of a just critic. He lived, indeed, before the appearance of the School of New or Newer Platonism,
1 In the Sale or Auction of Lives, Pythagoras, who responds to the inquiries of the bidder, as to his qualifications, that he does "not eat the flesh of animals, but everything else except beans," is sold at the price of forty pounds. Epikurus (to whose school, if to any, Lucian himself belonged), or rather anEpikurean, is sold for only eight pounds. Yet, in his Alexander he speaks of the founder of " The Garden " almost with the profound reverence and esteem of Lucretius.
PREFACE. XXV
whose founders, Plotinus, Ammonius, and Porphyry (the most erudite of all the later Greek scholars), belong to the following century. Extravagant as may have been some of their speculations, the New-Platonists, by their noble, if hopelessly futile, attempts to reform and spiritualize the established religion, and by their noble protests against the gross practical Materialism of life, have deserved (equally with the early Christians), among the various contending sects of religion or philosophy, very high esteem. Had he witnessed their self-denying lives, and been acquainted with their exalted ideas and aspirations, we may with some con- fidence believe that he would have done justice to their real merits, as distinguished from the errors of judgment which lay on the surface, and which were the inevitable outcome of the scientific defects of the age.
The present volume includes what may be termed the principal theological Dialogues. In the spelling of Greek names, in the transitional and unsettled state of Greek orthography in this country, any attempt to adopt a more natural method must, necessarily, be a compromise : hence the present version is open to the charge of some ortho- graphical inconsistency. As for the translation itself, the method adopted has been to adhere as closely to the ori- ginal as essential differences of idiom allow : to represent Lucian's peculiar graces of style no translator can reason- ably aspire. The versions, entire or partial, which have appeared up to this time, however spirited they may be — and the German Wieland surpasses all his rivals in this respect, in whose hands, as Lehmann expresses it, " all Lucian lives and breathes " — for the most part are not distinguished by any very strict fidelity to their original. The text followed is that of the great work of Hemsterhuis and Reitz (in Lehmann's edition), which has been com- pared with the alternative readings adopted by Jacobitz.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
I.
PROMETHEUS OBTAINS HIS RELEASE FROM ZEUS BY A PROPHECY.
Prometheus and Zeus. 1
Prometheus. Set me free, Zeus, for I have already endured dreadful sufferings.
Zeus. Set you free, say you ? you who ought to have heavier fetters, and all Caucasus heaped on your head ; and not only your liver gnawed 2 by sixteen vultures, but also your eyes scooped out, in return for your fashioning such animals as men, and for stealing my fire, and fabricating women. As for the tricks you put upon me in your distri- bution of the flesh meats, in offering me bones wrapped up in fat, and reserving the better portion of the pieces for yourself, why need I speak ?
Prometheus. Have I then not paid enough penalty, nailed for such a long period of time to Caucasus, 3 supporting that most cursed of winged creatures, the vulture, 4 with my liver ?
1 Cf. Hesiod, Geoy. 510-560, Ep. Kai H/z. 48-58; iEschylus, Ilpofi. AicTfi. ; and the TipofiijOevg i] Kavtcacrog of Lucian.
- KfipeaOai. Lit. "shorn" or "cropped" (to?ideri), like hair which grows again. The vital parts of Prometheus were each day renewed.
3 According to iEschylus, Prometheus was destined to suffer for some thousands of years before the advent of his saviour, Herakles, would deliver him from his agonies. Hyginus, the Fabulist, reduces the time to the comparatively trifling period of thirty years. But, as Wieland not unjustly observes, who would look for chronological accuracy in myth and miracle ?
4 'Aitov. Strictly, an ** eagle." 'Aeroc and yv\p are indiscriminately used by the mythologists for the torturers of Prometheus.
B
2 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
Zeus. Not an infinitesimal part that of what you ought to suffer.
Prometheus. Yet you shall not release me without recom- pense. But I will impart something to you, Zeus, ex- ceedingly important.
Zeus. You are for outwitting me, Prometheus.
Prometheus. And what advantage should I gain ? For you will not be ignorant hereafter of the whereabouts of Kaucasus ; neither will you be in want of chains, should I be caught playing you any trick.
Zeus. Say, first, what sort of equivalent you will pay, of so much importance to us.
Prometheus. If I tell you for what purpose you are now on your travels, shall I have credit with you, when I prophesy about the rest ?
Zeus. Of course.
Prometheus. You are off to Thetis, to an intrigue with her.
Zeus. That indeed you have correct knowledge of. But what then, after that ? For you seem to have some inkling of the truth.
Prometheus. Don't have anything to do with the Nereid, Zeus : for, if she should be pregnant by you, her progeny will treat you exactly as you, too, treated 1
Zeus. This do you assert — that I shall be expelled from my kingdom ?
Prometheus. Heaven forbid, Zeus ! Intercourse with her, however, threatens something of the kind.
Zeus. Good-bye to Thetis, then. And as for you, for these timely warnings Hephaestus shall set you free.
1 But for the very hasty interruption of Zeus, Prometheus would have added—" Cronos and Rhea," the parents of the present usurping King of Gods and Men, dethroned by their unnatural son. See Ov. Metam. xi. 221-228, where it is Proteus who gives the warning predic- tion to Thetis.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
n.
ZEUS THREATENS TO PUT EROS IN FETTERS.
Eros and Zeus.
Eros. Well, if I have really done wrong at all, Zeus, pardon me : for I am but an infant, and still without sense.
Zeus. You an infant — you the Eros, who are far older than Iapetus ? x Because you have not grown a beard, and don't show gray hairs, do you really claim on that account to be considered an infant, when, in fact, you are an old scamp ?
Eros. But what great injury have I — the old scamp, as you call me — done you, that you intend putting me in irons ?
Zeus. Consider, accursed rascal, whether they are trifling injuries you have done me, you, who make such, sport of me, that there is nothing which you have not turned me into — satyr, bull, gold, swan, eagle 2 — but not any one of them have you made to be in love with me at all ; nor have I perceived that, for anything that depends upon you, I have been agreeable to any woman ; but I am obliged to have recourse to juggling tricks against them, and to conceal my proper self, while they are really in love with the bull or swan, and, if they have but a glimpse of me, they die of fear. 3
Eros. Naturally enough, Zeus, for, being mortal women, they can't endure the sight of your person.
1 One of the Titans, progenitor of the human race, son of Uranus and Ge, and father of Prometheus. u As old as Iapetus " was a proverb with the Greeks, equivalent to our u as old as Adam." Cf. Hesiod Qeoy. 120; Plato 'S.vfXTr. ad init., 0. A. vii. 1. and Aristoph. Nc0. 985.
2 An epigram in the Greek Anthologia thus sums up some of the principal liaisons, and the mistresses, of the King of Gods and Men : —
" TitVQ KVKVOQ, TavpOC, (J&TVpOQ, ypWOQ 5l' tp DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
Ganymedes. Were you not an eagle but just now, fellow, and did you not pounce down and carry me off from the midst of my flock ? How then have those feathers fallen oft from you entirely, and you have now come out in quite a difterent character ?
Zeus. But, my dear boy, you see neither a man nor an eagle : but it is I here, the king of all the gods, who have metamorphosed myself at the right moment.
Ganymedes. How ? what, are you the great Pan ? Then how haven't you a syrinx, or horns, and hairy legs ? 1
Zeus. Why, do you take him to be the only divinity ?
Ganymedes. Yes, and we sacrifice to him an uncastrated he-goat, bringing him to the grotto where the god stands. But as for you, you seem to me to be some kidnapping slave- dealer 2 or other.
Zeus. Tell me, have you never heard the name of Zeus, nor seen on Gargarus an altar to the Rain-Sender, and Thunderer, and Lightener ?
Ganymedes. Do you say, fine Sir, 3 that you are the same who bat lately poured down on us that quantity of hail, who are said to live up above, who make such a din, to whom my father sacrificed a ram? Then, how have I wronged you that you have carried me off, O king of the Gods ? Already, I doubt, will the wolves be falling upon my unprotected sheep and tearing them to pieces.
Zeus. What ! Have you, who have been made immortal,
favourite eagle, carrying off his future cup-bearer 5 while others are content with the agency of the "royal bird." Ovid {Metam. x. 4) is among the former. Hesiod knows, or says, nothing of the story of the rapti Ganymedis honores. According to the Iliad, the rape of the hand- some son of the Phrygian king is effected by all the gods in a body, (xx. 232-5). The scene, usually, is laid on Mt. Ida. Cicero (Tusc. QucBst. 1. 26) will not listen to Homer on this matter.
1 The proper appendages, in the popular belief, of the rural divinity as displayed in Theocritus and Virgil.
1 'Av$paizo$i<jTfjQ. How flourishing a profession was that of the Jcid- najoper in Greek society, may be seen in the Comedies of Plautus and Terence, who borrowed their plots from the Greeks. He makes a con- spicuous figure, also, in the Greek Romances— in particular, in the Theagenes and Charikleia of Heliodorus. (See Bohn's Series.)
3 *Q BeKriare. Translated feine Herr by Wieland, who remarks that the Greek expression has a certain comic force hardly to be conveyed in our language.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 7
and who are to live with us here, still a regard for your sheep ?
Oanymedes. How do you say? Then will you not this very day take me down home to Ida ?
Zeus. By no means. In that case, I should have changed from a God into an eagle to no purpose.
Oanymedes. My father, then, will certainly be looking for me, and be angry at not finding me, and I shall be whipped by and bye for having left my flock.
Zeus. Why, where will he see you ?
Ganymedes. Don't keep me, please, for I am already longing to see him. And, if you will take me back, I promise you another ram shall be sacrificed by him as my ransom. We have the three-year-old one — that fine one, who leads the flock to pasture.
Zeus (aside). How simple and innocent is the child — a child yet all over, truly ! But, my dear Ganymede, bid farewell to all those things and forget them, your flock, and Ida ; and you from this place — for you are now enrolled among the celestials — will do many services both to your father and to your country ; and, instead of cheese and milk, you will eat ambrosia and drink nectar : this latter, indeed, you shall yourself pour out, and offer to the rest of us. But, what is more than all, you will no longer be mortal, but shall become immortal, and I will make your star shine very bright, 1 and, in a word, you shall be happy.
Ganymedes. And if I want to play, who will play with me ? On Ida there were many of us, playmates of the same age.
Zeus. Here, too, you have a playmate — Eros there, and any number of knuckle-bones. 2 Only cheer up, and be bright, and don't hanker after any of the things down below there.
Ganymedes. In what way, please, can I be of use to you ? Must I look after flocks and herds here, too ?
1 Under the name of 'YSprjxooQ (Aquarius). Hemsterhuis observes that " Hadrian [the Emperor] very fairly imitated Jupiter, and claimed so much of the stars as his own by right as to insert his Ganymede, the dead Antinous, among thenv: indeed, he wished it to appear that he had discovered his new star." Cf. Suidas.
2 'AarpdyaXovg. (Lat. talos.) A favourite game, from very early times, with the Greek women and children. See Becker's Charicles.
8
DIALOGUES OP THE GODS.
Zeus. No, bat you shall pour wine into the goblet, and you shall be placed in charge of the nectar, and shall have the care of the Banqueting- Hall.
Ganymedes. That's no hard matter, for I know how to pour in milk, and to pass about the milk-bowl.
Zeus (aside). There again he is thinking of his milk, and fancies that he will have to wait upon mortals.— But 'this is heaven here, and we drink, as I told you, the celestial nectar.
Ganymedes. Is it sweeter than milk, Zeus ?
Zeus. You shall know for yourself shortly ; and, when you have once tasted it, you will not again have any longing for your milk.
Ganymedes. But where shall I sleep at night ? with my playfellow, Eros ?
Zeus. No. I carried you off on this account— that we might sleep together.
Ganymedes. Why, could you not sleep alone ; but is it jxleasanter to you to sleep with me ?
Zeus. Yes, with such an one as you, Ganymede, so hand- some as you are.
Ganymedes. Why, how will handsome looks give you pleasure, in respect to sleep ?
Zeus They have a certain sweet charm, and brino- it on more softly.
Ganymedes. Yet my father used to be annoyed with me, when I slept in the same bed with him, and used to tell me in the morning how I had taken away his sleep by my restlessness and kicking, and talking in my sleep : for which reason he would generally send me to bed with my mother. If it was on that account, as you say, that you carried me off, it is high time for you to pufc me down on the Earth again ; or you will be annoyed by being kept awake, for I shall disturb you by my continual tossino- about.
Zens. In doing that very thing you w^ill most please me — since I shall keep awake with you in frequent kisses and embraces.
Ganymedes. You would have to see to that yourself. As for me, while you are kissing me, I shall lull myself to sleep.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 9
Zeus. We shall know what is to be done then. — But now take him away, Hermes ; and when he has quaffed im- mortality, 1 bring him to ns to be our cup-bearer, having, first of all, instructed him how he is to hand his cup.
Y.
HERA UPBRAIDS ZEUS WITH HIS LOVE FOR GANYMEDES.
Hera and Zeus.
Hera. Ever since, Zeus, you carried off that Phrygian youth from Ida, and brought him up here, you pay me less attention.
Zeus. What, are you really jealous, Hera, already, about so simple and very innocent an affair as that ? I thought you were hard only upon the women, who might happen to be intimate with me.
Hera. Your conduct not even in those matters is proper, or becoming to yourself — you, the liege lord of all the gods, to desert me, your lawful, wedded wife, and go down to Earth to intrigue in the shape of gold, or of a satyr, or of a bull. But, at least, those females of yours remain on Earth, while this youth from Ida you snatched up and flew off with, O most respectable of gods, 2 actually lives with us, put over my head ; a cup-bearer, to be sure — in name. Were you so desperately at a loss for butlers, and have Hebe and Hephaestus really become worn out in the ser- vice ? And you — you will not take the cup from him otherwise than first kissing him in the sight of us all ; and the kiss is sweeter to you than nectar, and, on that account,
1 Cf. IX. i. 595-600. Apuleius, the contemporary of Lucian, concludes the story of Psyche with a similar scene, when the persecuted bride of Eros is admitted to the privilege of immortality and the society of the Celestials by drinking nectar. With the Pythagoreans, ambrosia and nectar were favourite metaphors for the highest spiritual and intellectual enjoyments. " If," says Iamblichus, * partaking of this divine food (of Knowledge) cannot make men immortal, at least it will make them acquainted with matters of eternal import."
2 Some MISS, have atTu>v, " most respectable of eagles."
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
you are constantly asking to drink, without even being, thirsty. When, too, after just tasting it, you hand back the cup to him, and after he has drunk, you receive t from him again you quaff off the remainder from the place where the boy has drunk from, and where Z has applied his hps, that you may drink and kiss at one and the same moment. Nay, but just now you, the Kin' and father of the universe, laid aside ffigis and thunderbolt and sat down to a game of knuckle-bones with him wi h al that big beard you have grown.' All these fine doWs I see, so don't suppose you are unobserved. g
Zeus. And what dreadful crime is it, Hera, to kiss so fair a youth between cups, and to derive pleasure from both-the kiss and the nectar ? If, believe me, I were to allow him to kiss yon once even, you would never la n
X™ 'TV" tb T, k T„ the t kiss P referab 'e to the necta?
Be, •a. 1 his is the talk of a pederast ! But, for m y part may I never be so mad as to offer my li ps to thfs soft Phrygian boy, so completely effeminated as he is
Zeus Do not upbraid me, most admirable of goddesses with loves of this sort : • for this youth, effemtnate a fore.gner, soft and girlish as he is, is more agreeable to mo and more desirable than-but I have no wish to say it not to further provoke you. y '
Hera Would that you would even marry him for mv own sake! Don't forget, however, how offensTvely y"u
the shameful attachment of the late Roman Empe^, Hac riL fo the famous Bithyman youth, Antinous, in whose hoLur/as is welT known temples and statues were erected throughout the Empfre Pausan as' the Greek traveller and antiquary of the second century, a contemnorarv of Antinous, informs us that Mantinea, in Arcadia was esne <^IZI in statues and paintings of the handsome favourite, Xffi m rolved in circumstances of so much mystery (viii. 9).
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 11
insult me, in your cups, on account of this male Hebe of yours.
Zeus. Not so : but that son of yours, Hephaestus, must needs act as butler, with his limping gait, coming straight from his forge, still covered all over with sparks, his fire- tongs only just laid aside : and from those fingers of his I had to receive the goblet, and drawing him to me to greet him with a salute between while, whom not even you, his mother, would kiss with any pleasure, with his face com- pletely blackened with soot. 1 The present arrangement is much more agreeable : for will you say that it is not so ? That cup-bearer of yours certainly excellently becomes the table of the gods ; while Ganymede must be sent down back to Ida — for he is clean, and rosy-fingered, and hands the goblet deftly ; and, what most vexes you, gives kisses more sweet than nectar.
Hera. Yes. Hephaestus is lame now, and his fingers are not fit to touch your cup, and he is covered with soot, and the sight of him turns you sick — ever since Ida produced that handsome youth with the flowing locks. Yet, for- merly, you did not observe these things ; neither the sparks nor the forge turned your stomach so as to prevent your drinking from his hand.
Zeus. You plague yourself to no purpose, Hera, while you intensify my love for him by your jealousy. Well, if you are annoyed at receiving the goblet from a beautiful boy, let your son pour out your wine, and as for you, Ganymede, hand the cup only to myself, and at each time kiss me twice : when you offer it full, and again whenever you take it back from me. — What's this ? In tears ? Don't be afraid ; if any one has any intention of annoying you he will have cause to lament.
1 Cf. IX. i. 600} xviii. 410-415 j Juv. Sat. xiii. 43-45.
12 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
VI.
IXION MAKES LOYE TO HERA.
Hera and Zeus.
Bern. This Ixion, 1 Zeus, what sort of character do you take him to be ? J
Zeus A. good kind of man, and a boon companion • for he would not associate with ns, had he been unworthy of our table. ,;
Sera. But he is unworthy of it, for he is an insolent t el low : so let him not live with us any longer.
Zeus. Of what insolence or injury has he been guilty pray ? For I ought to know too, I think. '
Hem. Insolence ? and what else— I blush, however, to mention it, such was his daring impertinence. _ Zeus. Yet that is the more reason you should tell me in proportion to the baseness of his attempt. Surely he has not attempted any one's virtue, has he ? For I under- stand the disgraceful conduct to be something of a kind winch you would shrink from telling me.
Hera. On mine, and no one else's has he made his assaults, now for a long time past. At first I was ignorant of the reason why he kept staring fixedly at me, while he would sigh and secretly drop a tear ; and whenever, after drinking I handed the beaker to Ganymede, he would ask to drink from the very same place, and would take and kiss it between while, and put it to his eyes, and again stare at me. These actions I now began to perceive to be amorous signs. For a long time I felt ashamed to speak to you, and thought that the fellow would cease from his mad folly. But when he dared to make his advances to me in words, I left him still in tears, and prostrate at my feet ; and stopping my ears, not to hear even his insolent en-
The perfidious" king of the Lapithse (father of Peirithous), who had been pardoned by Zeus after a foul murder, and received into heaven, where it was permitted him to sit at the Olympian table. He does not appear among the eminent criminals whom Odysseus meets in Hades, nor is he mentioned by Hesiod. Pindar (JlvO. n.) exhibits him as a terrible warning.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 13
treaties, I came away to tell you. Now do you yourself look to it, in what manner you shall punish the man.
Zeus. Is this the fine return the cursed villain makes to myself — even so far as to aspire to the favours of Hera ? Has he become so drunk on our nectar ? But we ourselves are the cause of these outrages, and are out of all measure philanthropic, in making men our boon- companions. They have some excuse, therefore, if, while drinking on equal terms with us, and beholding celestial beauties, and of a sort they never have seen on earth, overpowered by love, they eagerly long to enjoy them. Well, Love is an intract- able sort of creature, and governs not only men, but even ourselves sometimes.
Hera. Of you he certainly is very much the master, and drives and leads you captive, " dragging you," as they say, "by the nose ; " and you follow him wherever he may lead you, and he easily transforms you into whatever he wishes ; and, in fine, you are the mere possession and plaything of Love. And now I know well why you extend your pardon to Ixion — inasmuch as you yourself had an intrigue with his wife, who presented you with that Peirithous of yours. 1
Zeus. What ! Must you be for ever bringing up to mind those little trifles — whatever sport I have gone down to Earth and enjoyed ? But do you know what I have in my mind about lxion? By no means to punish him, nor to expel him from our table ; for that would be an uncourteous act. And since he is in love, and as you say, falls to tears, and feels unendurable
Hera. What are you going to utter, Zeus ? For I am
1 Peirithous, reputed son of Ixion, it seems, was the son of Zeus by Dia. Ixion'8 wife. Seneca represents Juno as bitterly complaining of the infidelities of her lord : —
" Soror tonantis — hoc enim solum mihi Nomen relictum est ... . Locumque, ccelo pulsa, pellicibus dedi. Tellus colenda est : peliices ccelum tenent."
Hercules Furcns.
See II. i. 535-570; iv. 5-67; xv. 15-35, for other memorable grounds for complaint on the part of the queen of heaven. Pausanias (ix. 3), relates a pleasant story of the ingenuity of Zeus, on one occasion, in appeasing her jealousy.
14
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
afraid yon, too, are on the point of saying something im- pertinent. °
Zeus. Not at all. Bnt let us form a phantom out of a cloud like your very self, and when the dinner party is broken up, and he, as is highly probable, is keeping his vigils, under the influence of his passion, let us carry it and lay it down by his side. In this way he would cease to be plagued ; supposing he had had what he wanted. _ Hera. Get away with you. Plague take him for indulo-- mg hopes beyond his station. 1 °
Zeus. Put up with it, however, my dear Hera, for what terrible harm could you get from the counterfeit figure, if Ixion shall have to do with a mere cloud ?
Hera, Yes, but I shall be supposed to be the cloud, and he will perpetrate upon me his foul purpose, through the resemblance.
Zeus. Your objection is nothing to the purpose. For neither will the cloud ever be Hera, nor will you be a cloud, while Ixion will only be deceived.
Hera. But all men are so vulgar-minded and without good taste, when he goes down he will, probably, talk big and recount to everybody that he has enjoyed the favours ot Hera, and shared the bed of Zeus ; and, maybe, he will even assert that I am in love with him ; and, not knowing it was a cloud he was with, they will believe him.
Zeus. Then, if he should say anything of the kind, the wretch shall be thrown into hell, be bound to a wheel, and carried round with it for ever and ever, and shall suffer everlasting torture, paying the penalty not of his love— for that, surely, is not so dreadful a crime— but of his loud boasting. 2
l Mr) urpuoiv 'Lkoito tu>v VTrsp avrbv e7ri6v/iu>v. Cf. Lucian Ileal Opxwwc, v. Anstoph. Avcnarpdrt) 1037. An old Attic form of impre- cation, as to the exact meaning of which the commentators are at variance. Another reading is ibpag.
" It must be understood that Jupiter, with all his joviality, was a
great master in the invention of horrible tortures and punishments- and he speaks in the true tone of a dilettante in such matters "— Wieland'
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 15
VII.
HEPH^STUS RECOUNTS TO APOLLO THE ACTIONS OF THE INFANT PRODIGY, HERMES.
Apollo and Hephcestus.
Hephaestus. Apollo, have you seen Maia's baby, which is just born ? What a pretty thing it is, and how it smiles on every one, and already plainly shows he is going to turn out some great treasure !
Apollo. That a baby, or a great treasure, who is older than Iapetus himself, as far as depends on rascality !
HepJujestus. And what possible mischief could an infant just born be able to do ?
Apollo. Ask Poseidon, whose trident he stole, or Ares ; for even from the latter he abstracted his sword from the sheath without being found out, not to speak of myself, whom he disarmed of my bow and arrows.
Hephcestus. The new-born brat did this, who hardly keeps on his feet, who is still in his long clothes ?
Apollo. You will know well enough, Hephaestus, if only he come near you.
Hephcestus. Indeed, he already has been near me.
Apollo. Well, have you all your tools, and is none of them missing ?
Hephcestus. All of them are safe, my dear Apollo.
Apollo. All the same, examine carefully.
Hephcestus. By heaven ! I don't see my fire-tongs.
Apollo. No, but you will probably see them among the infant's swaddling clothes.
Hephcestus. Is he so light-fingered, for all the world as though he had mastered the purloining art in his mother's womb ?
Apollo. No wonder you ash, for you have not heard his glib and voluble prattling. He is, besides, quite ready to wait upon us. And yesterday he challenged Eros, and wrestled with him and threw him, somehow tripping up his feet. Then, while he was getting praised for it, he stole Aphrodite's cestus, as she was folding him to her breast on account of his victory ; and, while he was laugh-
16
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
ing, the sceptre of Zeus, also. And, if the thunder-bolt were not a little too heavy, and had a good deal of fire in it, he would have filched that too.
Hephcestus. The child you describe is a regular Gorgon.
Apollo. Not only so, but already he is a musical genius also. ° '
Hephcestus. From what can you draw your inference as to that ?
Apollo. Somewhere or other he found a dead tortoise, and from it formed a musical instrument : for, having fitted m the horns (or side-pieces) and joined them by a bar, he next fixed pegs, and inserted a bridge beneath them ; and after stretching seven strings upon it, he set about playing a very pretty and harmonious tune, so that even I, practised as I have long been in playing the cithara, 1 envied him. And Maia a*sured us that not even his nights would he pass in heaven, but from mere busybodyness he would de- scend as far as Hades, to steal something from thence, I suppose. He is furnished with wings, and has made for himself a sort of staff 2 of wonderful virtue, with which he chaperones the souls of dead men, and conducts them down to the infernal regions.
Hephcestus. I gave him that for a plaything.
Apollo. Then he has paid you back : your fire-tongs
Hephcestus. Well remembered. So I will march off to recover it, if, as you say, it is anywhere to be found among his cradle-clothes.
1 TLiGapiZtiv. The cithara differed somewhat from the lyra and resembled rather the modern guitar. Originally, the lyre had three or four strings only : but (650 B.C.) it received the full complement of seven strings. From the tortoiseshell material it received its Latin name, testudo. See Smith's Diet, of Ant. art. Lyra.
- The Caduceus (as the pdpSog was called'by'the Latins). By a
slight change formed, apparently, from KapvKsiov, " a herald's wand - — whence the epithet of caducifer. See IX. xxiv. 343 : Od. v. 47 • Vinr Mi. iv. 247-253. ' 5#
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 17
VIII.
HEPH.ESTUS X ASSISTS AT THE PARTURITION OP ZEUS AND THE BIRTH OF ATHENA.
Hephaestus and Zeus.
Hephaestus. What have I to do, Zens ? For I am come, as you ordered me, with my sharpest axe, sharp enough, even though it were wanted to cut through a stone at one stroke (displaying his tool).
9. Well done, my dear Hephaestus. But don't waste time, but bring it down with a will, and split my head in two.
Hephosstus. You are trying me, if I am in my right senses ? Order, pray, something else, whatever it is you really want done to you.
Zeus. I desire my skull to be split open — that and nothing else. If you will not obey me, it is not the first time you will tempt my anger. 2 Well, now you must come down with all your soul and strength, and that without delay ; for I am simply dying under the pangs of labour, which rack my poor brain terribly.
Hephaestus. Look out, Zeus, that we don't do you some injury; for the axe is sharp, and not unattended with blood, nor will it act the midwife for you after the fashion of Eileithuia. 3
Zeus. Bring it down boldly, without more ado, sir. I know what's best.
Hephaestus. 'Tis sorely against my will, but I will down with it, however : for what's one to do, when you order a thing? (Starting hack in alarm.) What's this ? A girl
1 The part here assumed by the blacksmith god by other authorities is attributed to Prometheus or Hermes. Lucian follows Pindar, OX. vii. 35 (Jacob.). For an etymological disquisition on the name of Athena see Plato, KparvXog.
2 Hephaestus had been expelled, in an ignominious fashion, from heaven on the memorable occasion recorded in IX. i. ad Jin.
3 The goddess who comes with help to women in childbirth. See IX. xi. 270, where the poet speaks of more than one Eileithuia, and repre- sents the sisters as daughters of Hera : —
" HoyoaroKoi FJXeiBviai "HpriQ Gvyarepeg, Trucpag uclvag exovtrai."
Cf. IX. xix. 119. Hesiod knows only one, 0toy. 886-900, 922.
18
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
m armour ! A mighty pain you had in your head, Zeus. With good reason, I admit, you were so short-tempered, maintaining alive in the <pia mater of your brain a virgin of such proportions, and that too, in a suit of armour*! It was a camp, surely, not a head you have had all this while without its being known. Why ! she leaps and dances the Pyrrhic dance, 1 and clashes her shield, and brandishes her spear, _ and is all on fire with martial excitement ; and, what is more, in this short time, she has become a very beautiful woman, and is in her full bloom already. She has a fierceness in her bluish-gray eyes 2 to be sure, but her helmet sets off that, too, to advantage. So, Zeus, pa T me my midwife-fee, by betrothing her to me now at once."
Zeus. You ask impossibilities, Hephasstus, for she chooses to remain ever a virgin : but I, however, as far as I am concerned, offer no opposition.
Hephaestus. That's all I wanted. The rest shall be my care, and I will carry her off even now.
Zeus. If you find it an easy affair, do so : but I know that you are indulging a hopeless passion. 3
IX.
HERMES REFUSES POSEIDON ADMISSION TO ZEUS, AND ASSIGNS AS THE REASON THE LYING-IN OF THE KING OF GODS AND MEN WITH BACCHUS.
Poseidon arid Hermes.
Poseidon. May one have an interview with Zeus just now, Hermes ?
! Uvppix^ei. The Pyrrhic dance (»} m>ppi X ri) was the famous military dance performed in full armour to the sound of the flute or rather pipe At Athens it formed part of the Panathenaic festival. The birth of Athena occupied a conspicuous place on the sculptures of the Parthenon bee Pausanias, i. 24.
a TXavKuJTTig The well-known Homeric epithet of the goddess of War and ^ isdom. The exact colour implied in yXafaog is disputed. As applied to Athena, it included a certain flashing or fierceness of the eyes. Plutarch, Bioi UapaX., in his description of Sulla, records of his eyes :— " rtjv tuv bujxariov y\avK<Wt]~a, duvdg icai rriKpav tcai d K parov ovaav, v X poa tov Trpoauirov <po(3epu)Tspav ino'ui Trpoffifoiv." Cf. Ov Amores, ii. 659 ; Statius, Theb. ii. 715.
3 For a description of a famous Greek painting of this subject see
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 19
Hermes. By no means, my dear Poseidon.
Poseidon. At all events announce me to him {making rward movement).
Hermes. (Interposing himself.) Don't be a nuisance, I say : for it is quite an unseasonable moment, so you could not possibly see him at present.
Poseidon. He is not engaged with Hera, is he ?
Hermes. No, but it is quite another sort of affair.
Poseidon. I understand. Ganymedes is closeted with him.
Hermes. Not that, either. The fact is, he is rather poorly.
Poseidon. From what cause, my dear Hermes ? For this is strange news you report.
Hermes. I blush to tell it, such is its nature.
Poseidon. But you need not blush to tell me, your uncle.
Hermes. He has but just now been brought to bed, Poseidon.
Poseidon. Get away with you. He brought to bed ? By whom ? Is he an hermaphrodite, 1 without our knowing it all this time ? Yet his person did not discover any symp- toms of it.
Hermes. You are right, for the usual part did not hold the embryo.
Poseidon. Ah ! I know. He has given birth again through his head-piece, as he did to Athena — it's his head he keeps for a breeding-place.
Hermes. No, it was in his thigh that he was pregnant with Semele's 2 infant.
Philostratus. EiKwtc, in the French version, Philostrate Ancien, Une Galtrie Antique, par A. Bougot, Paris, 1881. The highly interesting pictures, described by Philostratus as having been seen by him in a gallery at Naples, appear to have been not frescoes but painted in the studio.
1 'AvSpoyvvog. Plato's Dialogue, the ^v^nroaiov, has given celebrity to the word. Another form of it is yvvdvdpog. Hermaphrodite, which frequently appears in Greek Art, is compounded of Hermes and Aphro- dite. See Ov. Mctam. iv. 5, for the story of the Naiad Salmacis and Hermaphroditus.
2 The story of Semele is to be found in Ovid, Mctam. iii. 4, 5. Cf. Apollod. iii. 4. It forms the subject of one of the EiKoveg of Philo- stratus, where Semele is represented mounting to Heaven.
20
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
- W°».. Well done, the excellent parent! How pro
He^efr TheD " '^ ^ ^ ^ P-ln^rLaw,
apJlTto v^ V^ Stra , Dge and P-adoxieal it
secretly la d a trap for her, and persuaded her to reocest
1 Xnfn? S And Z^ ^ ^V ^ thnnM
^41 ^o^Tonif ;rlXn^ ,2 bnrnt np, and poor Semele perished in the flames And
to h^fte^, I, "* T V h6 l^' S WOmb > -d toting "J T h,T / , lm P erfect embryo of seven months When I had o done he cuts open his own thigh and insert 7
Poseidon Where, then, is the baby now? Berne, I took it off to Nysa, and delivered it to the %mphs to bring up, after giving it the name of D onysuV
for^hTw S °^ t T? But I am now off t° fetch water toi his wound, and to perform the other services which are customary, jug* as for a lady after confinement"
lit xrsa G i r n e Tln!! ernatiV T 5? me f0 ' Bacchus > said «° be be derived from bearing away the ,™ , K' ??"" ,he >' outhfuI S od
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 21
X.
HERMES CONVEYS TO HELIOS THE ORDER OF ZEUS ; THAT HE IS TO REFRAIN FROM DRIVING HIS CHARIOT, UNTIL THE COMPLETION OF THE AMOUR OF THE KING OF GODS AND MEN WITH ALKMENE.
Hermes and Helios.
Hermes. Helios, you are not to drive out to-day, Zeus says, nor to-morrow, nor the day after, but to remain at home ; and let that interval of time be one long kind of night. So let the Horae ! unharness your horses again, and do you put out your fires, and repose yourself for a good long time.
Helios. New and strange instructions these, Hermes, you come to give me. But am I thought to blunder in any way in my course, and to drive beyond its bounds ; and is it on that account he is vexed with me, and determined to make the night three times the length of one day ?
Hermes. Nothing of the kind, nor will it be always so : but he wants the night just now to be somewhat longer than usual, on his own account.
Helios. And where is he, or whence have you been despatched with this message for me ?
Hermes. From Boeotia, Helios, from Amphitryon's wife, with whom he now is, making love to her. 2
Helios. Then is one night not enough ?
Hermes. By no means, for some mighty and much-
1 The Horre (" Hours "), in the Homeric theology (I\. viii. 393), are the doorkeepers of Heaven. According to Hesiod, their names are Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene, the daughters of Zeus and Themis (Qtoy. 901). They united with the Charites, and other divinities, in adorning Pandora : —
ctfupl os Ti'ivyt r Qpai KaXkiKOfioi ortyav avQtaiv liapivoioi.
"Ep. teal "HjU. 74.
See Lucian, Jlepl Qvalujv. The picture of the Hours, as described by Philostratus, formed a charming subject.
2 Upon this liaison of Zeus with Alkmena is founded one of the most entertaining of the Comedies of Plautus, the Amphitryon. In modern times, it has been imitated by Dryden and by Moliere, the latter of whom seems to have had this dialogue of Lucian in mind. For an
22
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
victorious divinity is to be born from this intercourse. That he should be turned out complete and perfect in one night is simply impossible.
Helios. Well, may he turn him out to perfection, and good luck to him ! This sort of thing, however, was not the fashion in the time of Cronos— for we are all alone by our- selves — nor did lie ever sleep apart from Rhea, nor would lie leave heaven and go to bed in Thebes : but day was day, and night, according to its proper measure, was propor- tionate in the number of its hours. And there was nothino- strange or confused and interchanged ; and he would never have intrigued with a mortal woman. But now, for the sake of some wretched female, everything must be turned upside down, and my horses must become unmanageable from want of work ; and the route, by remaining un- trodden for three successive days, almost impassable; while as for men, they must pass their time miserably in darkness. Such are the benefits they will enjoy from the amours of Zeus ; and they will have to sit down and wait, until lie has accomplished this fine athlete, whom you speak of, under cover of prolonged darkness.
Hermes. Hold your tongue, Helios, for fear you may get some mischief from your words. Now I shall be off to Selene and Hypnus, and announce to them, too, the mes- sage of Zeus — that the former travel leisurely on her journey, and that Hypnus let not mortals go, so that they may not know that the night has been so lono-
XI.
APHRODITE CHARGES SELENE WITH HER LOVE FOR ENDYMION, AND, AT THE SAME TIME, LAMENTS THE TYRANNY OF HER SON, EROS, OVER HERSELF.
Aphrodite and Selene. Aphrodite. What is this, Selene, they say you do ? That when you are over against Karia, you stop your chariot,
account of the wife of the Thehan prince compare Hesiod, 'Agttiq 'Hpaic. i. 56 ; Ov. Met. ix. 3 ; Seneca, Her. Fur ens ; Apollod. iv. 4, 8 ; Diodorusj iv. l. She is one of the heroines called up by the necromantic skill of Odysseus (Od. xi.).
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 23
and fix all your gaze upon your Endymion, who sleeps under the open sky like the hunter he is ; and that, at times, you even come down to him from the middle of your journey. 1
Selene. Ask your son, my dear Aphrodite, who is the cause of this conduct of mine.
Aphrodite. Don't speak of him. He is an insolent rogue. Myself, in fact, his own mother, how has he treated me — one while bringing me down to Ida for the sake of Anchises, the Troian ; 2 another time to the Libanus, to meet that Assyrian youth, whom he has made an object of desire even to Phersephatte, 3 and thus has deprived me, for half the time, of my beloved. So that I have often threatened, 4 unless he stop such goings on, to break his bow and quiver, and to clip his wings; and before now I have whipped him with my sandal. But somehow or other, though he is frightened for the moment, and begs pardon, he very soon afterwards forgets all his promises. But, tell me, is Endymion handsome ; for, in that case, the evil admits of easy consolation.
Selene. To me he seems to be excessively handsome, my dear Aphrodite, and most especially when he throws his cloak down under him, upon the rock, and goes to sleep, grasping in his left hand his javelins which are just slipping from his fingers, while his right arm, bent double upwards
1 Ovid, Be Arte Amandi, iii. 83, defends the fair fame of the Goddess, or rather, maintains that she had no reason to be ashamed of her weak- ness : —
" Latmius Endymion non est tibi, Luna, rubori."
Pausanias informs us that, according to a common belief, she bore to her paramour fifty daughters (v. 1). In the 'Ioropt'a 'AXtjO^g (" True His- tory ") Endymion figures as the sovereign ruler of the Moon.
- For Hera's ironical allusion to this escapade on a memorable occa- sion, see 9. A. xx.
3 A form of the usual name of Persephone. Cf. Soph. Antigone, 894. The Assyrian, or rather Syrian, youth is Adonis. Before his death from the wild boar's avenging tusk, the Goddess of Love had eight months' enjoyment of her human favourite each year ; after his death, he was granted to her tears by the^ sovereigns of the lower world for only half the year. See Ov, Metam. x. 9, 10 • Theok. 'AduviaZovcai ; and the charming Idyll of Bion.
4 See following Dialogue, and the ElSvWiov of Moschus on the Fugitive Eros, and the Anakreontic Odes.
94,
- DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
round his head, sets off his face in a circular frame • whilo
SSKSVSE ^LT^S SS 1
noiselessly ™j „j • iuen >/ confess it, descending »l-!tl Jr. f ad ^ncing on tiptoe, that he may not
awake and be alarmed You know the rest. Whvlonld
I. tell yon the seqnel ? However, I am dying fo/love £
XII.
A ™7J™T ER0S F ° E HK ""fl""*" CONDUCT „
S^^"™" HIM F0E ™ «*<*»• -os
Aphrodite and Eros. Aphrodite. Eros, my child, just consider your conduct I don t mean on Earth, what deeds you ind^e Lento d
Sen-yrtho °h one against tL o^::it:,i: t
neaven— you who show up mighty Zeus himself in „ variety of shapes, converting^ inJwhateveXu pi L at the moment, and drag Selene down from heaven and
tZZt:Z% l0Tget t VS a " ab0Ht his ^-^eerng s'ome ™lVt„ 0, \ hlS Wa ^ With his Klymene: while fn
freedom 7™^ C0 ,? dUCt *° me ' >'° U act with ^ ™
«Ehea?lr: aUdaC1 ° nS b0y ' you W »duced
tlir^ti f ; Wh ° Ion S a S° was a n old woman and
boys" anT'tn ?f\ a DUmber ° f Gods > t0 fal1 ia "ye 'w'th bojs, and to indulge a passion for the Phrygian VO nth
And now she has lost her senses by your work and w'
While a for he Z / f"^ Wata «°- for Attls >vnne as tor the Korybantes, one gashes his arm 2 with i knife, another letting down his ha* rushes like" n^man
Ov. fttf,f r . jsY-246 P ° f her emascuIa <«* votaries, and
FismS'Lve^ierpre'tedTa, J™" K rf . the J-*'*, lowing
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 25
through the mountains, one blows on the horn, another beats an accompaniment on the drum, or raises a horrible din on the cymbal, and, in fine, all Ida is in tumult and phrenzy. I fear, therefore, everything : I, who brought you into the world to be such a plague, am dreadfully afraid that Rhea, in one of her mad fits, or, indeed, rather, still in her senses, may order her Korybantes to seize you and tear you in pieces, or cast you to her lions. Such is my dread, when I see you running such risks.
Eros. Never fear, mother, for I have been a long time on the best of terms, even with the lions themselves ; and frequently I mount on their backs and laying hold of their manes, I drive them as if they had reins, and they fawn on me, and taking my hand in their mouths, after licking it all over, give it back to mo. Why, as for Rhea herself, when could she have leisure to do any harm to me, wholly taken up as she is with Attes ? And, besides, what wrong do I do in pointing out beautiful objects such as they are ? And as for you others, do you not yourselves long after beautiful things ? Then don't accuse me of these offences. And do you yourself, mother, really wish no longer to love Ares, or him you ?
Aphrodite. What a dreadful boy you are, and how you tyrannize over all ! Well, you will recall my words some time or other.
XIII.
ASKLEPIUS AND HERAKLES QUARREL ON A QUESTION OF PRECEDENCE IN HEAVEN.
Zeus, Asldejnus, and HeraMes.
Zeus. Do, Asklepius and Herakles, stop your wrangling, just for all the world as if you were a couple of mortals ; for this sort of behaviour is unseemly, and quite strange to the banquets of the Gods.
HeraMes. But, Zeus, would you have that quack drug- dealer there l take his place at table above me ? *
1 Tovrovi. Lengthened epideictic Attic form of Tovrov: the final vowel having the force of the French ci, as in celui-ci. Herakles points his finger contemptuously at the rival pretender.
2 UpoKaTaK\ii'£(r9ai. According to Greek custom, literally, to
^ DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
man.
AMefr*. By Zeus, yes, for I am certainly the better
Heraldes. How, you thunderstruck fellow, 1 is it orav
ecause Zeus knocked you on the head with h s boS
J our unlawful actions, and because now, out bf mere pity by
llT ? WW*?' £* haTO ^ a sW ° f immoSyl -***%>"«• What! Have you, for your part, Herak es
tettr^ bee " bn ™ ed to -'-on w 71 w y . hrOW m m y teeth this "re you talk oft
sorfT/r f S - , Ve , haVe n0t lived at a11 a * ^ua or sim.iar sort of hfe-I who am the son of Zens, and hare undergone
Xw g T* lab ° UrS ' PUrifyi ^ >™ fife/contend! ng against and conquering wild beasts, and punishing insolent and injurious men ; whereas you are a paltry n er b° doctor and mountebank,' skilful, possibly, in LK your miserab e drugs upon sick fools, but who have never given proof of any noble, manly disposition.
Asklepius. You say well, seeing I healed your burns when you came up but now half. burned, with\-our body all marred and destroyed by the double cause of your JeZ- the poisoned shirt and, afterwards, the fire. Now I if I Redone nothing else, at least, ba-.e neither worked like a slave, as you have, nor have 1 carded wool in Lydia"
thTom^ a ,7 Urple g ° WU; n ° r W X been beaten by
m l£Z /JT'u' Witl l h6r g° Iden dipper-no, nor did J, in a mad fit, kill my children and my wife *
nana ot Ztus, for cheating Pluto of his due number of subiects hv means of his very singular medical skill subject* by
hmO,ieuvTQv<pappd Kt op. Partitive Genitive, used contemptuous! v
inThe^Gree" SETTS*? * ^ *"* ^ ^-tion. zSSffi; <W w! Pf^H-OQ, lit 'a root-cutter." *««*&,,,*, ayvpmc, lit one who «>«**» crowds" (dyeipecv) to sell his quack-medidnes bophokles wrote a drama with the titlp of p,r. ' 4 meaicmes.
medical world of his day Pifrro/wc, as a satire on the
' See the Epistola Beianirce of Ovid
kille^hkit A? dneSS h l th u e jeal ° U ^ Hera > the son ° f Alkmena had killed his wife Megara, daughter of Kreon, king of Thebes, with her
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 27
Herakles. If you don't stop at once your ribald abuse of me, you shall very speedily learn your immortality will not much avail you : for I will take and pitch you head first out of Heaven, so that not even the wonderful Paeon 1 himself shall cure you and your broken skull.
Zeus. Have done, I say, and don't disturb the harmony of the company, or I will pack both of you off from the supper-room ; although, to speak the truth, Herakles, it is fair and reasonable Asklepius should have precedence of you at table, inasmuch as he even took precedence of you in death.
XIV.
APOLLO RECOUNTS TO HERMES THE MANNER OF THE DEATH OF HYAKINTHUS, AND HIS GRIEF FOR THE SAME.
Hermes and Apollo.
Hermes. Why so gloomy and dejected, my dear Apollo ?
Apollo. Because, Hermes, I am unhappy in my love affairs.
Hermes. Such misfortune is, indeed, worthy occasion for grief : but in what affair is it you are unfortunate ? Does that business of Daphne 2 still affect you ?
Apollo. ISTot at all. No, I mourn for my favourite, the Laconian, the son of GEbalus. 3
Hermes. What ! tell me, is Hyakinthus dead ?
Apollo. Too surely.
Hermes. By whose hands, my dear Apollo ? Could there be any one so unloving as to kill that handsome youth ?
children (whom he threw into the fire), and also two of his nephews. See Seneca, Her. Furetis, Apollod. ii. 4, 12.
1 Pfeeon, or Paean, physician in ordinary to the Court of Olympus, in later Greek theology was identified with Apollo, the divine Healer. See I\. v. 395-402 for his successful treatment of the wounds of Aides inflicted by Herakles.
2 Ov. Metam. i. 12. Diodorus (Bi/3. Iot.), Pausanias, and the rest of the authorities vary, as usual, in the relation of the story of the Nymph of the laurel-tree. Pausanias relates that Daphne, in place of being the victim, with her attendant nymphs shot with arrows her too daring lover, who had disguised himself in female dress, and followed her to the bath.
A Hyakinthus. Ov. Metam. x. 5, Philost. Elicoveg. Upon the tomb of Hyakinthus, Pausanias informs us, was sculptured the figure of his involuntary slayer.
28
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
Apollo. It was my own doin*.
Hermes Were you, then, on? of your senses A™iln P
4po«o. ]So, but it was a species of ill iZl ' P ? ° f
taiy deed. species ± ill-luck— an lnrolun-
Hermes. How P For T Q ™ n , , of it. ° rI am anxious to hear the manner
^^^^^£^^ the q uoit, and I
past; and being nested 171 .,? a long> time
superciliousness*^
as we are accustomed to do} blowi^T / £ the a,r '
bore tie disc along and Caused fe,^ i°"i Ta >'g etes >
youth, so that blood flowed I from he w„ T- i* W ° f the
and the boy died immediat 1^ HeTCr 11 X^"^
mvself on Zenhvrn« i 1T -oi, iL / , ' at once avenged
pursuing nimtefl^^asthe 111 "'f^ ~' the boy I had a tomb ™L ^ f » f mounta ™- And to
struckHm ^wn Id from ! ^ ^ ^^ tte ^ 0it to send up a flower the s^eW £° d * CaUSed the ™ d coloured of all flZers haWnt ^ ,' ^ * he ^ est "
for the dead impS lon"f ^ET"' httem mou ™ng> been grieved unreasonabl^ ? D ° ' ^^ to ^ to ""•
JfcZ J e ra'er7 m d o e r a t r al A t P h° 110: , fc ^ W ^ ^ affection. So ™ T don't ^"t ° f ^ 0Ur Particular
' Pray ' don * ves jourself about his death.
1 'TiTraiau.vra. Lit. " cryino- „; „; >• nr t> Monti), A ,- n :,„ -i„ UW-Sf r T mJK /n"' E ' Z L (the ^ "/ Jfotem. x. 215. What k tV^'f ' M 2 schus (#»?« on Bion. 40) Ov the fate of H%k£ttl i.^Trf* W< T' "*» tbus i™°mh" s
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 29
XV.
HERMES AND APOLLO ENVY THE DEFORMED HEPH^STUS THE POSSESSION OF HIS BEAUTIFUL WIVES.
Hermes and Apollo.
Hermes. But the fact, Apollo, that, though he is both lame, and a mere brazier by trade, he has married the most beautiful wives of us all, Aphrodite and Charis ! l
Apollo. A mere piece of good luck, my dear Hermes. But this I do wonder at — that they tolerate having anything to do with him ; most especially when they see him running down with perspiration, as he stoops laboriously over his furnace, and with a quantity of soot upon his face. And yet, though he is such a figure, they embrace him, and kiss him, and sleep with him !
Hermes. This, too, I feel indignant about, and envy Hephaestus — whereas you wear long, flowing, hair, and play on the cithara, and pride yourself greatly on your good looks, and I upon my vigour and good habit of body and my lyre, straightway, when we have to go to bed, we shall sleep all alone.
Apollo. Besides, too, as far as I am concerned, I have no fortune in my affaires cle caiitr, 2 and two, at all events, whom I especially loved, Daphne and Hyakinthus — well, Daphne hated me to such a degree that she chose to become a tree rather than have my embraces ; while Hyakinthus I killed with that quoit, and now, in place of them, I have to be content with garlands. 3
Hermes. And as for me, Aphrodite I some time since — but one must not brag.
Apollo. I know, and she is said to have presented you with Hermaphroditus. But tell me this, if you know at
1 See 'IX. xviii. 382. She was one of the Charites or " Graces."
2 'Ava<ppodiTog lg to. IpioTiKa. Lit. " unfavoured by Aphrodite in my love affairs." Lat. invenustus. Cf. Andria, i. 5 (the lament of Pam- philus) : — " Adeon' hominem'sse invenustum aut infelicem quemquam > ut ego sum ! "
3 The garlands heaped upon his altars by his votaries.
30
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS,
all, how is it Aphrodite is not jealous of Charis or Charis jealous of her ?
_ Hermes. Because, my dear Apollo, the former lives with him in Lemnos, 1 and Aphrodite in Heaven. And besides, the latter is, for the most part, taken up with Ares, and is in love with him, so that she cares little for this brazier fellow.
Apollo. And do you suppose that Hephaestus knows this ?
Hermes. He knows well enough : but what could he do, when he sees a fine youth, and that, too, a soldier ? So he keeps quiet. However, he threatens, at all events, that he will devise some kind of fetters for them, and catch them together by throwing a net over their bed.
Apollo. I don't know, but I would, devoutly pray that I myself might be the one to be caught in her company.
XVI.
HEEA AND LETO DISPUTE ABOUT THE MERITS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE CHILDREN.
Hera and Leto.
Hera, Fine creatures, indeed, are the children you have presented to Zeus, Leto ! 2
Leto. It's not all of us, Hera, who can produce such progeny as your Hephaestus.
Hera. But this same cripple is, at all events, of some use. He is an excellent workman, and has decorated Heaven for us in a thoroughly artistic fashion, 3 and he married Aphrodite, and is made much of by her ; 4 while
1 This island of the N. JEgetrn sea, was the favourite terrestrial abode of .Hephaestus, and some authorities place his forge there.
\ The abrupt beginning of the Dialogue implies antecedent conver- sation. The jealous Hera may be supposed to have begun with some such ironical observation as " you may well be proud of your good looks, or " you may well be proud of your position among us " The relative is sometimes omitted in familiar conversation in Greek as in conversational English.
3 See Jltpi Qva'nov ("On Sacrifices"), one of Lucian's finest pieces of satire ; and IX. xvm.
4 Sxvu&dgerai irpbg avrrig. Scarcely borne out by the facts Cf ©. A. xvii.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 31
as for your children, one of them is beyond all measure, masculine, and mountainish, and to crown all, has made off to Scythia, and everyone knows what her diet is there, slaving strangers, and imitating the Scythians themselves, who are cannibals. 1 As for Apollo, he makes pretence to universal knowledge — to shoot with the bow, to play the cithara, to be a doctor, and to prophesy — and having set up his oracle-shops, one at Delphi, another at Klaros and at Didyma, he juggles and cheats those who consult him, giving crooked answers, 2 and double meanings, applicable to either side of the question, so that he runs no risk of failure, and from such trickery he makes his fortune : for numerous are the fools, and those who offer themselves willing victims to be cheated and imposed upon. But by the wiser part of men it is not unknown that he is, for the most part, a mere juggler in words. The prophet himself, at all events, did not know he would kill his favourite with the quoit, nor did he divine for his own advantage, that Daphne would flee from him ; and that, too, although he is so handsome and has such flowing locks. So I don't see why you thought you had finer children than poor Niobe. 3
Leto. These same children, however — the murderer of strangers and the lying prophet — I am well aware how it
1 See Euripides, 'IfiyevEia iv Tavpoig, Herodot. iv. 103, and Gothe's Iphigcnia. The Scythia of the text is the modern Crimea.
2 Ao£(7, whence his epithet Ao^iag — u the ambiguous speaker or prophet." For some specimens of his prophetic art, see the Zebg Tpayojcoe, perhaps Lucian's masterpiece. Of. Herodotus, passim ; Cle- mens Alex. TlpoTptiTT. ; Fontenelle, Hist, des Oracles.
3 See Ov. Metam. vi. 2, Pausanias i. 21, ii. 21, viii. 20. For an eloquent description of the most beautiful conception in all remaining Greek Sculpture, see Shelley's Letters from Italy. As for the miracu- lous metamorphosis of Niobe, Pausanias, who had seen the pillar of stone, considers that there need be no difficulty in believing it, for it happened in the old times of frequent miraculous interposition of Heaven. He is not prepared, however, to maintain that such miracles take place in his own day, for man's impiety precludes the possibility. Accordingly, he does not credit the received story that the petrified Niobe sheds tears, or the popular tales about lycanthropy, or that the Tritons blow through their shells, as the vulgar believe (viii. 2). Cf. viii. 8. With this expression of pious faith compare, also, the remarks of Diodorus (B. I. iv. 1), who holds that miraculous stories must not be inquired into too closely or critically.
32
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
vexes you to see them in the company of the gods ; and especially whenever the one is commended for her beauty, and the other performs on his cithara, to the admiration of all in the banqueting-hall.
Hera. I could not help laughing, Leto— he an object of admiration, whom, if the Muses had chosen to give a just decision, Marsyas would have flayed, as himself the con- queror in the musical contest. 1 But, as it was, the poor man was overreached, and perished by an unjust doom. And, as for your beautiful virgin, she is so beautiful, that, when she found she had been seen by Action, from fear the youth might proclaim her ugliness, she set on him his own dogs. 2 I don't say all I might, for I omit to dwell on the fact^ that, if she were really a virgin, 3 she could not even assist ladies in the straw.
Leto. You bear yourself superciliously, Hera, because you share the bed and throne of Zeus; and for that reason, you utter your insults without fear. But, however, I shall soon see you in tears again, when he deserts you and goes down to earth again in the form of a bull or a swan.
1 See Or. Mctam. vi. 4. Herodotus, Strabo, Pausanias, and Aulus Gellius all relate the story with perfect faith. Cf. Apollod. i. 4, and Hygmus.
2 See Apollodorus, iii. 4, whose enumeration of the thirty-two hounds seems to have been used by Ovid, Metam. iii. 3. According to the Greek mythologist, the dogs, who had torn their master to pieces (transformed, with some poetic justice, into a stag), on discovering their very excusable error, died of grief and remorse. Cf. Kallimachus, Uepl rf/c Ua\. (3a\. (" On Pallas's Bath "), and Apuleius (Metam.) on the sculpture of Diana and the Dogs. Palaephatus remarks on the story of the dogs devouring their master, tovto c'tari ipevdeg—fov, as he adds, on the contrary, a dog loves, and is faithful to, his master, however unworthy.
3 TlapOivog ye avri) ovaa. The office of Eileithuia, or Eleithuia, in later times had been transferred, with some impropriety, to Artemis. Cf. Theok. Eid. xxh. ('Oaptarvc) 28, 29.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 33
XVII.
HERMES NARRATES TO APOLLO THE ADULTERY OP ARES AND APHRODITE, AND THE REVENGE OP HEPH^STUS.
Apollo and Hermes.
Apollo. Why do yon laugh, Hermes ?
Hermes. Because, my dear Apollo, I have seen the most ridiculous sight possible.
Apollo. Then tell me, that I myself too, when I have heard, may be able to join in the laugh.
Hermes. Aphrodite has been caught with Ares, and Hephaestus has captured and bound them.
Apollo. How? For I fancy you are going to tell me something pleasant !
Hermes. For a long time I imagine he had been aware of this amour j and was hunting them down ; and when he had enveloped their bed with invisible fetters, 1 he went back to his forge and worked away as usual. Then Ares enters unobserved, as he supposed ; but Helios looks down upon them and sees them, and tells Hephaestus. And when they had got upon the bed, and were in each other's arms, and were involved within the meshes, the fetters completely entangle them, and Hephaestus suddenly comes upon them. She, you may be sure, had no means — for in fact she was entirely naked — of veiling her shame ; while Ares at first kept making efforts to escape, and hoped to break the bonds ; but afterwards, perceiving himself to be inextricably caught, 2 he began to act the suppliant.
Apollo. What then ? Did Hephaestus release them ?
Hermes. Not at all. On the contrary, summoning all
1 'HiV 'Apd^xyia Xeirra — " As fine as a cobweb," according to the poet of the Odyssey. (Od. viii. 280.) The deepa of the text, apparently, was an extremely fine wire-net.
a M Tw 5'ec Sefivia flaws KaHdpa9ov, ctfupi de derrp-ol
TeX v *l SVTE G tyvvTO Tro\v(ppovog 'HcpaicrTOio. Qvds re Kivrjcrai fizKitov rjv, ovd' dvatipat' Kal tote Srj yiyv&GKOv, or' ovk Iti (pVKTa 7C£\6vtcu. v
Cf. Ov., Metam. iv. 2. Ars Am. ii. 573. Amoves, i. 9.
D
34 DIALOGUES OP THE GODS.
the Gods, 1 he discovers to them their adultery ; while the captives bound together naked, with eyes fixed on the ground, show their confusion by their blushes : and the spectacle appeared to me the pleasantest imaginable — all but as good as the antecedent event itself. 2
Apollo. But that blacksmith — does he not himself, too, feel shame in exposing the disgrace of his marriage-bed ?
Hermes. No, by heaven ! not he, who, in fact, stands over them and laughs at them. For myself, however, if one must speak the truth, I did grudge Ares not only his intrigue with the fairest of the Goddesses, but even his being bound with her.
Apollo. Then would you really endure even to be fettered upon that condition ?
Hermes. And would you not, my dear Apollo ? Only come and have a look; for I will commend you, if you would not yourself, too, pray for the like good fortune, if you did but see. 3
XVIII.
HERA DENOUNCES, AND ZEUS DEFENDS, THE CHARACTER OP BACCHUS.
Hera and Zeus. Hera. I should be ashamed, Zeus, if I had such an
1 The Goddesses, as the poet of the Odyssey carefully informs us, did not sanction the stratagem of Hephaestus, and absented themselves : —
'BrjkvTEpai tie Otai fisvov aldol oikoi iKdart]. — 'OS. viii. 324.
2 Movovovxl avrb yiyvofievov to tpyov. ""Epyov et ivtpyuv, in re Venerea, pervulgati sunt usus." — Hemst. One commentator (Jen- sius) interprets the words of Hermes, to Oiafia tf^iarov — epyov,* as implying : " Scilicet ferme ita hoc spectaculo delectatus fui, quam si ipse iisdem fruerer gaudiis." Cf. Plato, IIoA. in., who condemns this, with other Homeric theology, as immoral and improper.
3 Lucian has not at all " improved upon " the free confessions of Hermes, as given by the poet of the Odyssey : —
"*Ai yap tovto yevoiTO, avali £Kan?/36\"A7ro\Xov, Aso-fioi p.ev rplg Toaaoi cnriipovtQ d«0ic *x 0l£V > 'Time ff tloopoutre Otoi, Traoai re Qeaivai, XvTap tyiov evdoijii napa XP V<J ^ > A<j>podiTy. ,> Hermes and Apollo are, appropriately, the interlocutors in this dialogue, since they are specially named in the Homeric epos.
DIALOGUES OP THE GODS. 35
effeminate son, and so debauched a drunkard, with his hair bound with the women's head band, associating chiefly with frantic women, more effeminate than themselves, dancing to the noise of drums, and pipe, and cymbals, and, in short, like anything rather than his father.
Zeus. Yet this effeminate mitre- wearer, 1 who goes more delicately than women, Hera, not only conquered Lydia, and took captive the inhabitants of Tmolus, and brought the Thracians under his yoke, but also made an expedition against the Indians with that army of women, took pos- session of the elephants, and made himself master of the country, and led away captive the king who dared to offer him a brief resistance ; and all this he did while leaping about, and dancing with his chorus, 2 bearing the ivy- wreathed thyrsus, drunk, as you say, and in bacchanalian frenzy. But if anyone attempts to insult him by showing contempt for the initiation into his mystic rites, 3 he certainly avenges himself on him either by binding him with vine- twigs, or by causing him to be torn in pieces by his mother like a fawn. 4 Do you observe how manly these actions are, and not unworthy of his father ? And if playful sportive- ness and wantonness are combined with them, there is no cause for grudging them to him ; and, especially, if one con- siders what he would be sober, when he performs such actions drunk.
Hera. You appear to me to be going to commend also his discovery — the vine and wine — and that, though you see how drunkards behave, staggering along, and betaking themselves to insolence and violence, and, in a word, mad-
1 See 0. A. ii.; Cf. Euripides, Bdicxat ; Ovid, Metam. iii. 8. xi. 1-2 ; Apollod. iii. 5 ; Hor. Car. ii. 19 ; Virg. Mn. vii. 373.
2 'Opxovntvog ttfia ical xoptvwv. Xopevojv differs from the preceding verb in implying the circular dance, and has particular reference to the dithyrambic and dramatic chorus round the altar of Dionysus. The thyrsus was one of the well-known insignia of the God of Wine. It was a pole, or wand, enwreathed with vine and ivy leaves, and crowned with a pine cone.
3 Tfjv TsXtrhv. Lit., "the perfecting " or "perfection" (rsXoc), used of the sacred mysteries. Cf. Herod, ii. 171. iv. 79; Plato, Qaidpog, 240.
4 As was Pentheus, king of Thebes, for opposing the introduction of the Bacchic worship and ritual into his city. See Boky/m; Pausanias, ii. 2 ; Oy. Met. iii., 514.
36 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
dened under the influence of the drink. As for Ikarius, at all events, to whom he first gave the vine-shoot, his boon companions themselves destroyed him by striking him with their spades. 1
Zeus. That is nothing to the purpose ; for it's not the wine nor Dionysus that does this, but immoderateness in drinking, and filling oneself with unmixed wine beyond what is becoming. 2 But a man, who should drink within the bounds of moderation, will be of a more jovial and genial disposition. And as to the fate of Ikarius, he [Dionysus] could not have designed any harm to any of his boon companions. But you seem to me to be still jealous, Hera, and to remember Semele, since you calum- niate the finest and fairest gifts of Dionysus. 3
XIX.
EROS EXPLAINS TO HIS MOTHER WHY HE DOES NOT ASSAIL ATHENA, THE MUS.E, AND ARTEMIS.
Aphrodite and Eros.
Aphrodite. Pray, why in the world, my dear Eros, have you completely subdued to yourself all the rest of the Gods — Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Rhea, me, your mother — and kept your hands off Athena alone ; and why, as far as she is concerned, is your torch without a spark, your quiver empty of arrows, and yourself without a bow and without practice ?
Eros. I am afraid of her, mother, for she is terrible, and
1 See Apollod. iii. 14, for the fate of Ikarius, who — by a cause oppo- site to that of the death of Pentheus — fell a victim to Bacchic fury, and for the adventures of his daughter Erigone and her faithful dog Maera, who, after death, were translated to the heavens.
2 The Greeks usually drank their wine diluted with water, and it was a mark of intemperance and barbarism to drink it unmixed. The Spar- tans, according to Herodotus, believed that their king Kleomenes had become mad in this way (vi. 84) ; Cf. Plato, Nojit., i. ; Athenseus, A«7r. vi. ; iElian, 'lor. Hoik, ii. 37.
3 Cf. Plutarch, Tlepi r/)c Sapico^ayt'ac, i. 2. ti KctTaipevdeaQe rfjg yfjg ; k.t.X. Even " half and half" was held to be intoxicating, nor was wine ever drunk during eating.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 37
her eyes burn with a fierce brightness, 1 and she is dread- fully masculine. At all events, whenever I advance to- wards her with bent bow, she shakes her crest at me, and frightens me out of my wits, and I am all of a tremble, and my arrows slip from my hands.
Aphrodite. Why, was not Ares more alarming ? and yet you disarmed him in a moment, and have conquered him.
Eros. Yes, but he readily allows me to approach him, and invites me of his own accord, while Athena is always watching me suspiciously and secretly : and once I flew by her, casually, with my torch, and said she, " If you come near me, by my father, I will run you through in a moment with my pretty spear, or I will seize you by the foot and pitch you into Tartarus, or tear you in pieces with my own hand, and be the death of you." Many such threats has she uttered, and she puts on sour looks, and has on her breast a frightful sort of face, with snakes all over for hair, which is my especial horror, for it frightens me like a very Mormo, 2 and I flee whenever I catch a glimpse of it.
Aphrodite. But you fear Athena, as you say, and the Gorgon, and that, though you are not afraid of the thunder- bolt of Zeus ! And the Muses — why are they unwounded and out of reach of your darts ? Do they, too, shake crests, and exhibit Gorgons in front of them ?
Eros. I have an awe of them, mother, for they are grave and respectable, and are always in some profound medita-
1 Xapoirrj. Lit., " joyous- eyed" {xapa. — w\p). Applied to the Goddess of (scientific) War, it denoted an extraordinary combination of brilliancy and fierceness. Cf. Homeric Hymn to Hermes (Shelley's version), Hesiod, G«oy. 321 ; Lucian, 0. A. vii. ; Ne«p. AuxX. i. 3.
2 MopfioXvTTETcu (Mopfito). Mormo, Empusa, the Lamia, and other monsters and goblins of the Greek nursery, apparently, were almost as much used to keep children in order as similar objects of popular super- stition are (or lately were), employed in the English nursery. Cf. Aristoph. Eiprjvt], 466. 'A\apv. 557. Barp. 285-296 ; Tbeok. Eid. xv. 40, where Fraxinoa tells her baby that Mormo " bites." " We relate to children," says Strabo, " pleasing tales to incite them to [any course of] action, and frightful ones to deter them, such as those of Lamia, Gorgo, Ephialtes, and Mormolyca [Mormo-wolf]," i. 2 (Bonn's Transl.). Lamia was a sort of witch, said to suck children's blood (Hor. Ars Poet. 340), Ephialtes an " incubus " or " nightmare."
For a forcible representation of the Medusa-head, see the picture of Lionardo da Vinci.
38 DIALOGUES OP THE GODS.
tioia or other, and are occupied in song, and I often stand! by them, beguiled by their melody.
Aphrodite. Well, leave them out of the question, too, as they are grave and respectable. But Artemis — why don't you inflict a wound on her ?
Eros. In a word, it is impossible even to come up with her, as she is always fleeing through the mountains. 1 Then, too, she has already her own peculiar kind of love.
Aphrodite. For what, child ?
Eros. The hunting of stags and fawns, pursuing them for the purpose of capturing them or shooting them down, and she is entirely devoted to that sort of thing. When, however, her brother, although an archer himself and a far-shooter *
Aphrodite. I know, child, you have shot your arrow at him often enough.
XX.
THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS.
Zeus, Hermes, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Paris or Alexander*
Zeus. Take this apple here, Hermes, and hie to Phrygia, to the presence of the son of Priam, the cowherd — he is tending his cows on the Gargarus 3 -surumit of Ida — and say to him : " Paris, Zeus bids you, since you are yourself a good-looking youth, and clever in love-matters, to decide for the Goddesses here which is the most beautiful. And let the winner receive the apple as the prize of the contest." And now, Goddesses, it is quite time for yourselves to set off to the presence of your judge. For, for my part, I decline, for myself, the office of arbitrator, loving you, as I do, with equal affection ; and, if it were only possible, I would with pleasure see you all three winners. Especially do I decline r
1 " Qualis in Eurotse ripis, aut per juga Cynthi, Exercet Diana choros. . . ." — Mn. i. 498-9.
2 'Eicrifi6\ov. See 'IX. passim. Aphrodite supplies the verb for Eros.
3 Gargarus, one of the three mountains of which Ida consists. In Strabo's time they still shewed the scene of the famous Judgment upon the mountain, which at that time was called Alexandria. — Wieland. The Idsean range formed the southern boundary of the Troad. Gargara or Gargarus has a height of some 5,000 ft.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 39
as in giving the prize of beauty to one, I mnst certainly incnr the hatred of the rest. For this reason I am myself no suitable umpire for you — but this Phrygian youth, to whom you are going, is of princely birth, and is a relative of Ganymedes here. 1 In other respects, he is simple and mountain-bred. No one would think him unworthy of such a spectacle.
Aphrodite. As far as I am concerned, Zeus, even though you should appoint Momus 2 himself our judge, I will cheer- fully go to the exhibition ; for, indeed, what could he have to find fault with in me t The man, however, will have to satisfy these goddesses, too.
Sera. Oh ! it's not we, Aphrodite, who have to fear — no, not though your own Ares should be entrusted with the arbitration. May we, also, accept this Paris, whoever he may be.
Zeus. And does this content you, daughter, too ? What say you ? You turn away and blush ? It is the privilege of you virgins, indeed, to be shy about' such matters ; but you nod assent, however. Away with you all, then, and see that you are not hard upon your judge — you who have been vanquished, and don't have any mischief inflicted on the youth. For it's not possible for you to be all equally beauties.
Hermes. Let us start off straight for Phrygia, I leading the way, and do you follow me without loitering, and keep up your spirits. I am personally acquainted with Paris ; he is a good-looking youth, and amorous into the bargain, and very competent to judge in all such matters. He would not give a bad judgment.
Aphrodite. That is all fair, and you speak quite after my mind — that he is the right judge for us. [Confiden- tially] But is he a bachelor, or has he some wife or other living with him ?
Hermes. Not absolutely a bachelor, Aphrodite.
Aphrodite. How do you mean ? •
1 See 9. A. iv. v.
3 Momus, who acted as Censor and Critic in ordinary at the Olym- pian Court, according to Hesiod, derived his obscure parentage from the Goddess Nv£. He does not appear in the Homeric epics. See Lucian's Zeog TpayipSog (" Zeus the Tragedian "), where Momus takes a prominent part, and uses his privilege very much a propos.
40 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
Hermes. Some lady of Ida 1 appears to be keeping com- pany with him — well enough in her way, but countrified and dreadfully boorish. However, he does not seem to be excessively attached to her. But, pray, why do you put these questions ?
Aphrodite. I asked quite indifferently.
Athena. Holloa ! you Sir, there, you are exceeding your commission in communicating with her in private.
Hermes. It was nothing extraordinary, Athena, and nothing against you. She only asked me if Paris is a bachelor.
Athena. And pray, why is she so inquisitive about that ?
Hermes. I don't know. But she says it occurred to her quite casually, and she had no purpose in asking.
Athena. Well, is he unmarried ?
Hermes. I think not.
Athena. What then ? Has he a desire for the military life, and is he at all ambitious for glory, or is he altogether devoted to his herds ?
Hermes. The exact truth I am unable to say : but one must suppose that a young fellow like him would be eager to acquire fame in these things, and would like to be first in fighting.
Aphrodite (pouting). Do you see ? I don't find fault, nor charge you with talking to her on the sly — for such sort of querulousness is peculiar to people not over much pleased with themselves : it's not Aphrodite's way.
Hermes. Indeed she asked me almost exactly the same question as she did you: so don't be in a pet, and don't imagine you are worse treated, if I answered her somewhat frankly and simply. But while we are talking, we have already advanced far on our road, and taken leave of the stars, 2 and, in fact, are almost opposite Phrygia. And now, in fact, I see Ida and the whole of Gargarus distinctly, and, if I am not deceived, Paris himself, your umpire.
Hera. But where is he ? For he is not visible to my eyes.
Hermes. Look carefully there to the left, Hera — not near
1 CEnone, the Naiad or river-nymph. See Ovid, (Enom Paridi, and Tennyson's poem.
2 'An eairaoajxiv ru>v aarkpwv. Cf. 'lKdpo-Mev'nr7rog. xi.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 41
the top of the mountain, but along the flank, where the cave is ; there, where you see the herd.
Hera. But I don't see the herd.
Hermes. How ? Do you not see tiny cows in the direc- tion of my finger, so, — advancing from the midst of the rocks, and some one running down from the cliff with a shepherd's crook, and stopping them from scattering a- head?
Hera. Now I see, if it really is he.
Hermes. But it is. And since we are now so near, let us, if you please, settle down on terra firma, and walk, that we may not quite disconcert him by flying down all on a sudden from the clouds.
Hera. You are right; so let us do — and now we have made our own descent, it is high time for you, Aphrodite, to advance and show us the way. For you, as is reason- able to expect, are well acquainted with the locality, having frequently, as report goes, come down here to Anchises. 1
Aphrodite. These sneers of yours, Hera, don't disturb me over much.
Hermes. Well, I will act as your guide and chaperon ; for I myself, in fact, passed some time on Ida when Zeus, to be sure, was in love with the Phrygian boy ; 2 and often have I come here, when sent down to look after the child. And when, at length, he was mounted on the eagle, 3 1 flew by his side with him, and helped to support my handsome charge : and, if I recollect aright, from this rock here he snatched him up — for the boy happened to be piping to his flock at the moment — and flying down himself, from be- hind, 4 Zeus very lightly embraced him in his talons, and, grasping his turban with his beak, bore the lad aloft in a terrible state of alarm, as he was gazing on his ravisher with neck bent backwards. Then, picking up his shep- herd's pipe, for he had let it fall in his fright, I — but excuse
1 The father of iEneas. For divulging his intimacy with the Goddess he was either struck dead, or severely injured by lightning.
2 Ganymedes. See 0. A. iv.
3 Le Clerc, followed by Jacobitz, interprets 'Ev r<p a«r<£ of Zeus, " in the form of an eagle."
4 Or (perhaps the preferable reading) 07rig9tv avrov, " behind him."
42 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
me, for here is our umpire close at hand : so let us accost him. — Good day to you, herdsman.
Paris. The same to you, young man. But who are you, and what is the purpose of your visit to us ? What ladies are these you are conducting ? For such town belles as they are, they are not fitted for roving over rough mountains.
Hermes. But they are not women, Paris ; but it is Hera, and Athena, and Aphrodite you see ; and I, I am the God Hermes Zeus has sent with them. But why do you tremble and turn so pale ? Don't be frightened, for there is nothing to be afraid of. He only bids you to be the judge of their beauty: "for since," says he, "you are a handsome youth yourself, and clever in love-matters, I entrust the judgment to you ; and when you have read the inscription on the apple, you will know the prize of the contest."
Paris. Come, let me see what it all means — " Let the beautiful one take me," it says. How, pray, Sir Hermes, could I, a mere mortal myself, and a simple peasant, too, be a judge of so preternaturally wonderful a spectacle, and one too great for a poor herdsman to decide upon ? To judge in matters of such importance is rather for delicately- nurtured persons and courtiers : but, for my part, whether one she-goat be more beautiful than another she-goat, or one heifer surpasses another heifer in beauty I could per- haps decide secundum artem. But these ladies are all equally beautiful, and I don't know how a man could wrench away his gaze and transfer it from the one to the other ; for it will not easily unfix itself, but where it first rests, to that part it clings, and commends what's imme- diately before it. And even though it pass on to another part, that too it sees to be beautiful, and lingers, and is caught by the adjoining charms ; and, in short, their beauty has circumfused itself about me, and wholly taken possession of me, and I am vexed that I, too, cannot, like Argus, see with all my body. I think I should judge fairly, if I give the apple to all : for, indeed, there is this
1 As in other of his similar descriptions, Lucian probably had in mind some well-known picture, or sculpture, of the scene.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 43
difficulty besides ; it happens that this lady is the sister and wife of Zeus, 1 and that these are his daughters. How, I should like to know, is not the decision a hard one from this point of view, too ?
Hermes. I don't know about that : but it's not possible to shirk the commands of Zeus, I know.
Paris. This one thing, Hermes, persuade them to — that the two defeated ladies be not angry with me, but. consider the error to attach to my eyes alone.
Hermes, (confers with the Goddesses, apart.) They pro- mise to comply with your request. And now it is high time for you to proceed with your judgment.
Paris. I will do my best endeavours, for how can one help it ? But this first I wish to know — will it be quite enough to view them as they are, or will it be necessary to make them undress for an accurate examination ?
Hermes. That must be your part as judge to decide. Give your orders how and in what way you like.
Paris. How I like, really ? I wish to see them un- dressed. 2
Hermes. Ho, you ladies there, off with your clothes. 3 (To Paris.) For your part make a thorough survey — as for me, I avert my face at once.
Hera. Very well said, Paris, and I will be the first to undress, that you may perceive that I have not only " white arms," and that I am not proud of having " cow's- eyes " 4 only, but that I am equally and proportionally beautiful all over.
Paris. OE with your clothes, too, Aphrodite.
1 " Ast ego, qufe divom incedo regina, Iovisque Et soror, et conjunx." — Mn. i. 46, 47.
2 Yv\ivaq, which has not, necessarily, the meaning of our word naked? but, like the Latin miotics, may mean only u stripped to the shirt." Here it must be taken in the former sense.
3 'AirodvTt, u> avrai. " Zieht euch aus, ihr da," remarks Wieland, " addressed to these Goddesses, sounds startling to modern ears ; we have, in Lucian, very often occasion to see ; that between Greek ur- banity and our politeness of to-day, there prevails no little difference."
4 The well-known epithets applied, in the Iliad, to the Queen of Heaven — XevicwXtvog and poio-rig ; the latter beautiful simile, and dis- tinguished compliment, English translators usually, with some inade- quacy, have given as " ox-eyed."
44 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
Athena. Don't let her undress, 1 Paris, before she lays aside her cestus 2 — for she is an enchantress — for fear she may bewitch you by its means. Indeed, she ought not either to have appeared here so meretriciously tricked out, nor painted up with so many dyes 3 and cosmetics for all the world as if she were in fact some lady of the demi- monde, 4 but have exhibited her beauty unadorned.
Paris, (turning to Aphrodite.) They are quite right as to that cestus of yours : so you must e'en doff it.
Aphrodite. Why, then, do you not also, Athena, doff that helmet of yours, and display your bare head, instead of shaking that plumed crest and terrifying your judge ? Are you afraid that fiercely-glaring look about your eyes, 5 seen without that frightful object, may be set down to your discredit ?
Athena. There, I have taken off this objectionable helmet, for your satisfaction.
Aphrodite. There, too, is the cestus, for yours.
1 'Airodvayg. " Must not Lucian," asks Wieland, " have written airoXvayg ? Denn Paris zog sie doch wohl niclit eigenhiindig aus." But we are not obliged by the received text to suppose that Paris was to undress the Goddess with his own hands.
2 See 'I\. xiv. for a description of this supreme charm of the Goddess of Beauty : —
" KtCTTOV IfiaVTCL
HoiiciXov ' ivda de 61 OeKKrrjpia -Kavra tetvkto.
- Ev9' tvi fiev <Pi\6tt]q, kv S' V/xeooc, tv c^oaoioruc,
Tlaptyacrig, r) r' ticKe-ipe voov ttvkci nip typovtovriov"
as borrowed, on a memorable occasion, by Hera, who seems to have for- gotten her obligations. Cf. Gerusalemme Lib., xvi. 24, and Faerie Queen iv. 5.
3 Tocavra h>TfTpinfievr]v xiow/xarn. Cf. Aristophanes, 'EkkAjjc., 732 ; AvaKTrpdra, 149 ; Lucian, Aig Karrj-y, 31.
4 'Eraipav. Here distinguished from Tropvr], " an unfortunate." The former (in the better meaning of the word) belonged, like the celebrated Aspasia, to a class of women who wei*e sometimes in high esteem in Athens. But the distinction did not universally hold. See Becker's Charicles. 'Era/pa, etymologically, means simply "a lady-friend."
1 To ykavKov. Alluding to the well-known Homeric epithet y\avKu>mg. The shade of colour implied seems to be grayish, or light-blue. The original meaning of the word was " bright-glancing " or " glaring." Latin, casius. Cf. " Caesia virgo " Ter. Heauton. v. 5 ; Cicero, Be Rat. Bear. i. 30. In the chryselephantine and other statues of the Goddess, Pheidias and other Greek artists, doubtless, gave a wonderfully life- like vivacity to the eyes by means of precious stones and enamels.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 4S
Hera. "Well, let us undress.
Paris {expressing, in his features, the utmost admiration). O Zeus, worker of miracles ! the glorious vision ! the beauty ! the delight ! How superb is the Virgin- Goddess ! And how right royally, and with what dignity does this God- dess [Hera] shine in all her splendour ! and how truly right worthy of Zeus ! But how sweetly does this Goddess here [Aphrodite] look ; and what a kind of pretty, seducing smile she has ! — Well, now I have enough of this felicity — but,, if it is agreeable, I wish to have a look at each of them sepa- rately, in private ; as, at present, I am really in doubt, and don't know on what part to fix my gaze, for my eyes are distracted in every direction.
Aphrodite. Let us do as he wishes.
Paris. Withdraw then, you two, and do you, Hera, remain.
Hera. I will do so — And, after you have had a good look at me, it will be time for you to consider other matters besides — whether the gifts at my disposal, in return for your vote, do not appear fair to you. For if, my dear Paris, you award me the prize of beauty, you shall be lord of all Asia. 1
Paris. Our decision depends not on bribes. Now with- draw, please ; for whatever seems proper will have to be done hereafter. And, now, Athena, do you approach.
Athena. Here I am at your service. And, in my turn, Paris, if you award to me the prize of beauty, you shall never come out of battle worsted, but always victorious ; for I will make a warrior and a conqueror of you.
Paris. I don't want war and fighting, Athena ; for peace, as you see, at present, prevails both in Phrygia and in Lydia, and my father's kingdom is free from war. But never mind, for you shall not be the worse for it, even though we do not give judgment for bribes. Well, now put on your clothes again, and replace the helmet on your head, for I have seen enough. It is now time for Aphrodite to appear.
1 In Greek geography, Asia was limited (in the Homeric epics) to the S.W. of what is now called, in modern European geography, Asia Minor. Afterwards, it gradually extended beyond the limits of the "Lesser Asia "eastwards to the Euphrates and Tigris, which first was opened to Greek knowledge by the conquests of Alexander of Macedon.
46 DIALOGUES OP THE GODS.
Aphrodite. Here am T at your elbow, and examine care- fully each part of me, one by one, passing over nothing, but dwelling upon every one of my charms ; and, if you will, my handsome youth, listen to this from me. I have reason to ask you to do so ; for I have long ago observed you to be young and good-looking, of such sort, that I doubt if all Phrygia supports another like you, and I congratulate you on your good looks : but I blame you, that you do not leave these lonely cliffs and these rocks, and go and live in the city, instead of wasting your sweetness on the desert air. For what enjoyment can such as you obtain from the mountains ? And what satisfaction can your cows derive from your handsome face ? You ought by this time to have married — not, however, some hoydenish and rustic girl, such as are the women of Ida, but some girl out of Hellas, from Argos, or from Korinth, or a Spartan lady, such as Helen, young and beautiful, and in no way inferior to myself ; and, what is, indeed, most to the point, of an amorous disposition. For, I tell you, if she were but only to see you, she would, I am sure, leave all and give herself up soul and body to you, and would follow your fortunes and live with you. But, surely, even you have heard something of her fame.
Paris. Not a word, Aphrodite, and I should now be glad to hear from you a full account of her.
Aphrodite. She is the daughter of Leda, the famous beauty, to whom Zeus flew down in the shape of a swan.
Paris. What is she like to look at ?
Aphrodite. Pale and fair, as the daughter of a swan might be expected to be, and delicate, like one bred in an egg ; trained naked, for the most part, in the gymnasium, and skilled in the art of wrestling. 1 And she has been, in a manner, so much, indeed, in request that there has even been a war on her account, Theseus having run away with
1 The Spartan girls, as is well known, were trained in the same JPalcestra, or Gymnasium, with the boys, with whom they contended •yvfivai, i.e., probably, in their chitons. Cf. AvaiarpaTa, and the accom- plishments of the Spartan lady Lampito (80-85). Wieland objects that " Venus here commits an anachronism, apparently : for this gymnastic practice of the Spartan girls is represented as in force before the Xycurgan laws."
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 47
her when not yet in her teens : x not, indeed, but that, since she arrived at her majority, all the greatest princes of the Acheeans met together to woo her, and Menelans, of the family of the Pelopidae, was preferred. If you wish it, I say, I will bring about the nuptials for you.
Paris. What, with a girl already married ?
Aphrodite. You are young and countrified. I know, however, how affairs of this sort are to be managed.
Paris. How ? For I should like to know, too, myself.
Aphrodite. You will set out on your travels, as if with the purpose of seeing Hellas, and, as soon as ever you arrive at Lacedaemon, Helen shall see you ; and from that moment it would be my business that she shall fall in love, and run away with you.
Paris. That's the very thing that seems to me hard to believe — that she should leave her husband, and be ready to sail off with a foreigner and a stranger.
Aphrodite. As far as that's concerned, have no fear, for I have two handsome boys, Desire and Love : 2 them I will give you to be guides of the way ; and Love, stealthily as- sailing her with all his might, will compel the lady to fall in love, while Desire, shedding his whole influence over yourself, will render you what he is himself, an object of desire and of love — and I will be present in person to assist them. I will request of the Graces, also, to attend you, so that all of us together may persuade her.
Paris. How it will all turn out, is not clear, Aphrodite. But I am already in love with this Helen, and I fancy, I
1 "ktapov. Lit. u immature." With the aid of his friend Peirithous, Theseus had carried her off to Athens, from which involuntary escapade and captivity she was brought back by her twin brothers Kastor and Polydeukes. Lucian represents her as maintaining her extra- ordinarily fascinating charms even in the future life. During his memorable visit to the Isle of the Blessed, she again elopes from her husband Menelaus with a certain handsome youth ; although, we are assured, she was this time quickly recaptured by her uxorious lord. See the 'A\r)9r)g 'lor. ii. 335.
2 "i/xfpoc icai "Epwg. See Hesiod. 0eoy. 201. One of the most famous representations of these attendants of Aphrodite was the sculpture of Skopas at Megara. With them was figured, also, U69og (" Passionate Longing"), who is introduced below. See 'I\. iii. 440-445, Lucian, t AXievQ ) 36, Paus. *EX. 'Uep. i. Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 5.
48 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
don't know how, I even see her, and am on my voyage straight for Hellas, and am staying at Sparta — yes, and am now returning home with my wife, and I feel vexed I am not already engaged about all this.
Aphrodite. Don't fall in love, Paris, before you have rewarded your match-maker and the bridesmaid 1 with your favourable sentence : for it would be proper for me, too, to be with you as the bringer of victory, and at once to celebrate your marriage 2 and to sing your triumphal odes. For it is in your own power to purchase everything — love, beauty, marriage — with this apple here.
Paris. I am afraid that, after the verdict, you may forget me.
Aphrodite. Would you have me, then, give you my oath upon it ?
Paris. Not at all. But just promise me once again.
Aphrodite. I promise you, I say, to give over to you Helen for your wife, and that she shall run away with you and shall come to Ilium to you ; I myself will certainly be present, and will assist you in everything.
Paris. And you will bring Love and Desire and the Graces ?
Aphrodite. Be sure of it, and I will take with me Passionate Longing and Hymen, besides.
Paris. On these conditions, then, I give the apple to you : on these conditions receive it. 3
1 Nvfupaywybv. Lit. "the conductor of the bride." The special name applied to the friend of the bridegroom, who conducted the bride to her new home, when the former was a widower — in which case it was not proper for the husband to fetch her himself. See Hesychius.
2 Td/xovg. The plural form, in later Greek, is very frequent. The word yapog, strictly, was the "wedding-feast," which, with the Greeks, formed the only legal witness of the marriage. For vncrjcpofjov " victory - bringer," it has been proposed to read Kavr]<p6pov, " basket-carrier," the young girl who bore the sacred fruits in the Panathenaic festival at Athens. But neither the authority of the MSS. nor probability recom- mends the substitute.
3 See 'I\. xxiv. 25-28 for the only reference to the " Judicium Paridis r spretseque injuria formse" in the Homeric epic. For an eloquent description of a representation of this scene on Mt. Ida, in the amphi- theatre at Corinth, where the Goddesses are personated by young and beautiful girls, see Apuleius, Be Aureo Asino. Cf. Euripides, in his An- dromache and Helene. In the Greek Anthologia an epigrammatist, in
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 49
XXI.
ARES RIDICULES THE THREAT OF ZEUS, AND TUB CHAIN LET DOWN FROM HEAVEN.
Ares and Hermes.
Ares. Did you hear, Hermes, what threats Zeus uttered against us, how arrogant and absurd ? " If I should have a mind to it," says he, " I will let down a chain from Heaven, and you shall hang on it and use all your force to pull me down, but you will labour in vain ; for you will certainly not drag me down. Whereas should I wish to drag it up, not only you but both the Earth and Sea I will fasten together and suspend in mid air." 1 And all the other menaces, which surely you have heard. Now I, for my part, would not deny that he is superior to and stronger than any of us taken separately ; but that he surpasses so many of us together, so that we could not wear him out, even though we brought to our aid Earth and Sea — that I could not believe.
Hermes. Fair speech, 2 my dear Ares ; for it's not safe to speak in this sort of way, for fear we reap some mischief from your idle talk.
Ares. Why, do you suppose that I should say this to everyone, and not to you alone, who, I knew, can hold
reference to three rival beauties of his day, expresses his feeling on the Judgment thus : —
" Rhodope, Melite, Rhodokleia contended with one another, which of the three had the most beauty, and they chose me as a judge ; and they stood, as the Goddesses, gazed at from all sides, wanting nectar alone. But clearly knowing what Paris through his judgment suffered, I straight put crowns on the three immortals together." See Greek Anthology (Bohn's Series).
1 See 'IX. viii. 18-27. Lucian more than once seizes upon this fine opportunity for his ridicule. Cf. Zevq 'EXey. 4 ; Zevg Tpay. 45 ; flwc del 'lor. avy. 8. Plato (Geai'r.) says the aeipijv xpv<rujjv is nothing less than the Sun.
2 Eu0?/jU£i. Lit. " Speak words of good omen." To what extent Euphemism was cultivated by the Greeks is well known. It appears conspicuously in such words as Etcmenides, euonymos (left hand), euphrone (night), Euxeinos (the Hospitable Sea).
I
50 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
your tongue ? ' But what, however, seemed to me especially ridiculous, as I listened while he was threatening, I could not possibly be silent about to you. Why, I remember, no very long time before, when Poseidon and Hera and Athena rose up 2 and conspired to seize him and put him in fetters, how he resorted to all sorts of devices in his terror, and that, though they were only three against him; and, if Thetis, in fact, out of pity, had not sum- moned to his aid Briareus of the hundred hands, 3 he would have been bound hand and foot, his thunderbolt and all. As I thought of this, it constrained me to laugh at his fine grandiloquence.
Hermes. Hold your tongue, I say. For it is not safe either for you to talk, or for me to hear, this sort of language.
XXII.
PAN URGES HIS CLAIMS TO BE THE SON OF HERMES, WHO IS UNWILLING TO ADMIT HIS PATERNITY.
Pan and Hermes. Pan. How do you do, my father Hermes ? 4 Hermes. And how are you ? But how am I your father ? Pan. Are you not, perchance, the Kyllenian Hermes ? Hermes. Certainly. How, then, are you my son ? Pan. I am the result of an irregular intrigue, your love- child. 5
1 'ExtpvOelv. This word which, in other writers, occurs only in Iamblichus, is found also in the 'AXticTpvuv, 2 — Jacob.
2 See 'IX. i. 399-406, Zevg Tpay. 40. Cf. Strabo, i.
3 See Hesiod. Oeoy. 149-153, 617, 714, 734. Virg. Mn. x. 567, Za>c Tpay. 40.
4 Pan, the great rural divinity, was generally believed to be son of Hermes by Kallisto, or Penelope, or some other Nymph. Apollodorus makes him the son of Zeus. According to one account, he was son of Penelope by all the wicked suitors. His most remarkable physical characteristics were horns, a tail, and cloven feet. See Pausanias CApKad.). In one respect, he may be considered to be the most in- teresting figure in the Greek and Latin Pagan theologies, since it is from that divinity Christian Diabolism has borrowed the principal and popular (corporeal) features of our Devil.
5 An alternative reading is i%aipkroQ (adopted by Jacobitz), extra ordinem tibi natus. Lehmann prefers t£ sjowroc, as above.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 51
Hermes. By heaven, rather, probably, of an intrigue of goats : for how could you be mine, with your horns, and such a snub nose, and shaggy beard, and cloven feet, and goatish Ic^s, and tail upon your rump ?
Pan. Whatever sneers you aim at me, it is your own son you render an object of reproach, my dear father, but yourself still more, for begetting and making such offspring. I am innocent of it all.
Hermes. And whom do you call your mother ? Have I perchance had an intrigue with a goat without knowing it ?
Pan. You have not committed adultery with a goat : but recollect yourself, if you have never offered violence to a girl of gentle birth in Arcadia. Why do you bite your thumb to find an answer, and remain in doubt so long ? I allude to Penelope, the daughter of Ikarius. 1
Hermes. Then under what circumstances did she bring you into the world, resembling a goat instead of myself ?
Pan. I will give you her very own story. Well, when she despatched me to Arcadia, "My child," said she, "I am your mother, Penelope, of Sparta, and know you have a God, Hermes, the son of Maia and Zeus, for your father. And if you wear horns, and have the legs of a goat, let not that circumstance distress you ; for, when your father visited me, he gave himself the form of a he-goat, to avoid notice, and for that reason you have turned out very like that animal.
Hermes. In truth, I remember to have done something of the kind. Shall I, however, who pride myself so greatly on my good looks, and am still without a beard, have the reputation of being your father, and incur ridicule at the hands of all on account of my lovely offspring ?
Pan. Yet I shall not disgrace you, father, for I am a musician, and play the pipe with remarkable sweetness ; and Bacchu^ can do nothing without me, but has made me his companion and thyrsus-bearer for himself, and I lead the dance for him. And if you could see my flocks too, what a large number I possess in the neighbourhood of Tegea
1 King of Sparta. See Hyginus, cexxiv. The later authorities, deviating from the Homeric epos, represent the wife of Odysseus as by- no means the paragon of immaculateness of the earlier tradition. Some allege magic.
52 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
and all over Parthenius, 1 you would be greatly delighted. And I rule over all Arcadia ; and, but lately, having fought on the side of the Athenians, I distinguished myself so much at Marathon, that even a prize of valour was awarded me, the cave under the Acropolis. 2 In fact, if you go to Athens, you will know how great is the name of Pan there.
Hermes. But tell me, have you already married, Pan ? — for that, I believe, is what they call you.
Pan. Certainly not, father ; for I am of an amorous turn, and could never be content to live with one wife.
Hermes. Then, no doubt, you make love to your she- goats.
Pan. You are indulging in sarcasm. I keep company with Echo and with Pitys, 3 and with all the Masnads of Bacchus, and am made much of by them.
Hermes. Do you know, however, how you could gratify me, my dear son, who ask a favour of you for the first time ?
Pan. Lay your commands upon me, father, and let us know them.
Hermes. Come to me, then, and affectionately embrace me : but see that you don't call me father, at least in the hearing of anybody else.
XXIII.
APOLLO REMARKS TO BACCHUS ON THE HETEROGENEOUSNESS OP APHRODITE'S CHILDREN ; WHILE BACCHUS EXPOSES THE CHARACTER OF PRIAPUS.
Apollo and Dionysus.
Apollo. What should we say — that Eros, Hermaphroditus, and Priapus are brothers 4 by the same mother, very unlike
1 Tegea, a town of Arcadia ; Parthenius, a border-mountain of Arcadia and Argolis, some 4,000 feet in height. Arcadia was the home and especial haunt of the Shepherd divinity. Herod, vi. 105.
2 Cf. Pausanias, i. 32.
3 For the Story of Echo see Ov. Metam. iii. 6. Pitys, one of the many Nymphs loved by Pan, had been metamorphosed into a Pine-tree.
4 Eros claimed as his parents Aphrodite and Ares, or, according to some authorities, Zeus or Hermes j Hermaphroditus, as his name im-
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 53
though they are in external form, and in their pursuits ? For the one is altogether handsome, and an archer, and, invested with no small amount of power, rules over all ; while the second is womanish, and only half a man, and of ambiguous appearance — you could not plainly distinguish whether he is a young man 1 or a virgin. As for the third, he is masculine beyond the bounds of all decency — Priapus, I mean.
Dionysus. There is nothing to be surprised at, Apollo ; for Aphrodite is not the cause of it, but the different fathers. Often, in fact, where the children are by the same father, of the same mother, they are, like yourselves, the one a male, the other a female.
Apollo. Yes, but we are alike, and follow the same pur- suits — for we are archers, both of us.
Dionysus. As far as the bow is concerned, your occupa- tion is the same, Apollo : but those other things are not exactly similar — that Artemis murders strangers among the Scythians, and you act the prophet, and set up for a doctor.
Apollo. Why, do you imagine that my sister is happy with the Scythians, seeing she is quite prepared, if any Greek should ever happen to touch at the Tauric peninsula, to sail away with him, loathing her sacrificial butchery ? 2
Dionysus. And she does well to do so. As for Priapus, however — for I will tell you something highly ridiculous — being lately at Lampsacus, I was travelling by the city,
ports, Hermes and Aphrodite ; Priapus, Aphrodite and Dionysus. Priapus, the personification of natural fertility, was, as regards his character and worship, like so many other divinities in the Hellenic theology, a strange amalgam of Eastern and Western fancy. He was pre-eminent by his ugliness as well as obscenity. As frequently repre- sented in Art, Hermaphroditus was half male, half female. See Diodorus, iv. 1.
1 "E<pi]fioc. The ephebus was the Athenian youth who had reached the age of eighteen, when he was enrolled on the public Register as a citizen : although he did not acquire the full rights of citizenship until the age of twenty. Before taking his place among the ejphcbi, he under- went strict scrutiny and was initiated by public ceremonies of a martial character, analogously to the prevalent custom in barbarous countries at this day.
2 See the 'Ityiytvtia tv Tavp. of Euripides and the Iphigeneia of Gothe. Cf. 0. A. xvi.
54 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
and lie received me hospitably, and gave me lodgings in his house. When we had retired to rest, after having suffi- ciently moistened ourselves at the dinner, somewhere about midnight my excellent host got up — but I blush to tell you.
Apollo. Did he make an attempt on your virtue, Dionysus ?
Dionysus. Something of the sort.
Apollo. And you, what did you do thereupon ?
Dionysus. Why, what else but laugh ?
Apollo. Well done ! that was acting in no unkind or uncivil manner. He was to be excused, indeed, considering his attempt was directed against so good-looking a person- age as yourself.
Dionysus. For that same reason, my dear Apollo, he might direct his attention to you, too ; for you are a good- looking youth, and adorned with long flowing tresses, so that Priapus might well attempt your virtue even in his sober moments.
Apollo. He will not do so, however, Dionysus ; for, with my flowing hair, I have my bows and arrows, also.
XXIV.
HERMES COMPLAINS TO HIS MOTHER OF THE MULTIPLICITY OF HIS EMPLOYMENTS.
Hermes and Maia.
Hermes, {crying). Why, mother, is any God in Heaven more thoroughly wretched than I ?
Maia. Pray, don't talk in that way, my dear Hermes.
Hermes. Why should not I talk so, who have such a number of duties to attend to ; toiling as I do all alone, and distracted to so many services ? For, as soon as I am up at daybreak, I have to sweep out our banqueting-hall, and after carefully arranging the couches, 1 and putting each particular thing in order, I have to take my place at the side of Zeus, and carry about in all directions the messages I receive from him, running np and down the
1 T))v kXktIuv. The reclinirig -couch, on which the guests took their places at the triclinium. Hemsterhuis and the older editors read hackr t <nav t ( ' the Council-Chamber."
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 55
whole day like a courier. 1 And, as soon as I have returned up here again, while still covered with dust, I must hand him the ambrosia. Before, too, this lately-purchased cup- bearer 2 arrived, it was my business to pour in the nectar, also. But, what is most dreadful of all, is, that I alone of all the Gods, get no sleep even at night : but I must needs, also, be then conducting souls to Pluto, and acting as marshal of dead men, 3 and dance attendance in his Court of Justice. For my employments by day are not enough — to take my place in the Palaestra, and even to act as herald in the representative assemblies, and to train orators — but, parcelled out as I am already, for all these services, I must, also, take part in the affairs of the dead. And yet the sons of Leda 4 take their places, each in turn, every other day in Heaven and in Hades : but I must perforce, be about my duties here and there. The sons of Alkmena and Semele, 5 too, born of wretched women, though they he, feast without care ; whereas I, the son of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, wait upon them. And now, having but just come from Sidon, from' the daughter of Kadmus, 6 to whom he has sent me to see what the girl is about ; and, before even I have had time to get my breath, he packs me off again to Argos to look after Danae. " Then go from thence," says he, "into Bceotia, and have a look at Antiope by the way. 7
1 'HfiepoSpofiovvra. The rjfiepodpofioi (" day-runners ") were an impor- tant class of State employes in the Hellenic cities. Extraordinary feats of speed and powers of endurance have been recorded of many of them. Ingens die uno cursu emetiens spatium, is the observation of Livy (An. xxxi. 24).
2 Ganymedes. Said to have been vmvqrov, because Zeus had com- pounded with Tros, the Phrygian king, for the rape of his son, by a present of horses.
3 "^iryaywyoc and veKpoTrofnrog. One of the most important, if least agreeable, of the multiform offices of the son of Maia. For the most memorable occasion on which he filled this arduous post see '0$. xxiv., where he conducts to Hades the reluctant souls of the wicked suitors of Penelope. Cf. Mn. iv. 242. Hor. Car. i. 10. Hermes figures especially in this character in the Dialogues. See, particularly, Xapwv.
- Kastor and Polydeukes. See Apollod. iii. 11.
5 Herakles and Bacchus.
6 It has been pointed out that Lucian has here made a slip. Europa was the daughter of Agenor, and the sister of Kadmus.
7 One of the numerous mortal paramours of Zeus. See Apollod. iii. 5.
56 DIALOGUES OP THE GODS.
In truth, I am quite done up, and give in. If I could, I vow I would gladly claim my right to be sold like those slaves on the earth who are vilely treated. 1
Maia. Don't mind these things, child; for you must, perforce, be submissive to your father in everything, since you are but a youth. And now, as you have been de- spatched, march off to Argos, then to Boeotia, that you may not get a beating for your dilatoriness — for people in love are apt to have short tempers.
XXY.
HELIOS, ACCUSED BY ZEUS OF RASH CONDUCT IN GIVING UP HIS CHARIOT TO HIS SON, OBTAINS A CONDITIONAL PARDON.
Zeus and Helios?
Zeus. What have you done, worst of Titans ? you have ruined everything on the Earth by trusting that chariot of yours to a foolish youth who has burned up the one half of the world by being carried too near the Earth, and the other half has caused to be utterly destroyed by cold, by withdrawing heat too far from it ; and, in fine, there is no- thing whatever that he has not utterly thrown into dis- turbance and confusion. Indeed, if I had not perceived what had happened, and hurled him down with my thunder- bolt, there would have remained not even a remnant of the
1 It was almost the only sort of interposition of Greek Law (at Athens) that, upon proof of extraordinarily cruel treatment of a slave by his owner, the victim of his brutality might claim the privilege to be put up to auction.
2 Helios, in the earlier Greek Theology, was the son of Hyperion and Theia (Qsoy. 371-4). Later he was identified with Apollo. The horses and chariot of the Sun are of later invention than the times of the Homeric epics and of Hesiod, and first occur in the Homeric Hymn to Helios. Some of the poets give him a golden boat, the work of Hephsestos, in which he makes his diurnal voyage. Others represent him as making his nightly journey in a golden bed. See Diet, of Mythology , etc. ed. by Wm. Smith. Cf. Ov. Metam.iL, where the Latin poet devotes large space to the tremendous catastrophe, which he so eloquently poetises, and the death of Phaethon, for grief for whom his august father hid his face ; and, u si modo credimus, unum Isse diem sine sole ferunt."
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 57
human species. Such an excellent driver and charioteer have you sent forth, in that fine son of yours.
Helios. I committed an error, Zeus ; but don't be hard upon me, since I was prevailed upon by my son with his frequent entreaties : for from whence could I have at all expected that so tremendous a mischief could come about ?
Zeus. Did you not know what extreme caution the matter needed, and that if one swerved ever so little from the road, everything was ruined ? Were you ignorant, too, of the temper of the horses, and how absolutely necessary it is to hold a tight rein ? For, if one slackens it at all, they immediately take the bit in their mouths ; just as, in fact, they ran away with him, now to the left, and, after a space, to the right, and sometimes in the opposite direction to their course, and upwards and downwards, in fine, where they themselves had a mind to go ; while he did not know how to treat them.
Helios. All this, indeed, I knew, and for that reason I for a long time resisted, and would not trust the driving to him : but, when he begged me over and over again with tears, and his mother Klymene with him, after mounting him on the chariot I cautioned him how he must stand firmly, and how far he should allow his horses to go into the higher regions, and be borne aloft; then how far he must direct them downwards again, and how he must have complete control of the reins, and not surrender them to the fieriness of his steeds. And I told him, too, how great was the peril, if he did not keep the straight road. "Well, he — mere boy that he was — taking his stand upon such a tremendous fire-chariot, and peering down into the yawning abyss, was seized with sudden terror, as was to be expected ; while the horses, when they perceived that it was not I who was mounted upon the vehicle, not heeding the youth- ful driver, swerved from their proper route, and caused this terrific calamity. Then he, letting go the reins from sheer fright, I suppose, lest he should be thrown out him- self, clung to the front rail 1 of the chariot — but he now
1 "AvtvZ, was the curved rim of the front part of the Greek chariot, which was always circular, or rather elliptical, in form.
58 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
has received the reward of his rashness, and for me, Zeus, the consequent grief ought to be enough punishment.
Zeus. Enough punishment, do you say, you who have rashly risked all this ! However, I will grant your pardon now, for this time : but, for the future, if you transgress at all in a similar fashion, or despatch any similar substitute for yourself, you shall at once know of how much more fiery virtue is my thunderbolt than your fire. So now let his sisters 1 bury him near the Eridanus, whereabouts he fell, when he was pitched out, weeping amber over him ; and let them become poplars out of their grief for him : but do you, for your part, put your chariot to pieces again — both its pole is broken in two, and one of the wheels is completely smashed — and yoking your horses drive on once more. Well, keep in mind all these injunctions.
XXVI.
APOLLO ASKS HERMES TO POINT OUT TO HIM, OF THE TWIN DIOSCURI WHICH IS KASTOR AND WHICH POLTDEUKES ; AND TAKES THE OPPORTUNITY OF CRITICISING THEIR DIVINE PRETENSIONS.
Apollo and Hermes.
Apollo. Can you tell me, Hermes, which of these is Kastor, or which is Polydeukes ? For I could not distin- guish between them.
Hermes {pointing them out). That is Kastor, who was with us yesterday, and this is Polydeukes.
Apollo. How do you make your distinction ? For they are as like as two peas.
1 Of the HeliadcB or Heliades, Phoebe, Phaethusa, and Lampetie, whose tears were converted into amber by divine interposition, Ovid has commemorated, in particular, the two last (Metam. ii. 3). The Eridanus was the poetic name assigned to various rivers by the early poets, but was, later, identified with the Padus (Pado). /Eschylus, in his lost Heliades, applied it to the Ehodanus. As for the chariot of the Sun, S. Chrysostom (who, in common with most of the Christian Fathers, and indeed, with much later authorities, found the origin and counter- part of Greek theological myths in the Jewish Scriptures) is persuaded that it is derived from a distorted version of the fire-chariot of Elias.
DIALOGUES OF THE GODS. 59
Hermes. Thus — because this one, Apollo, lias npon his face the traces of the wounds which he received from, his antagonists when boxing, and especially the wounds which were inflicted on him by the Bebrycian Anrykus, 1 when on the voyage with Jason ; while the other shows nothing of the kind, but is untouched and unwounded in his face.
Apollo. You have conferred an obligation upon me by indicating the distinguishing marks, since in regard to other parts, all are exactly alike — the half segment of an egg and star above, on their heads, a javelin in the hand, and each mounted on a white horse, 2 — so that I frequently addressed Polydeukes as Kastor, and the latter by the name of Polydeukes. But tell me this, too, why in the world do they not both live with us, but by halves either of them at one moment is a dead man, and at another a divinity ?
Hermes. They act so out of brotherly affection, For, since one of the sons of Led a must have died, and the other have been immortal alone, they of their own accord divided for themselves immortality between them in this way.
Apollo. A not altogether wise division, Hermes, since by this arrangement they will not even see each other ; what, I suppose, they especially desired. For how can they, when one is with the gods, and the other with the dead ? But, however, just as I deal in prophecy, and as Asklepius deals in medicine, and you, excellent trainer that you are, give instruction in the art of wrestling, and as Artemis acts the midwife, and each one of the rest of us
1 For this terrific pugilistic encounter, see Theok. Ei5. xx. Atoa- Kovpoi. ; Apollonius, 'Apyovavr.
2 In Greek and Latin Art, the Dioscuri ("the sons of Zeus" /car' iZoxnv) are represented with egg-shaped hat or helmet, stars standing on the fore part of the head, and holding spears or javelins, and mounted on white horses, and as duplicates one of the other. In the Homeric epic they are of human birth, on both sides, and the brothers of Helene. Later authorities assign them various origins. Kastor, the equestrian, was mortal, Polydeukes, the patron of pugilists, immortal. With the Romans, the " fratres Helena? — lucida sidera," were always in high honour and esteem, as their saviours and patrons in battle. The twin- divinities especially claimed the devotion of sailors. Cf. Apollod. iii. 11. Pausanias, Livy, Hor. Car. i. 12. Ov. Metam. viii. 373, Lucian, Nt/cp.
60 DIALOGUES OF THE GODS.
exercises some profession useful either to Gods or to men — what, then, will these good people do for us ? Will they, such strapping youths as they are, enjoy the banquet, without working ?
Hermes. By no means, but they have assigned to them to act as deputies for Poseidon, and they must ride over the sea, and, if they anywhere perceive sailors overtaken by a storm, perch themselves on the ship and protect the voyagers.
Apollo. A good and salutary profession, Hermes.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
I.
DORIS RIDICULES THE FIGURE AND MANNERS OF POLYPHEMUS, THE LOVER OF GALATEIA.
Doris and Galateia}
Doris. A handsome lover, my dear Galateia, that Sicilian shepherd they say is so madly in love with you !
Galateia. Don't sneer, Doris, for he is Poseidon's son, whatever he may be like.
Doris. What then ? If he were even the son of Zeus himself, and showed so savage and uncouth a figure ; and, most unsightly of all his uglinesses, possessed only one eye, do you imagine his birth would at all avail him, in comparison with his shape ?
Galateia. Not even his uncouthness and his savageness (as you call it) is without its charm — for it gives him a manly air ; and his eye becomes his forehead, and sees not less than if there were two.
Doris. You seem, Galateia, to consider your Polyphemus not as the courting, but as the courted, one, such are your praises of him.
Galateia. Courted, no, but I cannot endure that excessive proclivity of yours to finding fault, and you others seem to me to do it from envy ; because, when, some time ago, he was tending his flocks, and had a glimpse of us from his cliff, as we were sporting upon the shore, at the foot of .iEtna, where it extends between the mountain and the sea, he did not even look at you others, whereas I appeared to
1 Cf. Theok. E<<5. xi. (where the Cyclops charges the Sea-Nymph with cruelty and vaunts his merits), and vi. ; Kallim. 'Ett. xlix. Or. Metam^ xiii. 7. Virgil, Be. vii. 37, ix. 39, and see 'Od. ix. One of the Elkoveq of Philostratus is founded on this subject.
62 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
him as the most beautiful of all of us, and so he kept his eye upon me alone. It is this that vexes you, for it is a proof that I am superior, and deserving to be loved ; while you other Nymphs have been neglected.
Doris. If you appear beautiful to the eyes of a keeper of sheep and to a fellow who wants an eye, do you suppose you are an object of envy ? and, besides, what else had he to commend in you than your white skin ? and that, I suppose, because he is accustomed to cheese and milk : everything, therefore, resembling those things he considers beautiful. 1 For as to other charms, whenever you wish to discover what you are really like, stoop from some rock, when the sea is calm, over the water, and behold yourself to be nothing else than an exceedingly white skin ; and that is not commended unless, too, there is colour to set it off.
Galateia. Yet I, so purely white as I am, nevertheless have a lover, though it's only he ; whereas there is not one of you whom either shepherd, or sailor, or boatman praises. And my Polyphemus, among other merits, is also musical.
Doris. Hold your tongue, Galateia ; we heard his singing, when but now he came serenading to you. So may Aphrodite be 2 my friend, one would have imagined an ass was braying. And his very lyre — what a thing it was ! The bare skull of a stag, and the horns served as the handles, 3 and he bridged them, and fitted in the strings, without even twisting them round a peg, and then began to perform some horribly unmusical and unmelodious melody ; himself roaring out one thing, and his lyre accom- panying him to something else, so that we could not even restrain our laughter at that fine love ditty. Why, Echo would not even return any reply to his bellowing, loquacious
1 Polyphemus, in such preference, is not without high authority. With the poets, indeed, extreme whiteness has been one of the principal characteristics of feminine beauty. Spenser's Una is even " whiter than snow." As for Galateia, she has her name from her complexion. Ex re nomen habet.
2 A suggested alternative reading is " Amphitrite. " Lehmann de- fends the received text on the ground that the Nymphs are discoursing of love matters. But, it will be observed, Doris disclaims the power of the Goddess of Love.
3 See 0. A. vii.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 63
as she is ; but was ashamed to appear to imitate his un- couth, ridiculous music. And, then, the amiable creature was carrying in his arms, for a plaything, a bear's cub, resembling himself in shagginess. Who, pray, would not envy you, my Galateia, such a lover ?
Galateia. Do you then, my dear Doris, show us your own adorer, who is, doubtless, handsomer, and more of a musician, and better skilled in performing on the cithara.
Doris. Nay, I have no adorer, nor do I pride myself on being admired. But as for your Cyclops, such as he is, with the rank odour of a he-goat — a cannibal, as they say, and who feeds upon strangers who come to his country — may he be yours and welcome, and may you fully return his affection ! s
II.
POLYPHEMUS COMPLAINS TO POSEIDON, HIS FATHEK, OF HIS TREATMENT AT THE HANDS OF ODYSSEUS. 1
Cyclops and Poseidon.
Cyclops (blubbering). father, what have I endured at the hands of the cursed stranger, who made me drunk and put out my eye, assaulting me when I was lulled to sleep.
Poseidon. Who dared to do this, my poor Polyphemus ?
Cyclops. In the first instance, he called himself Outis ; 2 but, when he had got clear away, and was out of reach of my arrow, he said that his name was Odysseus.
Poseidon. I know whom you speak of — him of Ithaka, and he was on his return-voyage from Ilium. But how did he do it, for he is, by no means, a man of too much courage ?
Cyclops. Returning from my accustomed tending of my flocks, I caught a number of fellows in my cave, evidently having designs on my herds : for, when I placed the stone block against the door — the rock is of huge size — and had lighted the fire by igniting the tree which I brought from
1 Cf. 'OS. ix. ; Ov. Metam. xiii. 7 ; xiv. 4 ; Euripides, KvicXioip ; JEn. iii. 613—683.
- " Nobody." Some of the Homeric commentators ingeniously have
accounted for the name by attributing to the hero of many wiles re- markably large ears (Ovg-Jjrog).
64 DIALOGUES OP THE SEA-GODS.
the mountain, evidently they appeared to be trying to conceal themselves. Well, when I had got hold of some of them, I devoured them for a pack of thieves, as was reasonable. Hereupon that most villainous rascal, whether he was Outis or Odysseus, pours out a sort of drug and gives me to drink — sweet, indeed, and of delicious smell, but most insidious, and which caused great disorder in my head : for immediately upon my drinking everything seemed to me to be in a whirl, and the cave itself was turned upside down, and I was no longer at all in my senses ; and, at last, I was dragged down into sleep. Then sharpening the bar, and igniting it besides, he blinded me as I slept, and from that time, I am a blind man, at your service, Poseidon.
Poseidon. How soundly you slept, my son, that you did not jump up while you were being blinded ! But as for this Odysseus, then, how did he escape ? For he could not — I am well assured that he could not — move away the rock from the door.
Cyclops. Yes, but it was I who removed it, that I might the better catch him as he was going out ; and, sitting down close to the door, I groped for him with extended hands, letting only my sheep pass out . to pasture, after having given instructions to the ram what he was to do in my place.
Poseidon. I understand, they slipped away under them unnoticed. But you ought to have shouted, and called the rest of the Cyclopes to your aid against him.
Cyclops. I did summon them, father, and they came. But when they asked the sneaking rascal's name, and I said it was Outis, thinking I was in a mad fit, they took themselves off at once. Thus the cursed fellow tricked me with his name ; and what especially vexes me is, that actually throwing my misfortune in my teeth, " Xot even," says he, " will your father Poseidon cure you." x
1 See '0$. ix. 525, and the anguished cry for vengeance of the Cyclops in Ov. Met. xiv. 192-197 :—
" O si quis referat mihi casus Ulyssen,
Quam nullum aut leve sit damnum mibi lucis ademptre.' > Cf. Macrobius, Sat. v. 13.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 65
Poseidon. Never mind, my child, for I will revenge myself upon him, that he may learn that, even if it is not possible for me to heal the mutilation of people's eyes, at all events the fate of voyagers is in my hands. And he is still at sea.
III.
POSEIDON QUESTIONS ALPHEIUS, A RIVER-GOD, RESPECTING HIS AMOUR WITH THE NYMPH ARETHUSA.
Poseidon and Alpheius. 1
Poseidon. What's this, Alpheius ? Of all rivers you are the only one that falls into the sea without mingling with the salt water, as is the custom of other streams, nor do you rest from pouring yourself along ; but, in your passage through the sea, contracting and keeping sweet your waters, still unmixed and pure, you hasten I know not where, diving into the depths, like the sea-gulls and herons ; and yet you seem to be ready to pop up some- where or other, and again discover yourself.
Alpheius. Something of a love-affair, Poseidon, so don't scold. Even you yourself often have been in love.
Poseidon. Is it a woman or a Nymph, or, indeed, one of the Nereids themselves you are in love with ?
Alpheius. No, but with a Fountain, Poseidon.
Poseidon. And she — where in the world does she flow ?
Alpheius. She is a Sicilian islander. They call her Arethusa.
Poseidon. I am aware, Alpheius, she is no ugly creature — this Arethusa. On the contrary, she is beautifully clear and transparent, and gushes out in a pure stream, and the
1 The Alpheius, the modern Kufia, rising in the mountains of Arcadia, disappears after a short course and, again appearing, unites with the Eurotas. The two rivers, some two miles from their conjunction, sink below the earth, to reappear in Arcadia. The mysterious river empties itself into the Ionian Sea, not far from Olympia, in Elis. According to the myth, the nymph Arethusa, one of the Nereids beloved by the river-god, was pursued by him until she was transformed by Artemis into the Sicilian fountain. Alpheius, however, still vainly pursues her. See Ovid's beautiful description, Met. v. 572-641.
F
66 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
water gives beauty to the pebbles, showing all silver above them.
Alpheius. How accurately well you know the Fountain, Poseidon ! I am now off to her side.
'Poseidon. Well, away then, and good luck to you in your wooing. But tell me this, where did you have a sight of your Arethusa, seeing that you yourself are Arcadian, and she is at Syracuse ?
Alpheius. You are detaining me, in haste as I am, with your superfluous questions.
Poseidon. You are right. Away to your beloved, and emerging from the sea, mingle harmoniously with your Fountain, and become one water.
IV.
MENELAUS EXPRESSES TO PROTEUS HIS INCREDULITY IN REGARD TO THE ALLEGED MIRACULOUS TRANSFORMATIONS OF THAT DIVINITY.
Menelaus and Proteus?
Menelaus. Well, that you become water, Proteus, is not incredible, seeing you belong to the sea ; and that you become a tree, too, may pass — nay, when you get changed into a lion, yet even that is not beyond my powers of belief. But whether it is possible for you to become fire while living in the sea — that I very much wonder at and doubt.
Proteus. Don't wonder, my dear Sir, for I do become such.
Menelaus. I, indeed, saw it with my own eyes. But you appear to me — for I must confess it to you — to apply some kind of jugglery to the business, and to deceive the eyes of the spectators, while yourself become nothing of the sort.
1 Cf. 'OS. iv. 450. Ov. Metam. viu. 730-737. Virg. Geory. iv. 41 8-452. Diodorus, B//3. 'lor. 1. In the Odyssey the meeting of Menelaus and Proteus, and the prophecies of the sea-divinity, are related at length. He figures on two important occasions — as the guardian of Helen, and in the annunciation of the birth of Apollonius of Tyana. The dialogue may be supposed to take place in the island of Pharos.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 67
Proteus. And what deception could there be in a case so clear ? Did yon not with open eyes see into what I transfigured myself ? x And if you doubt, and the thing seem to you to be unreal, a sort of phantasmagoria placed before your eyes, when I become fire, give me your hand, my excellent Sir : for you shall know whether I am a mere spectral illusion, or whether, in fact, the property of burning then belongs to me.
Menelaus. The experiment is scarcely a safe one, Sir Proteus.
Proteus. But you seem to me never to have seen the polypus even, or to know what are the peculiarities of that creature of the sea. 2
Menelaus. Yes, I have seen the polypus ; but what are its peculiarities I should be glad to learn from you.
Proteus. Whatever rock it approaches and fastens its suckers on, and hangs clinging to in coils, to that it assimilates itself ; and it changes its colour in mimicry of the rock, so that it may escape the notice of the fishermen, being thus not at all different, or conspicuous, but closely resembling the stone.
Menelaus. So they say. But your case is far more strange, my friend Proteus.
Proteus. I don't know, Menelaus, whom else you would believe, if you don't believe your own eyes.
Menelaus. Since I saw it, I saw it, it is true ; but the thing is miraculous — the same person to become both fire and water !
1 The poet of the Odyssey represents the " old man of the sea " as assuming, successively, the forms of a " lion," a " dragon " or " serpent," a " leopard," a " boar," " water," and a " tree." Ovid adds " fire."
2 For the natural history of the polypus, or octopus, in Greek science, and for the large space it occupied in Greek gastronomy, the reader is referred to Athenseus, Deipnosophists (Bohn's Series), where the Comic poets, as usual, are largely drawn upon. Cf. Aristotle, Z. I., Pliny, Hist. Nat. ix. 29. Plutarch {Uepi rfjg 2apico<payias) represents Diogenes the Cynic as swallowing one of these creatures uncooked.
68 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
V.
PANOPE RELATES TO GALENE THE SCENE OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GOLDEN APPLE BY ERIS INTO THE NUPTIAL FEAST OF PELEUS AND THETIS, THE DISCORD BETWEEN THE THREE RIVAL GODDESSES, AND THEIR DISMISSAL TO MOUNT IDA FOR JUDGMENT.
Panose and Galene.
Panope. Did you see, Galene, yesterday, what Eris did at the banquet in Thessaly, because she was not, also, invited to the feast ?
Galene. I was not at the banquet with you, for Poseidon ordered me, Panope, to keep the sea unagitated mean- while ; but what, then, did Eris, for not being present as a guest ?
Panope. Thetis and Peleus had already gone off to their bridal chamber, escorted by Amphitrite and Poseidon. But Eris, meanwhile, unobserved by any — and she could easily be so, while some were drinking, others making a clatter, or giving all their attention to Apollo playing on the cithara, or to the Muses as they sang — threw into the midst of the banqueting-hall a certain very beautiful apple, all of gold, 1 Galene. And it was inscribed : " Let the beautiful one have me." And rolling along, as though intentionally, it came where Hera and Aphrodite and Athena were reclining ; and when Hermes, taking it up, read out the inscription, we Nereids held our tongues, for what were we to do, in the presence of those Goddesses ? Then they began to put forward each one her pretensions, and each claimed the apple to be her own. And had not Zeus separated them, the affair would have ended even in blows. But, says he, " I will not myself judge in the matter [although they earnestly called upon him to do so] ; but go away with you to Ida to the presence of the youth Paris, who, as he is a connoisseur in female charms, knows how to distinguish the superior beauty, and he would not give wrong judgment."
1 See 0. A. xx.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 69
Galene. What, pray, did the Goddesses do, Panope ?
Panope. This very day, I believe, they are off to Ida, and somebody will come shortly to announce to us the winner.
Galene. As I stand here now, I tell you, no other will be victorious, with Aphrodite for competitor, unless the umpire be altogether dull-eyed. 1
VI.
THE RAPE OF AMYMONE BY POSEIDON.
Triton, Amymone, and Poseidon.
Triton. Every day, Poseidon, there comes a virgin to Lerna 2 to draw water — a very beautiful sort of creature. I don't know, for my part, that I have seen a more beauti- ful girl.
Poseidon. Some lady, do you mean, Triton, or is the girl of the pitcher some maid- servant ?
Triton. No, indeed — but a daughter of that celebrated Danaus, herself one of the Fifty, Amymone by name : for I inquired what her name is, and her family. Now, Danaus brings up his daughters hardily, and teaches them to work for themselves, and both sends them to draw water 3 and educates them, in other respects, not to be idle.
1 One of the most interesting of Roman paintings that have come down to us has for subject this fatal marriage of Peleus and Thetis — the Noce Aldobrandine. It was found at Rome, in the seventeenth century, on the site of the gardens of Maecenas. It consists of ten figures, that of Thetis eai-rying away the palm of excellence. See Recueil des Peintures Antiques Trouve'es a Borne. Par Pietro Bartoli, Paris, 1 783. Cf. the Peletts and Thetis of Catullus.
2 A place near Argos, famous as the haunt of the monster killed by Herakles. Amymone was one of the fifty daughters of Danaus, the issue of his various wives, whose names are recorded, together with those of their doomed husbands, by Apollodorus, ii. 1, 5. Cf. Philost. BiKoveg ; Pausanias, ii. 37 ; Strabo, viii. ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. iv. 5. The Danaides, it may be observed, have received their highest immortalisa- tion from iEschylus in his 'Iicmdec. Por a description of a Triton, see Apollonius, 'Apy. iv. 1588-1612.
3 Le Clerc here observes that, in the most ancient times, it was a common custom for girls of high birth to be sent to draw water, and quotes the authorities of Homer and Genesis xxiv. 13-15. " So that," remarks Lehmann, " Le Clerc knows more about antiquity than Lucian himself."
70 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
Poseidon. But does she travel all alone so long a journey from Argos to Lerna ?
Triton. All alone. Argos is " very thirsty," 1 as yon know : so it is necessary to be always fetching water.
Poseiden. My dear Triton, in no small degree have yon agitated me by your account of the girl. So let us start at once for her.
Triton. Let us be off. Just now, in fact, is the time for fetching the water, and she is pretty nearly in the middle of her journey, on her way to Lerna.
Poseidon. Harness the chariot, then : or, stay, that in- volves much loss of time, to harness the horses and to get the equipage ready. Do you bring me rather one of your swiftest dolphins ; for I shall mount and ride it in the quickest possible time.
Triton. See, here you have the fleetest of dolphins.
Poseidon. Bravely done ! Let us drive away, and do you swim by my side, Triton. — And now we are arrived at Lerna, I will lie in ambush somewhere here, and do you keep a look out. As soon as ever you perceive her ap- proach
Triton (looking out from his hiding -place') . She is close by you.
Poseidon. A lovely and blooming girl, Triton. But we have to capture her (seizes her).
Amymone. Fellow, why have you thus forciby seized me, and where are you taking me ? You are a kidnapper, 2 and I suppose you have been commissioned by my uncle, JEgyptus : 3 so I will call out to my father for help (screaming) .
Triton. Hush ! this moment, Amymone. It is Poseidon.
Amymone. Why do you talk to me of Poseidon ? Why do you offer me this violence, fellow, and drag me down thus
1 UoXvSitpiov, the Homeric epithet for the capital of Diomedes, 'IX. iv. 171. Athenseus and Strabo interpret it as Tzo\vTr6£t]Tov, "much thirsted for " (by the absent Greeks).
2 ' 'AvSpairoSi<jrri£. For the extent and success of this sort of recog- nised piracy, or trade, among the Greeks, see the Comedies of Plautus and of Terence, and the romances of Heliodorus and other Greek romancists.
3 Whose fifty sons came to Argos in search of their reluctant brides.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 71
into the sea? I shall sink and be drowned, miserable- fated being that I am !
Poseidon. Have no fear. You shall suffer nothing ter- rible. On the contrary, I will strike the rock hard by this sea-beach with my trident, and will cause a fountain to spring up here to be called after your name ; and you shall be happy, and be the only one of your sisters who, after death, shall not have to draw water. 1
YII.
ZEPHYRUS RECOUNTS TO NOTUS THE METAMORPHOSIS AND ADVENTURES OF IO. 2
Notus and Zephyrus.
Notus. This heifer, Zephyrus, whom Hermes is conduct- ing into Egypt, through the sea, has Zeus, overcome by passion, actually debauched her ?
Zephyrus. Yes, Notus. But she was then not a heifer, but a daughter of the River Inachus. Now, however, Hera, out of jealousy, has made her such, because she per- ceived Zeus to be very much in love.
Notus. Is he, then, now still in love with the cow ?
Zephyrus. Very much indeed, and for this reason he sends her to Egypt, and has given us orders not to agitate the sea until she shall have swum across, so that, after having given birth to her child there — and she is already enceinte — she may become a divinity, herself and her off- spring.
Notus. The heifer a divinity !
1 As is well known, the punishment of the Danaides, for their slaughter of their husbands on one and the same bridal night, at the command of their father, was to pour water incessantly into sieves, or rather, bottomless pitchers. Besides Amymone, however, Hypermnaestra must hare escaped this infernal torture, since — splendide rnendax — in return for his abdication of marital rights, she had spared her hus- band's life. According to some accounts, these devotees of Artemis were purified from the crime of murder by Athena and Hermes at the command of Zeus.
2 See 9. A. iii. Cf. Palsephatus, who gives a more prosaic account than the mythologists.
72 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA- GODS.
Zephyrus. Undoubtedly, my dear Notus, and she will preside as patroness, as Hermes said, of sailors, and will be our mistress, to send out, or prevent from blowing, whom- soever of us she chooses to.
Notus. Since, then, she is now our mistress, Zephyrus, we must cultivate her good graces.
Zephyrus. Yes, indeed, for so she will be the more benevo- lently inclined towards us. Well, let us do so now, for she has already made her passage, and is now escaped safely to land ; and you see how she now no longer walks on four feet, and Hermes has set her erect, and has made a very beautiful woman of her again.
Notus. Strange things these, truly, Zephyrus — horns no longer, nor tail, and cloven feet, but a lovely girl ! Hermes, however — what has come to him, that he has metamorphosed himself, and, in place of a young man, has become a dog-faced creature ? *
Zephyrus. Let us not inquire too curiously, since he knows best what he ought to do.
YIII.
at poseidon's request, the dolphins narrate to him the story of arion's escape.
Poseidon and Delphines. 2
Poseidon. Well done, dolphins ! for you are ever philan- thropic. Before now you took under your protection Ino's brat, and carried him off to the Isthmus, when it fell with its mother from the Skironian rocks ; 3 and now you
1 Known as Anubis in the Egyptian theology : Anuhis latrator, is the epithet applied by Virgil (Mn. viii. 698). Cf. Juvenal, Sat. vi. 534, xv. 8; Diod. i. 18.
2 See Herod, i. 24 ; Lucian, 'A\. 'Itrr. ii. 205 ; Ov. Fasti, ii. 83-118; Pliny, Hist. Nat. ix. 8 ; iElian, Hist. Nat. vi. 15 ; Pliny the Younger, Ep. ix. 33 ; Oppian, 'AX. ; Pausanias, ix. 30. Pliny the Naturalist narrates the marvellous tales of dolphin-philanthropy with entire faith ; his nephew, in his Letters (see Bohn's Series), with some scepticism. Philo- stratus, like Herodotus, some ages before him, alleges the brazen statue of Arion at Taenarum, as conclusive proof of the reality of the miracle.
3 See Ov. Metam. iv. 524-571; Fasti, vi. 485-504; Apollod. iii. 4. These rocks are off the E. coast of Megaris (in the Gulf of iEgina).
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 73
have taken up on your back this harper from Meth jmna l and swum to Teenarum, with his luggage and harp and all, nor have vou allowed him to meet with a miserable death at the hands of the sailors.
Dolphins. Don't be surprised, Poseidon, if we do kind- nesses to human animals, since we ourselves were men before we were fish. 2
Poseidon. I certainly blame Bacchus for having meta- morphosed you after his defeat of you in that naval battle, whereas he ought only to have reduced you to sub- jection, just as he subjected the rest. But how, pray, did this Arion business come about, my dear Dolphin ?
Dolphin. Periander, I believe, was pleased with him, and would often send for him on account of his skill, and when he had got rich by the prince's patronage, he eagerly longed to make the voyage home to Methymna, to display his wealth. Accordingly, having embarked on board a certain passenger ship, belonging to a set of villains (as he had showed them the quantity of gold and silver he was taking with him), when they were in the middle of the ^Egean, the sailors conspire against him. " Then," said he — for, swimming by the side of the vessel, I heard every- thing — " since you have determined upon this crime, at all events suffer me of my own accord to throw myself over- board, after having assumed my proper dress, and sung a dirge over myself." The sailors gave him leave, and he assumed his musician' 's dress, and sang very sweetly, and fell into the sea, as though he was certainly to die that moment. But I, intercepting him and placing him on my back, swam off with him to Taenarum.
Poseidon. I commend you for your love of music ; a worthy remuneration, indeed, for your privilege of hearing him have you paid him.
1 Arion. Methymna was a principal city of the island of Lesbos. Tfenarum, now C. Matapan.
2 "IxOvg. The Greek term, like the English " fish," unscientifically includes marine mammalia.
74 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
IX.
POSEIDON AND AMPHITRITE DISPUTE AS TO THE FITTING PLACE OF BURIAL FOR HELLE, DROWNED IN THE HELLESPONT. POSEIDON DIRECTS THE NEREIDS TO TAKE UP HER BODY, AND BURY IT IN THE TROAD.
Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Nereids.
Poseidon. This strait, where the girl was carried away by the tide, let it be called Hellespontus 1 after her ; and do you Nereids take up the corpse, and bear it to the Troad, that it may be buried by the people of the country.
Amphitrite. Not so, Poseidon, but let it be buried here in the sea to which she has given her name ; for we compas- sionate her for her most pitiable sufferings at the hands of her stepmother. 2
Poseidon. That, Amphitrite, is not lawful; nor, besides, is it becoming that she lie under the sand hereabouts. But, as I said, she shall forthwith be buried in the Troad, or in the Chersonese, and this will be no small comfort for her — that Ino, too, shall shortly suffer the same fate, and, pursued by Athamas, shall fall into the sea from the promontory of Kithaeron, where it stretches itself into the waves, with her son, also in her arms.
Amphitrite. But we shall have to gratify Bacchus, and save her, too ; for Ino was his nurse and suckled him.
Poseidon. No, we ought not to save her, since she is so wicked : it is not proper, however, to disoblige Bacchus, Amphitrite.
Nereids. But she — pray, what possessed her to fall off the ram, while her brother, Phrixus, rides safely?
Poseidon. It happened as might be expected, for he is a voung man and able to hold on against the rapid motion. Bat she, by reason of her inexperience, upon mounting the
1 See Apollod. i. 9 ; Hyg. Fab. 2 ; Pausanias, i. 44. Cf. Palsephatus. Helle was the daughter of Athamas and Nephele.
2 Ino, daughter of Kadmus and Harmoneia. Fleeing from their stepmother's cruel treatment of them, on the golden-fleeced ram the brother and sister, Phrixus and Helle, escaped through the air. Helle, as is well known, in her fright fell into the narrow strait which bears her name. Her brother arrived in the land of Kolchis, where, as we are assured, he ungratefully sacrificed his saviour to the Gods.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 75
strange vehicle, and gazing into the yawning depths, was stupefied, and, at the same time, overcome by terror ; and, becoming giddy from the excessive rapidity of the flight, lost her hold of the ram's horns, to which, until then, she had clung, and fell into the sea.
Nereids. Pray should not her mother, Nephele, have come to the aid of the falling girl ?
Poseidon. She ought to have done so. But Fate is much more powerful than Nephele.
X.
IRIS CONVEYS TO POSEIDON THE COMMANDS OF ZEUS THAT HE SHOULD KEEP THE ISLAND OF DELOS STATIONARY, WHERE LETO WAS TO LIE IN.
Iris and Poseidon.
Iris. That wandering island, Poseidon, detached from Sicily, 1 whose fate it is still to be swimming about sub- merged, " that same," says Zeus, " you are now immediately to bring to a standstill, and bear it up to daylight, and cause it at once to remain firmly grounded, a conspicuous 2 object in the middle of the iEgean, fixing it quite securely : for there will be some need of it."
Poseidon. It shall be done this moment, Iris. What con- venience, however, will it afford him, when it has been brought up to the surface, and no longer sails about ?
Iris. Leto is to lie in on it ; for at this very moment she is ill with the pangs of labour.
Poseidon. What, then ? Is not Heaven a fitting place for her to produce her children in ? And if that locality is not, at all events, could not the whole Earth give shelter to her offspring ?
Iris. No, Poseidon, for Hera bound the Earth with a great oath not to afford a receptacle for Leto in her labour. This island, however, is not pledged, for it was invisible.
1 As Hemsterhuis observes, as far as relative geographical position is concerned, it is as likely that Delos was originally part of Cilicia as of Sicily. See Kallim. 'Yfiv. tin Ar}\. v. 30.
2 Ai\Xov. Lucian seems to be making a pun. Some of the old ety- mologists refer the name of the island to this adjective.
76
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
Poseidon. I perceive. Stand still, Island, and rise again from the deep, and no longer be borne along under the waves, bnt remain firm and motionless, and receive and harbour, most highly-favoured one ! the two children of my brother, the most beautiful of the Gods. And do you, Tritons, convey the lady across to it, and let a uni- versal calm prevail. But as for the dragon, which now terrifies and goads her to madness, the infants, as soon as they are born, shall pursue it immediately and avenge their mother. Now, do you carry word to Zeus that everything is in good order. Delos stands immovable : let Leto come at once and lie in.
XI.
THE RIVER XANTHUS SUPPLICATES THALASSA (THE SEA) TO RECEIVE HIM, AND CURE HIS BURNS INFLICTED UPON HIM BY HEPH^STUS ON BEHALF OF ACHILLEUS.
Xanthus and Thalassa. 1
Xantlcus. Receive me, Thalassa, in my terrible suffer ings, and quench my fiery wounds.
Thalassa. What's this, Xanthus ? Who burnt you up ?
Xanthus. Hephaestus. Yes, I am all burned to a cinder, ill-fated wretch that I am, and I am at boiling pitch.
Thalassa. Why, pray, did he throw fire upon you ?
Xanthus. On account of the son of Thetis here. For when I approached him as a suppliant as he was murdering the Phrygians, and I could not make him cease from his rage, but he kept blocking up my stream under the weight of the corpses ; out of pity for the poor wretches, I rushed upon him, intending to immerse him, that he might be frightened and abstain from slaughter of the men. Here- upon Hephaestus — for he happened to be somewhere near — with all the fire, as I imagine, he had in his forge and all he had in ^Etna, and wherever else he may have any,
1 See 'IX. xxi. for the Homeric story, which Lucian here holds up to ridicule, with his accustomed mercilessness. Known to the Gods as Xanthus, this once heroic River (now, under the name of Mendere, any- thing but aggressive or formidable) had the earthly name of Skamander. It forms one of the Eikwcc of Philostratus.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 77
attacked me, and burned np all my elms and tamarisks, and roasted, too, the unfortunate fish and eels ; and, causing myself to boil over, all but entirely dried me up. You perceive, then, how I am affected by these marks of the conflagration.
Thalassa. You are turbid, and feverish and hot, as might be expected. Blood flows from dead bodies ; heat, as you say, from fire ; and not unreasonably, my friend Xanthus, did this happen to you, for making an assault upon my grand- son, without respecting the fact of his being a Nereid's son.
Xanthus. Should I not, then, have had pity on the Phry- gians, my neighbours ?
Tlialassa. And should not Hephaestus have shown pity to Achilleus, who is the son of Thetis ?
XII.
THETIS EELATES TO DORIS THE STORY OF THE EXPOSURE OF DANAE AND HER INFANT, PERSEUS.
Doris and Thetis.
Doris. Why do you weep, Thetis ?
Thetis. I saw just now a most beautiful girl 1 cast into a chest — herself and her newly-born babe ; and the father gave orders to the sailors to take away the chest, and, when they had got out some distance from the land, to let it drop into the sea, so that the wretched girl might perish, both she and her baby.
Doris. For what reason, my sister ? Tell me, if you know it at all, the whole story exactly.
Thetis. Her father, Akrisius, incarcerating her in a cer- tain brazen chamber, 2 kept her a virgin, most beautiful though she was. Then — if it be true, I can't say — bat they do say that Zeus, transformed into gold, flowed in a
1 Koprj, like the Latin puella, is often applied to married women as well as to virgins.
2 Cf. Ov. Mdam. iv. 9; Hor. Car. iii. 16; Pausanias (ii. 23). The Greek traveller informs us that this brazen prison underground was visible clown to the historical age, and, indeed, had been seen by himself. 11 As some sager sing," the golden Zeus was no other than Prcetus, the young lady's uncle.
78 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
stream through the roof to her, and that she received the fluid God into her arms, and became pregnant. Her father, a savage and jealous sort of old fellow, learning this, was in a great rage, and, suspecting she had been debauched by some mortal, thrust her into the chest as soon as ever she had been delivered.
Doris. And she — what did she do, when she was dropped into the sea ?
Thetis. As regarded herself, Doris, she was silent, and was content to endure her sentence ; but, for the babe, she kept entreating that it might not die, weeping, and show- ing it — most beautiful babe that it was — to its grandfather, while the infant itself, in its ignorance of its misfortunes, actually smiled at the sight of the sea. I feel my eyes fill with tears again in recounting them.
Doris. You made me shed tears, too. But are they now dead ?
Thetis. By no means, for the chest is still floating about Seriphus, 1 preserving them alive.
Doris. Why, then, don't we save it by putting it into the nets of those Seriphian fishermen ? And they, no doubt, will draw it out and save their lives.
Thetis. You say well. So let us do ; for neither must she herself perish, nor must the infant, seeing it is so bonny.
XIII.
ENIPEUS REPROACHES POSEIDON WITH THE FRAUDULENT SEDUCTION OF THE NYMPH TYRO. POSEIDON EXCUSES HIMSELF.
Poseidon and Enipeus. 2
Enipeus. This is no honourable conduct, Poseidon — for the truth shall be told. Having made yourself like me, you stealthily approached my mistress, and debauched the
1 Modern Serpho, a rocky island of the Greek Archipelago, some hun- dred miles from the head of the Gulf of Nauplia.
2 See Hyginus, Fab. Ix. ; 'Od. xi. 234-250 ; Strabo, viii. il Haud sane multum conqueritur de injuria sibi a Neptuno facta, videturque pudi-
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 79
girl, while she supposed she underwent this at my hands, and for that reason she yielded herself up.
Poseidon. Yes, for you were disdainful and dilatory — you who neglected so good-looking a girl (who paid you daily visits, dying for love) and took pleasure in causing her pain ; while she, wandering along your banks, and even entering your stream, and sometimes bathing, was dying to have your embrace: but you would give yourself airs towards her. 1
Enipeus. What then? Ought you, on that account, to have forestalled my love, passed yourself off as Enipeus in- stead of Poseidon, and cheated a simple-minded girl like Tyro?
Poseidon. It is now too late for you to be jealous, Enipeus, supercilious before. But as for Tyro, she has not suffered anything very dreadful, since she thinks that she has lost her virginity to you.
Enipeus. Not so, indeed ; for you declared, at your leaving her, you were Poseidon, a fact which grieves her above everything. And I have been injured in this — that you were then enjoying my privileges ; and, by raising a sort of dark wave all around, which concealed you together, you enjoyed the girl in my place.
Poseidon. Yes, for you, my friend Enipeus, had no desire to have her.
bunda virgo non nimis indigne tulisse personae mutat.ae fraudem," re- marks Hemsterhuis, in regard to the interview of Tyro's ghost with the son of Laertes in Hades.
1 He had some right to be supercilious —
" "Og 7ro\v KciXKiffTOQ 7rora/iwv im yalav iq<n." — 'Od. xi. 238.
80 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
XIV.
A TRITON RELATES TO THE NEREIDS THE STORY OF THE RESCUE OF ANDROMEDA BY PERSEUS.
Triton and Nereids. 1
Triton. That sea-monster 2 of yours, Nereids, which you sent against Andromeda, the daughter of Kepheus, did no harm to the girl, as you imagine, while itself has now perished. 3
Nereids. At whose hands, Triton ? Did Kepheus expose the girl as a bait, and rush upon and slay it, lying in ambush with a large force ?
Triton. Not so. But you, Iphianassa, know, I suppose, Perseus, Danae's baby, whom with his mother you saved out of pity, when she was cast into the sea in the chest by his maternal grandfather.
Iphianassa. I know whom you speak of, and likely enough he is now a young man, and very noble and handsome to look at.
Triton. He has killed the monster.
Iphianassa. Why, Triton ? Surely it did not become him to repay us such reward for saving him.
Triton. I will explain to you the whole matter as it hap-
1 Those who wish to learn the names of the Nereides, the charming divinities of the sea, will find them displayed by Hesiod, Qtoy. 240-261 j '1\. xviii. 38-50 ; Apollod. i. 26, and by Spenser, in the Faerie Queen, iv. 11. They presided over the Greek Sea, kut tZ,6xi]i', the Medi- terranean, at the bottom of which they dwelt in beautiful grottos and caves. Their number was limited to fifty. The most famous of them was the wife of Peleus and mother of Achilleus. Cf. the "orca marina " of the Orlando Furioso.
2 Kr^roc. In the Homeric epics vaguely used of any marine mam- malia. By Aristotle (Z. /.), and succeeding naturalists, applied to the whale and cetacca proper. Here it signifies some huge sea-monster, the prototype, probably, of the monster in Raffaelle's 4' St. Margaret."
3 For the story of the deliverance of Andromeda, the prototype of most of the " distressed damsels " of mediaeval and later romance, see Ov. Metam. iv. 10 ; Hyginus, Fab. lxiv. ; Apollod. ii. 3. For the celes- tial immortalization of the "starred ^Ethiop queen," see Aratus, ^aivopL. v. 10. Cf. Pindar, Ilv9., xii. One of the lost tragedies of Euripides was founded on this exposure of Andromeda.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 81
pened. He set out against the Gorgons to perform some arduous deed of that sort for the king ; * and, when he arrived in Libya
Iphianassa. In what fashion, Triton ? Alone, or did he take some others with him as auxiliaries ? He took com- panions, doubtless, for, otherwise, the road is difficult of passage.
Triton. Through the air : for Athena supplied him with wings. And when, accordingly, he came where they were living, they were asleep, I imagine ; and he cut off the head of Medusa, and took to his wings, and made off.
Iphimiassa. How did he get a look at her ? For they are not to be seen : or, whoever does have a look at them will never thereafter look at anything else.
Triton. Athena, by holding before him her shield — for I heard him afterwards telling Andromeda and Kepheus so — Athena, I say, upon her resplendent shield, as upon a mirror, allowed him to have a glimpse of the reflection from Medusa ; then, seizing her by the hair with his left hand, and fixing his eyes upon the reflection, he grasped his scimitar with his right, and cut off her head, and flew off before her sisters awoke. And when he had arrived in the neighbour- hood of the sea-coast of ^Ethiopia here, while now flying near to the earth, he sees Andromeda lying exposed upon a certain projecting rock, fast secured to it — a most beautiful object, ye gods ! with her tresses let down, half naked much below the breasts.' 2 In the first place, pitying her fate, he began questioning her as to the cause of her condemnation ; but, insensibly captured by passion — for the girl had to be saved — he resolved to bring aid to her. And, when the sea-monster rushed towards her, exceedingly terrible, as though about to swallow Andromeda whole, the youth sus-
1 Polydektes, the king of Seriphos, the island on which the outcasts had found refuge.
2 In this very favourite subject of modern art she is invariably repre- sented wholly nude. In Greek art she sometimes appears as here described. In the picture described by Philostratus, following Euri- pides, the chains which bind Andromeda are being unfastened by Eros. With the kTitoq of this romance compare the tremendous Dragon of the Golden Fleece, described by Apollonius, 'Apy. iv. 127-160, and the prodigious Serpent of the Thebais of Statius, which occupies an acre of ground.
G
82 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
pended above, in the air, his scimitar grasped by the hilt, with one hand aims his blows, and with the other displays the Gorgon's head in front of him, and turned the creature into stone ; and it died there and then, and the greater part of it, as much as looked upon Medusa, is petrified. 1 Then, unfastening the virgin's bonds, and giving her his hand, he supported her as she descended on tip-toe from the rock, which was smooth and slippery. And now he is celebrating his nuptials in the palace of Kepheus, and he will carry her off to Argos ; so that, instead of death, she has found a bridegroom one does not meet with every day.
Iphianassa. Well, for my part, I am not excessively grieved at the event : for how did the girl wrong us, if her mother did boast somewhat loudly on that occasion, and claim to be fairer than we ? 2
Doris. The girl ought to have perished notwithstanding, for so the mother would have suffered pain, on account of her daughter, if, at least, she is a true mother.
Iphianassa. Let us no longer, Doris, bear these wrongs in mind, though a female of barbaric birth talked somewhat in a style beyond her proper rank and situation ; 3 for, in having been frightened on account of her child, she has paid to us a sufficient penalty. Let us, therefore, rejoice at her wedding. 4
1 The bones of this bellua (as it is called by Ovid), as we are assured by the naturalist Pliny, were brought to Rome from the town of Joppa, on the Palestinian coast, the supposed scene of the tremendous combat, and were found to be forty feet in length, while the spine was a foot and a half in thickness. Hist. Nat. ix. 5. Pausanias (iv. 35), too, makes Joppa the scene of the memorable exposure and combat. He tells us that a spring close by was, in his time, still red with the blood of the monster. Cf. Solinus, xxxvi. As fur the rationalising False- phatus, he considers it absurd to believe in the exposure of girls to sea- monsters. The real monster he finds in a certain king named Keton.
2 " That starred iEthiop queen that strove To set her beauty's praise above
The sea-n} T mphs, and their Powers offended.
3 BapfSapor, usually translated " barbarian," properly denotes merely a non-Hellen, one not speaking the Hellenic language, ' ; a foreigner." The Greeks called all foreigners barbaroi; in particular, the highly- civilized Persians. Iphianassa, as a Greek divinity, naturally speaks as a Greek woman.
4 Tafxug. This term was especially applied to the wedding supper (for the feast always took place at night) which, with the Greeks, was the sole witness of the legal solemnization of the rite.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 83
XV.
ZEPHYRUS RELATES TO NOTUS THE MANNER OF THE RAPE OF EUROPA, AND THE MARINE POMP WITH WHICH SHE WAS CONDUCTED TO HER NUPTIALS WITH ZEUS.
Zephyrus and Notus.
Zephyrus. Never did I see a more magnificent Proces- sion on the sea, since I was born, and began to blow. But you — did you not see it, Notus ?
Notus. What is this Procession you talk of, Zephyrus, or who were the Processionists ?
Zepliyrus. You have missed a most delicious spectacle, the like of which you may never see again.
Notus. Yes, for I was employed in the neighbourhood of the Red Sea, and, indeed, I blow over part of India, as much of the country as stretches along the sea-coast. I know, therefore, nothing of what you speak of.
Zephyrus. But you know Agenor of Sidon ?
Notus. Yes, the father of Europa. 1 What then ?
Zepliyrus. It is about herself I will relate to you a story.
Notus. It is not, is it, that Zeus has been for a long time the girl's lover ? For that I knew quite a long while ago.
Zepliyrus. You are, then, aware of the amour. But listen now to the sequel. Europa had gone down to the shore in sportive mood, taking with her companions of her own
1 See Ov. Metam. ii. 14, iii. 1, and the charming Idyll of Moschus, entitled EvfxJj-n-T). Herodotus, at the beginning of his Histories, among the numerous rapes of European and Asiatic women perpetrated by the two races, one upon the other, which he assigns as the original cause of the enmity between them, recounts that of Europa, whom he alleges to have been carried off by Greek traders : a more probable explanation of a Greek myth than many of the solutions of the old historian — -xpoviun' o£wi> cat J3eKKe<T£\i]vog. Palaephatus, in his accustomed rationalising spirit, discredits the miracle. " I believe," he affirms, " that neither a bull nor a horse could swim so great a space of sea ; nor do I believe that a girl would mount a fierce bull ; and Zeus, if he wished to bring Europa to Krete, would have found for her a pleasanter way of travel- ling. The bull, in fact, he resolves into the less prodigious human ravisher, whose name he supposes to have been Tauros.
84 DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS.
age. And Zeus, making himself like a bull, began to sport with, them, seeming a very handsome creature, for he was perfectly white, and had beautifully crumpled horns, and was tame and quiet in look. He began, then, as he was, to frolic about upon the shore, and to bellow most sweetly ; so that Europa ventured even to mount him. And, as soon as this was done, Zeus started off with her at a running pace towards the sea ; and, plunging in, began to swim. But she, very much terrified at the occurrence, with her left hand kept clinging to his horn, that she might not slip off, while with the other she held together her long flowing dress, 1 blown about by the wind.
Notus. That was a charming spectacle, Zephyrus, you witnessed, and an amorous — Zeus swimming, carrying his beloved.
Zephyrus. Yet what followed was far more delightful, Notus. For the sea from that moment was without a ripple, and, attracting a perfect calm, showed itself smooth and unruffled. We, however, keeping quiet, followed, being no more than mere spectators of what was hap- pening : and the Loves, hovering a little above the sea, so as at times to graze the water with the tips of their feet, with lighted torches, sang together the hymeneal song : while the Nereids, emerging from the sea, rode by their side upon dolphins, clapping their hands, most of them half-naked. 2 Then, too, the whole tribe of Tritons, and whatever else of the sea-dwellers is not terrible to the sight — all led their dances round the girl. Poseidon, indeed, mounting upon his chariot, and with Amphitrite riding at his side, led the way with hilarity, clearing the way for his swimming brother. To crown all, two Tritons were bearing Aphrodite, who reclined upon a shell, and
1 The 7T£7rXoc was a full, flowing dress worn by Greek ladies. Cf. 'IX. v. 734 ; 'Otf. xviii. 292 ; Xen. Kvpoir. v. i. 6 ; Euripides, MrjS. 1160 (of the fatal peplos given to Glauke by Medea). The peplos worn by Athena, in the Panathenaic procession at Athens, is the most cele- brated example of it.
2 " ~iir]ptidee S'avtdvcrav viriZ, a\6g, al ffapa irauai KtjTeioig vutoioiv i<pi]fizvai iarixoHwu
- * * * rot d'afupl fiiv riytpzOovTO
TptVwrcc, ttovtoio fiapvQpooi avXriTripeg," xr.r.X.
Moschus, Evpu>7rr} — 114-120.
DIALOGUES OF THE SEA-GODS. 85
scattered all sorts of flowers before the bride. 1 This took place all the way from Phenicia as far as Krete. But, when he had set foot on the island, the bull was no longer to be seen. Then Zeus, taking her by the hand, conducted Europa to the cave of Dikte, blushing and with eyes cast down : for now she knew to what she was being led. And we, plunging in, set to work to put the sea in commotion, one in one part, and another in another.
Notus. fortunate Zephyrus, to have seen such a sight ! But I, for my part, had to satisfy my eyes with elephants, griffins, 2 and black men.
1 This graphic description of the nuptial procession of Europa and Zeus, a sort of description in which Luciau excels, it is highly probable, was suggested by some particular, celebrated, picture. One of the most famous modern paintings of this subject is that of Paolo Veronese, in the British National Gallery.
2 For this monster, so well known to the mediaeval world, cf. Upo/x. AttTfi. 284, where the oiiovbv is so interpreted by the scholia, &c. ; Herod, iii. 116 ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. viii. 21, x. 49 ; iElian, Ylepl Zuhop 'IhuT., iv. 27 ; Philost. 'AttoWivv. iii. 48. Plaut. Aid. v. i.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
I.
DIOGENES COMMISSIONS POLYDEUKES, ABOUT TO EETCRN TO THE UPPER WORLD, TO INFORM MENIPPUS OP THE ACTUAL CONDITION OP THINGS IN THE LAND OP SHADES, AND TO DELIVER ADMONITORY MESSAGES TO YARIOUS SORTS OP MEN
THE RICH, THE POWERFUL, THE PROUD; AND, FINALLY,
TO THE POOR, WHOM, WHEN THEY 'COMPLAIN OF THEIR LOT ON EARTH, HE IS TO CONSOLE BY REPRESENTING THE COMPLETE EQUALITY (iooriflia) WHICH PREVAILS IN THE REGIONS OP THE DEAD.
Diogenes and Polydeukes.
Diogenes. Polydeukes, I entrust to you the task, as soon as ever you reach the upper world — for it is your turn, 1 I believe, to return to life again to-morrow — if you any- where catch sight of Menippus, 2 the Dog (and you would
1 See O. A. xxvi.
2 Menippus, who figures so conspicuously in these Dialogues, was a countryman of Lucian, born at Gadara, in Hollow Syria, in the first century B.C. He belonged to the Cynic sect, and by his satirical wvitings is one of the most famous of that school : but his cynicism did not prevent him from making an extensive fortune in trade as a banker, which he lost by the bad faith of a trusted friend. He then put an end to his life. His Satires are known to us only through the fragments of the Satur<e Menippece of Varro (his contemporary), the learned Latin antiquarian : one of the best of which is the Prometheus Liber. Cicero (Qucest. Academ.) alludes to the Menippean Satires as displaying pro- found philosophy as well as wit. Marcus Aurelius (Ta tig 'Eavrov) especially mentions him as a distinguished mocker of human life (xXevatTrZ/c). The predecessors of Menippus, in this line, were Demo- kritus of Abdera (Ta 7rtpi tCjv tv 'ASov), and one or two other less- known names. One of the most interesting of the Lucianic Dialogues, which is a sort of epitome of the Dialogues of the Dead, and \\ hich might well have given Dante hints for his Inferno, derives its title from
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 87
probably find him at Korinth, near the Kraneium, or in the Lyceium, 1 deriding the philosophers as they quarrel one with another), to say to him : " Diogenes bids you, Me- nippus, if things above ground have been sufficiently ridiculed by you, to come hither, to laugh at many more matters. For there your laughter was yet questionable, and frequent was the objection? but who knows altogether what is to come after life ? But here you will not cease laughing on firm grounds, as I do now, and most of all when you see the rich, and viceroys, and princes to be so humble and obscure, and distinguishable by their lamentations alone, and that they are soft-hearted and mean-spirited, recollect- ing their life above." This tell him, and, further, to come with his scrip filled with a quantity of lupines ; and, if he any- where find on the cross-roads a supper for Hekate set out, or a purificatory egg, 3 or anything of the sort, let him bring it.
Polydeukes. Well, I will give this message, Diogenes. But describe him, that I may know quite certainly what manner of man he is as to looks.
Diogenes. An old fellow, bald, with a little old cloak,* with many a hole in it, exposed to every wind of heaven, and variegated with rags and tatters ; 3 and he is for ever laughing, and, for the most part, jeers at those loud- talking philosophers.
Polydeukes. It will be easy to find him by those tokens, at all events.
the Cynic of Gadara — MtvlinroQ 7) "SsKvofiavreia. Kvwv, "the Dog," is frequently used by Lucian for the adjective kvvikoc. Cf. Aic Karrjyopov- fiei'oc, 33. The Homeric picture of Hades (Od. xi.) is an especial object of ridicule throughout these Dialogues.
1 The places especially frequented by Diogenes of Sinope, the famous Cynic. The Kraneium, where he died, was a cypress grove in the suburbs of Korinth. The Lyceium was the Gymnasium, on the S.E. of Athens, celebrated as the scene of the teaching of Aristotle.
a Jacobitz translates icai ttoXv to, "es kam dir haufig der Gedanke bei," and cites 'AXe^dvdpog, 20.
3 It was a common custom with the rich to propitiate the all-powerful and dreaded divinity of the Night, at the end of each month, with certain dishes from their kitchens, and other offerings, consisting, according to the barbarous melange of the sacrificial ritual, of black lambs, and dogs. These highway sacrifices were in high repute and request with the starving poor, who seldom failed to act as the priests of the triune Goddess. Cf. Aristoph. UXovtoq, 595-7 ; Mart. Ep. vii. 53 ; Petron. Satyr; Plut. Ivfnr. vii. 6; Lucian, N. A. xxii. ; K«ra7r\. 7.
88 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
Diogenes. Are you willing that I give you some commis- sion with respect to those philosophers themselves ?
Polydeukes. Speak : for that will not be any trouble either.
Diogenes. In a word, then, exhort them to cease their trifling nonsense, and quarrelling about the nature of the universe, and generating "horns" for each other, and making " crocodiles," ' and teaching the young to engage in such futile rubbish.
Polydeukes. But they will say that I am an ignorant and uneducated fellow to denounce their philosophy.
Diogenes. Do you, however, bid them from me to go and howl with a plague to them.
Polydeukes. This message, too, I will give them, Diogenes.
Diogenes. And to the rich, my dearest pet of a Pol}'- deukes, convey this message from me : " Why, fools, do you guard your gold so religiously ; and why do you punish yourselves, calculating the interest of your money, and heaping talents upon talents, who must shortly come hither with only a single obolus ? " 2
For the purificatory egg with which the goddess Isis, or her priests, was propitiated, see Juv. Sat. vi. 518 ; and for the Larvae and Lemures, see Persius Sat. v. 185 ; Ov. Be Arte Am. ii. 330. See, also, Ov. Fast. v. 1. etc., and Suidas.
4 The rpifiwviov was a specially distinctive mark of the followers of Antisthenes and Diogenes, and frequently figures inLucian's ridicule of their extravagances.
5 Talc ETrnrrvxalg k. r. X. is translated by Jacobitz, " mit Lappen von alien mbglichem Farben geflickt." See Heliodorus, AiQiott. vi.
1 KtfjciTa — KpoKodeiXovg. Technical names in the absurd Syllogisms of the school of Zeno and Chrysippus. The syllogism of the " horns " was thus framed : " What you have not lost, you have : You have not lost horns : Therefore you have horns." From this has been supposed (but, probably, without reason) to be derived the proverb of reproach — " to wear the horns." As for the syllogism of the " crocodile," it derived its name from the following illustration : — A crocodile seizes a child on the banks of a river, and promises to restore it to the father if he can tell truly whether the child will be given back or no. How completely the father was placed on the horns of a dilemma needs no demonstration. The illustration is given by Lucian, in his ridicule of the Stoic logic in the Sale of Lives. Cf. Quintilian, Inst. i. 10, on the ceratinas et crocodilinas ambiguizates, Diog. Laert. Lucian, 'EpjioT. 81.
2 The obolus, a coin, which in most of the Greek States had the value of twopence in English money, was always most religiously placed in
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 89
Polydeukes. This, too, shall be told to them.
Diogenes. Yes, and say to the handsome and the strong, to Megillus of Corinth and Damoxenus the Wrestler, 1 that with ns there is neither auburn hair, nor bright nor black eyes, nor a blush upon the cheek any longer, nor well- strung nerves, nor strong shoulders : but all is for us, as they say, " one and the same dust " 2 — skulls bare of all beauty.
"Polydeukes. It will be no trouble either to say this to the handsome and strong.
Diogenes. And to the poor, Mr. Laconian 3 — and they are numerous enough, grieving at their lot, and bewailing their destitution — say that they are not to weep or lament ; explain to them the perfect equality here ; and that they will see those who are rich there (in the upper world) in no way better off than themselves. And your Lacede- monians reprove from me for this, if you like — telling them that they have become remiss and degenerate.
Polydeukes. Not a word, Diogenes, about the Lacede- monians, for I certainly will not tolerate it. But as to what you were saying in regard to the rest, I will deliver your messages.
Diogenes. Let us leave them alone, since such is your pleasure : do you, however, convey from me my words to those whom I before mentioned.
the mouth of the dead, as a viaticum, in payment to the ferryman of the Styx and the other infernal rivers. See especially Lucian's Xapwv. The raXavTov, of Attica, was worth, nearty, ,£244. Cf. Juv. Sat. iii. 267. ' The handsome Megillus figures in Charon's boat. KarairK. 22 ; Damoxenus in Pausanias as a famous Syracusan athlete, vii.
2 One reading has /xi'a Mvkovoq m one Myconos," an island of the Cyclades, famous for the number of its bald-headed inhabitants. See Plat. 'S.vfnr. i. ; Clemens Alexand. 2rpo;/i. i. Terent. Hecyra. iii. 4 ; Plin. Hist. Nat. x. 37 ; Strabo, Tewy. x. ; Erasmus, Aclagia. Lucian had in mind especially the a/AEvi]va Kapi]va, with the sight of which Odysseus was so abundantly favoured on his visit to Hades, 'OS. xi.
3 Polydeukes was one of the twin-children of Leda, wife of Ty ndarus, King of Sparta. See 9. A. xxvi.
90 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
II.
KR(ESUS, MIDAS, AND SARDANAPALUS COMPLAIN TO PLUTO OP MENIPPUS THAT HE DERIDES THEM FOR THEIR LAMENTATIONS OYER THE LOSS OF THE POWER, WEALTH, AND LUXURY WHICH
BELONGED TO THEM ON EARTH. MENIPPUS, IN SPITE OF
PLUTO'S REMONSTRANCES, PERSISTS IN HIS RIDICULE.
Kroesus, Pluto, Midas, Sardanapalus, and Menippus.
Krcesus {pointing at Menippus). We can't endure, Pluto, this dog here, Menippus, dwelling near us. So either establish him somewhere else, or we shall change our habitation to another spot.
Pluto. But what harm does he do you, seeing he is your fellow-ghost ?
Kroesus. Whenever we groan and lament, remembering our possessions above — Midas here, his gold coin, and Sardanapalus his abundant luxury, and I, Krcesus, my treasures — he laughs at and upbraids us, calling us names — "slaves " and " castaways " ; ' and sometimes he disturbs our lamentations by singing, too ; and, in a word, he is a nuisance to us.
Pluto. What is this they say, Menippus ?
Menippus. Quite true, Pluto : for I hate them for vile and pestiferous fellows, for whom it was not enough to live badly, but who, even when dead, still remember and cling to their earthly possessions. I find pleasure, there- fore, in vexing them.
Pluto. But it is not right ; for they are no small things they mourn the loss of.
Menippus. Are you, too, for playing the fool, Pluto, and casting in your vote with these whining fellows ?
1 KaQapnara, in the first instance, " offscouring," " the refuse of a sacrifice.*' Used at Athens, in special sense, for certain real or pretended criminals, who on the occasion of some national calamity were, like the scape-goats of the Jews, employed as propitiatory sacrifices, and thrown into the sea. Cf. Aristoph. 'IIX. 454. S. Paul, 1 Cor. iv. 13.
2 For dXeOplovc, the common reading, Jacobitz has oXWpovQ. Cf. : " Destroyers rightlier called, and plagues of men," Par. Lost, xi.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 91
Pluto. Not at all : but I would not have you up in arms.
[exit.
Menippus (shaking his fist). None the less, basest of Lydians, Phrygians, and Assyrians, be well assured of this — that 1 will never leave off : for, wherever you may go, I will follow, annoying you, and singing to the tune of your wailing, and ridiculing you.
Krcesus. Is this not insolence ?
Menippus. No, but that was insolence of which you were guilty — in requiring worship, and in mocking at and in- sulting freemen, without having any thought of the leveller death at all. Therefore, bitterly shall you bewail the loss of all these things.
Krcesus. Yes, heavens, of many and great possessions !
Midas. Of how much gold I !
Sardanapalus. Of how much luxury I !
Menippus. Well done ! So do. " You, for your part, lament and weep, and I will accompany you, and occasion- ally join in with the refrain, " Know thyself " : l for it would be quite a suitable accompaniment to such howling.
1 The famous apophthegm, yvioQi aeavTov, has been attributed to various Greek celebrities — Thales, Pythagoras, Sokrates, and others : but it is generally conceded to Chilon, of Sparta, one of the " seven sages," who lived in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. See Diog. Laert. II«|Oj BiiDv, &c. i. ; the Platonic Dialogue, 'AXicifiiaStig, i. (from which it appears that the words were inscribed on the entrance to the temple at Delphi) ; Juv. Sat. xi. 27. Menander, the first of the New Comedy dramatists, parodies this well-worn adage, and holds that < : Know others" might be more useful — xP r l (Tl ^ Te P 0V 7"P V v T0 TvojQi tovq SXKovq. For Krcesus, see Herod, i. For some instances of the luxury of Sardanapalus, consult Athenseus, xii. 38, 39.
92 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
III.
MENIPPUS RIDICULES THE ORACLES OP TROPHONIUS AND AMPHILOCHUS.
Menippus, Amphilochus, and Trophonius. 1
Menippus. So then, you two, Trophonius and Amphi- lochus, dead men though you are, for some reason or other have been thought worthy of temples, and have the repu- tation of prophets ; and the foolish triflers of men have supposed you to be divine.
Amphilochus. Why, pray, are we to blame, if they, in their folly, will have such opinions about dead people ?
^[enippus. But they would not be holding such opinions, unless, while you were living, you had indulged in such juggling tricks, as though you foreknew the future, and were able to foretell it to those who inquired of you.
Trophonius. Menippus, Amphilochus himself must know what answer he is to give respecting himself : but I, for my part, am a hero, and deliver prophecies, whenever any one comes down to visit me. But you appear never to
1 Amphilochus, with his equally prophetic father, enjoyed great re- putation for oracular power. While on earth, they had taken part in the celebrated War of the Epigoni (or " Descendants " of the Seven against Thebes) upon the city of OEdipus. Amphilochus, the murderer of his mother, had shrines at Athens, at Oropus on the confines of Attica and Boeotia, and at Mallus in Cilicia. The Oracle of Amphi- araus was situated near Thebes, at the spot where he had been swallowed up with his chariot, in his flight from the battle before that city. For the still more renowned Oracle and Cavern of Trophonius (who while in the flesh had enjoyed the reputation of an expert thief) at Lebadeia in Boeotia, see Aristoph. "Seep. 507 ; Diod. B. I.xv. ; Philost. A. T. viii. 19 ; Maximus Tyrius (Ai'aX. xxvi.) ; Origen in Celsus (Aoyoc A\q#?)c); Lucian, 'AA^avfyoc, 29. The Comic poets (Kratinus and Alexis) had not neglected so promising a subject. Fausanias, ix. 39. Pausanias gives a rather particular account of the Cavern and its pre- ternatural terrors, of which he had himself been witness. Plutarch is said to have left a treatise on the subject, which, very unhappily, has not survived.
DIALOGUES OP THE DEAD. 93
have stayed at Lebadeia at all ; for otherwise you would not refuse credence to these things.
Menippus. What do you say ? Unless I had gone to Lebadeia, and dressed myself ridiculously in those fine linen robes, and carried a barley-cake in my hands, and had crawled through the mouth, which is low enough in the roof, into the Cavern, I could not know that you are a dead man, as we are, superior only by your juggling faculty ? But, in the name of the prophetic art, what, pray, is a " hero " ? for I don't know.
Trophonius. A sort of compound of man and God.
Menippus. Which (as you say) is neither man nor god, but both together ? Where, then, has that half of you, the divine part, now gone off to ?
Trophonius. It is delivering oracles in Boeotia, Menippus.
Menippus. I don't know, my friend Trophonius, what you are talking about, indeed. That, however, you are wholly a dead man, I see distinctly enough.
IV.
HERMES DEMANDS FROM CHARON ARREARS OF PAYMENT DUE TO HIM FOR HIS SERVICES ON THE STYX. CHARON EXCUSES HIMSELF ON THE PLEA OF BAD TIMES ; NO GREAT WAR OR FAMINE, AS IT HAPPENED, RAVAGING THE EARTH AT THAT MOMENT. HERMES MORALISES ON THE CAUSES OF DEATH, DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF OLD, WHICH DESPATCH MEN IN CROWDS TO HADES.
Hermes and Charon.
Hermes. Let us reckon up, Mr. Ferryman, if you please, how much you now owe me, so that we may not hereafter quarrel at all about it.
Charon. Let us do so, Hermes ; for it is better to come to a definite understanding about it between ourselves, and less likely to cause trouble ! x
1 Or, as Wieland translates, " wir haben gleich eine Sorge weniger."
94 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
Hermes. I procured to your order an anchor at five drachmae. 1
Charon. A high price !
Hermes. By Pluto, I purchased them at the full sum of the five pieces, and a leathern thong for the oar for two oboli.
Charon. Set down five drachmas and two oboli.
Hermes. And a darning-needle for mending the sail. Five oboli I paid down for that.
Charon. Set down those, too.
Hermes. And bees '-wax to fill up the chinks in our little craft, and nails, too, and a small rope, of which you made the brace — two drachmae in all.
Charon. And you made a good bargain there.
Hermes. That is the whole sum, unless something else has altogether escaped me in the reckoning. And when, then, do you say that you will repay me this ?
Charon. Just now, my dear Hermes, it is quite impos- sible. But if some pestilence or war should send us down some shoals of men, it will then be in my power to make profits by cooking the accounts of the fares. 2
Hermes. Am I, then, now to take my seat, praying for the worst to happen, with the mere chance that I may get something from it ?
Charon. There is nothing for you, otherwise, Hermes. Just now, as you see, few come to us : for peace prevails. 3
Hermes. Better so, even though payment of your debt due to me must be postponed by you. But, however, the men of former times, Charon — you know in what sort they used to come to us, nearly all of them, covered all over with blood, and riddled with wounds, the majority of them. But, nowadays, it is either some one who has died by poison at the hands of his son or of his wife ; or who is swollen out in his stomach and legs by gluttony — pallid and paltry — not at all like their predecessors. The most
1 The drachma, the principal silver coin with the Greeks, was, at Athens, nearly equal to the French franc — 9|c?.
2 For iEakus, the infernal judge, to whom Charon was bound to present his accounts. Cf. Aristoph. Barp. 465, k. t.\. ; Juv. Sat. i. 10.
3 It will be remembered that these Dialogues were composed during the (eoirparatively) peaceful reigns of the Antonines.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 95
of them come here, by plotting one against the other for the sake of money, to judge by their appearance.
Charon. Yes, for that is an article exceedingly much loved.
Hermes. Then, surely, neither could I be thought to be wrong in so keenly demanding payment of your debt.
V.
PLUTO DIRECTS HERMES TO BRING HIM THE FORTUNE AND LEGACY-HUNTERS AND FLATTERERS OF A CERTAIN RICH MAN, AND TO SUFFER THE LATTER TO OUTLIYE HIS FAWNING SATELLITES. 1
Pluto and Hermes.
Pluto. You know that old man, I mean the very aged and infirm fellow, the rich Eukrates, who has no children, but fifty thousand legacy-hunters ?
Hermes. Yes, you speak of the Sikyonian. What then ?
Pluto. Well, let him live on, Hermes ; to the ninety years he has already reached dealing out so many again, and, if, at least, it were possible, even yet more. But as for those fawning flatterers of his, the young Charinus, and Damon, and the rest, drag them all down here, one after the other, the whole lot of them.
Hermes. Such a proceeding would appear strange.
Pluto. Not at all, but exceedingly just. For what wrong have they suffered that they pray for his death, or, although no way related, why, do they lay claim to his money? But what of all things is most abominable is, that though they entertain such wishes, they yet court and fawn upon him
1 In this and the two Dialogues following, Lucian satirizes a highly- successful and lucrative profession in the Roman world of his time, as well as in the earlier age of Juvenal and Martial. Not unknown among the Greeks (in the New Comedy it occupies a conspicuous place), it flourished to a much greater extent with their (political) masters, the still more corrupt and luxurious Romans. Cf. Plant. Miles Glor. iii. 709-715; Hor. Sat. ii. 5 ; Juv. Sat. i. and xii. ; Mart. Epigrammata ; Lucian, passim.
96 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
in public ; and, when he is ill, their designs are very- evident to all ; but, all the same, they engage to offer a sacrifice if he should get better ; and, altogether, the fawning of these gentlemen is of a somewhat subtle and complicated character. So let the one remain untouched by death, and let the others go off before him, while vainly gaping in affected admiration.
Hermes. They will suffer a ridiculous fate, rascals that they are. But he, indeed, charmingly cheats and buoys them up with vain hopes exceedingly ; and, in a word, while always appearing like a corpse, he has far more strength than the young men. They, however, already have divided out the legacy among themselves, and are living upon it, promising to themselves a happy time of it.
Pluto. Therefore, let him put off his old age and renew his youth like Iolaus ; l but as for them, in the midst of their hopes, leaving behind them the wealth they have been dreaming of, let them come here this moment, miser- able wretches dying miserably.
Hermes. Have no anxiety, Pluto ; for I will go after them for you at once, one by one in their order. There are seven of them, I believe.
Pluto. Drag them down. The old fellow shall follow each of them to the tomb, while he himself, from being aged, shall again be in the prime of youth.
1 The nephew and squire of Herakles, whose youth was renewed by Hebe. See Ov. Metam. ix. 394 — 401. Herakles sent him into Sardinia, and Iolaus, introducing civilisation to the inhabitants, was afterwards worshipped by them as a principal divinity.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 97
VI
TERPSION, A LEGACY-HUNTER, ACCUSES PLUTO AND THE FATES IN THAT, ALTHOUGH ONLY THIRTY YEARS OF AGE, THEY HAD CAUSED HIM TO PREDECEASE THE OBJECT OF HIS TENDER REGARDS, THE MILLIONAIRE NONAGENARIAN, THUKRITUS. PLUTO CONVINCES TERPSION OF THE INJUSTICE OF HIS ACCU- SATION ; AND THE LEGACY-HUNTER CONSOLES HIMSELF IN THE PROSPECT OF BEING SOON JOINED IN HADES BY HIS LATE RIVALS ON EARTH.
Terpsion and Pluto.
Terpsion. Is this just, Pluto, that I have died at the age of thirty years, while the old Thukritus, above his full tale of ninety, lives on ?
Pluto. Very just, certainly, Terpsion, since he does not pass his life praying for the death of any of his friends, while you the whole time were plotting against him, and expecting his legacy.
Terpsion. Why, was it not fitting, old as he was, and no longer capable of using' his wealth, he had departed from life and made way for the young ?
Pluto. You lay down new and strange laws, Terpsion — that a man, who is no longer able to enjoy his money, should die ! But Fate and Nature have ordered it differ- ently. 1
Terpsion. Then I blame them for that arrangement of theirs ; for the business should have proceeded in some sort of order — the older should go first, and after him the next in age — and by no means have been reversed ; nor should the man laden with years, with only three teeth still left in his head, seeing with difficulty, crouching and leaning upon the shoulders of four domestics, his nose stuffed with phlegm and his eyes with rheum, with no further perception of anything pleasing, a sort of living tomb, derided by the
1 Compare the scene in the opening of the Alkestis of Euripides, where an animated altercation is represented between Apollo and Thanatos, the latter claiming the young as his especial prey and privilege.
H
98
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young, remain alive, while the handsomest and most robust youths die off: for that is a case of the "streams flowing backward " ; l or, in the last resort, people ought to know when each particular old gentleman will certainly be on the point of going off, so that they would not fawn upon any of them to no purpose. Now, however, is the proverb verified, " the wagon drags the ox." 2
Pluto. These things, Terpsion, are much more reason- able than they seem to you to be. And you — what pos- sesses you that you gape with open mouth after other people's possessions, and thrust and force yourselves upon childless old fellows ? Thus it is you incur ridicule, when you are laid under ground before them ; and the matter affords the greatest delight to most people, for, in pro- portion as you pray for their deaths is it a pleasure to all that you predecease them. Why, this is some new and strange art you have devised — to make love to old men and old women, most especially if they have no children ; while those who are blessed with progeny have no lovers, as far as you are concerned. However, already many of the objects of your affection, understanding the rascality of your attach- ment, if they have children, pretend to hate them, so that they too may possess lovers ; accordingly, they who long danced attendance, like a number of satellites, are excluded in the wills ; while the child and Nature, as is just, possess everything, and these gentlemen grind their teeth at having been finely cheated.
Terpsion. True. Yet how many things of mine Thu- kritus devoured, while always seeming to be just at the last gasp, and (whenever I came into his house) groaning
1 v Avo* yap iroTdfiiov. A Greek proverb, irayai being understood. The full expression is found in the Medeia of Euripides : —
"Avid Tvora\iix)V lepuJv \u)pov(Ti irayaL
" The springs of the rivers flow up " (i.e., in the contrary direction to their natural course). Cf. Lucian, Uepi rwv tin Mht9$ ILvvovtwv ; Ov. Tristia, ii. 8.
2 'H dfia^a rbvfiovv. Sup. tKtftkpn or sKkh. Erasmus, Adagia, explains this Greek Sprichtwort of the wagon dragging the ox backwards down a steep hill; but, as Hemsterhuis remarks, that great glory of his country is not always successful in adagiis explica?idis.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 99
and croaking, in a manner, in the very depths of his chest, for all the world like some unformed chicken from an
_: ; so that I, imagining him to be almost at the next moment ready to embark upon his bier, would send him a number of things, that my rivals in affection might not surpass me in the magnitude of their gifts. And often, kept awake by my anxious cares, I lay counting and settling each particular item. This, in fact, has been the cause of my death — sleeplessness and anxieties ; while he, after having swallowed so large an amount of my bait, stood by as I was being buried the day before yesterday, laughing over me.
Pluto. Well done, Thukritus ; may you live to the longest possible period, at once rich and having the laugh against such gentlemen ; and may you not die before, at least, you have dispatched all your fawning flatterers before you.
Terpsion. This, Pluto, to me, too, would be exceedingly delightful now — if Charceades, in fact, shall be going to his grave this instant before Thukritus.
Pluto. Keep up your spirits, Terpsion, for both Pheidon and Melanthus, 1 and, in fine, all of them, will precede him, brought here by the same cares.
Terpsion. That has my full approbation. Long life to you, Thukritus !
VII.
ZENOPHANTES AND KALLIDEMIDES, TWO PARASITES, BEWAIL ONE TO THE OTHER THEIR FATES, IN HAVING BEEN IN THE MIDST OF THEIR SCHEMING UNEXPECTEDLY DISMISSED TO HADES. KALLIDEMIDES, IN PARTICULAR, RECOUNTS THE PLEASANT MANNER IN WHICH HE BROUGHT ABOUT HIS OWN DEATH.
Zenophantes and Kallidemides.
Zenophantes. And you, Kallidemides, how did you come
1 If these are not the names of contemporaries of Lucian, they may fee derived from the characters of the New Comedy.
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by your death ? For my part, you know that I, who was Deinias's parasite, was choked by gorging inordinately : for yon were present at my death.
Kallidemides. I was so, Zenophantes. But my fate was a strange and nnusual sort of one. You knew surely something of Ptoeodorus, the old gentleman ?
Zenophantes. The childless millionaire, with whom I knew you as chiefly familiar ?
Kallidemides. That's the very man I was always courting, who promised that he would speedily depart this life for my special benefit. When, however, the business was being protracted to an unconscionable length, and the old fellow was extending his life beyond the age of Tithonus x himself, I devised an expeditious sort of road to the inheritance. Purchasing a poison, I induced his butler, as soon as ever Ptoeodorus asked to drink — and he drinks pretty hard — to put it in his cup and have it ready to give to him ; and, if he would do so, I pledged myself by oath to give him his freedom.
Zenophantes. What happened then ? For you seem to be going to tell some very strange story.
Kallidemides. Well, when we had come from the bath, the lad with the two cups all ready, the one having the poison for Ptoeodorus, and the other for me — by some blunder gave me the poison, and Ptoeodorus the unpoisoned goblet. Accordingly he drank his harmlessly, while in a moment I lay an outstretched corpse, substituted in his place. — Why do you laugh at this, Zenophantes ? Surely it does not beseem you to mock at a gentleman and a friend.
Zenophantes (laughing immoderately}. Why, my friend Kallidemides, you experienced a comical sort of fate. But the old gentleman, what did he at this?
Kallidemides. At first he was somewhat disturbed at the
1 A Greek proverb analogous to our " as old as Methuselah," with the added notion of extreme decrepitude — a sort of Struldbrug. Titho- nus (a Trojan prince, the brother of Priam), beloved by Eos, by her intercession was privileged to be immortal ; but the Goddess of the Morning had omitted to demand from Zeus for her lover perpetual youth. At his earnest prayer, he was metamorphosed into a grasshopper. See Hor. Car. ii. 1 6, and Erasmus, Adagia. Athenaeus (xii. 72) recounts a much less poetical history of the beloved of Aurora, the termination of which, unhappily, is lost.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 101
sndden event ; afterwards, understanding, I suppose, what had happened, he began to laugh himself, too, how the butler had served me.
Zenopliantes. But, however, you should never have had recourse to the short cut, for it would have come to you more safely by the high-road, even if a little more slowly.
VIII.
KNEMON, A LEGACY-HUNTER, LAMENTS TO HIS NEIGHBOUR DAMNIPPUS, THAT, WHEREAS HE HAD PUBLICLY, IX HIS WILL, BEQUEATHED ALL HIS WEALTH TO THE MILLIOXAIRE HERMOLAUS, IX THE EXPECTATIOX THAT THE LATTER WOULD RECIPROCATE THE BEXEFIT, HE, THE SPECULATING TESTATOR, BY HIS SUDDEN DEATH, HAD BEEN FRUSTRATED OF ALL HIS HOPES, AND, BESIDES, HAD LEFT HIS FAMILY DESTITUTE.
Knemon and Damnippus.
Knemon. Here is that saying of the proverb come true — " the fawn slays the lion." x
Damnippus. What are you so angry and indignant about, Knemon ?
Knemon. Do you ask what I am indignant about ? Miserably tricked, I have left an heir behind me, against my intention, and have passed over those whom most of all I should have wished to have my property.
Damnippus. How did that happen ?
Knemon. I was in the habit of courting; and flatterinsf Hermolaus, the millionaire, who was childless, in the ex- pectation of his dying before me; and he admitted my courtship with no unpleasurable feeling. It appeared to me, in fact, to be a clever device, that of registering my
1 'O vsjSpug tov Xiovra (sup. a'ipti). A Greek adage implying the •occurrence of the unexpected — like the French proverb, " C'est Fimpos- sible qui toujours arrive." Hemsterhuis traces it, through Plato, to Kritias. Cf. for other Greek proverbs, 'AXuvq. 9 ; TLtpi rJJy kiri MtcQy
~2.VVOVTWV.
102 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
will in public, in which I have left him all my wealth, so that he might emulate my example and do the same.
Damnipjpus. What then, pray, did he ?
Knemon. What he wrote in his own will I know not. I r however, died suddenly, by the fall of the roof of my house upon me ; and now Hermolaus holds my property like some sea-wolf, 1 and has snatched away, too, the hook with the bait.
Damnippus. Not only so, but also yourself, the fisherman. So that you have devised your trick against yourself.
Knemon. I seem like it. On this account it is I am groaning and wailing.
IX.
POLYSTRATUS, A CENTENARIAN PLUTOCRAT, UPON ARRIVING IN HADES, NARRATES TO HIS FRIEND SIMYLUS HOW, BT REASON .OF HIS GREAT WEALTH, HE HAD ENJOYED THE ADULATION OF THE WORLD AND AN ABUNDANCE OF GIFTS FROM SPECULATING FLATTERERS, AND HOW HE HAD DISAPPOINTED THEM ALL BY HIS WILL.
Simijlus and Polystratus.
Simylus. Are you come to us at length, friend Poly- stratus, even you, after a life, I believe, not far short of the full century ?
Polystratus. Ninety and eight years, Simylus.
Simylus. In what manner, pray, did you live the thirty years after me ? For I died about the seventieth year of your existence.
Polystratus. Exceedingly pleasantly, however strange and paradoxical that shall seem to you.
Simylus. Paradoxical and strange indeed, that you, aged
1 Adf3pat, (glutton). A species of fish-cormorant, but what exactly it represents in modern ichthyology is not clear. It was a common synonym with the Greek comic poets for a parasite and a glutton. See Athemeus, passim. The French equivalent is loup de mer.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 103
and feeble, and childless into the bargain, were able to find pleasure in life.
Polystratus. In the first place, I enjoyed universal power ; besides, I had many and handsome slave-boys, and very elegant women, and unguents, and fragrant wine, and a more than Sicilian table. 1
Simylus. Strange news to me this, for I used to think you exceedingly parcimonious.
Polystratus. Yes, but, my good friend, the good things literally used to flow in upon me from the hands of others ; and from early morning they would come straight to my doors in shoals, and afterwards all sorts of presents were brought to me from every corner of the earth, the most beautiful conceivable.
Simylus. Did you become an autocrat after my death, Polystratus ?
Polystratus. No, but I had ten thousand lovers.
Simylus (holding his sides). I couldn't help laughing. You lovers, at your age, with four teeth in your head !
Polystratus. Yes, by heavens ! the noblest in the State. Even old as I was, and without a hair on my head, as you see, and blear-eyed into the bargain, and my nose stuffed with phlegm, they were beyond measure delighted to fawn upon me ; and happy was he among them, whomsoever I merely looked at even.
Simylus. You did not, too, did you, like the Phaon 2 of the story, carry some Aphrodite over in your boat from Chios ; and then she did not grant to your prayers to be young and handsome over again, and a suitable object of love ?
Polystratus. No ; but I was the object of their eager desire, just such as I am.
Simylus. You speak in riddles.
Polystratus. And yet this affection I speak of, with its
1 Proverbial expression for " sumptuous gluttonies " (in Milton's phrase). Cf. Plato, TloXir. iii. ; Hor. iii. 1 ; Macrobius, Saturnalia, vii. 5.
2 Phaon, an old and ugly boatman of Mytilene, in the island of Lesbos, was metamorphosed into a young and handsome youth by Aphrodite for having ruwed her on one occasion over the sea, without exacting his fare. His best title to immortality, however, is the love of Sappho. See Athenseus (xiii. 70), who alleges another Sappho ; Julian, I. IT. xii. 18. ; Ov. Sappho Pkaoni.
104 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
extravagant display in regard to childless and wealthy old gentlemen, is, surely, plain enough in its origin.
Simylus. Now I understand all about your charming face, admirable Sir ! that it was from the golden Aphrodite. 1
Polystratus. However, my dear Simylus, I obtained not a few enjoyments from my lovers, and was all but wor- shipped by them, and I often behaved insolently to them, and closed my doors against some of them at times ; but they would contend with eager emulation, and surpass one the other in their lavish expense and delicate attentions to me.
Simylus. And, at last, pray, how did you devise in regard to your possessions ?
Polystratus. In public I was accustomed to declare that I had left each one of them my heir ; and he believed it and equipped himself with more wheedling flattery than ever ; but, all the time, I held in my possession the other my real will, and left it behind me, with an injunction to one and all of them to go to the devil.
Simylus. And whom did your last will contain as your heir ? Some one of your own family, I presume ?
Polystratus. By heaven, no, but a certain recently-pur- chased handsome boy, a Phrygian.
Siinylus. About how old, friend Polystratus ?
Polystratus. Somewhere about the age of twenty.
Simylus. Now I understand what favours lie conferred upon you.
Polystratus. But, however, he was much more worthy to be my heir than they, even though he was a foreigner and a plague ; whom even the great people themselves are already courting. He, then, was my heir, and now he is received among the nobles of the land (shaved though his chin was, 2 and though he did not know a word of Greek), and is proclaimed to be more nobly born than Kodrus, handsomer than Nireus, and more prudent than Odysseus. 3
1 Xpu<r//c ' k<ppo^'iTt]Q. An allusion to the well-known Homeric ascrip- tion— 'l\. iii. 64 ; 'OS. viii. 337. Cf. JEn. x. 16—" Venus Aurea.*'
2 In the original, virE^vprju'ivoQ, lit. " partly shaved." Slaves usually were made to wear the hair of the head closely cropped. Favourite slaves, ministerio infajni, were shaved on their cheeks and chin. Cf. T«>wi/, 22.
3 Kodrus, according to legendary Greek History, was the last king
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 105
Simj/lus. I don't care about that. Let him even be Generalissimo of Hellas, if they please ; but only don't let them get his legacy.
X.
AN ALARMING NUMBER OF GHOSTS CROWD TO THE STYX. CHARON, FEARING FOR HIS BOAT, DIRECTS HERMES TO SEE THAT THEY WERE ENTIRELY STRIPPED OF THEIR VARIOUS INSIGNIA OF POWER, RANK, WEALTH, AND THE WEIGHTY LOAD OF VICES, BEFORE THEY ARE ADMITTED ON BOARD. MENIPPUS, WHO IS ONE OF THE PASSENGERS, AVAILS HIMSELF OF THE OPPORTUNITY FOR RIDICULING AND RAILING AT THE BEWAILING GHOSTS.
Charon, Hermes, and a number of Dead Men.
Charon. Just hear a moment how matters stand with us. Our little craft, as you observe, is a small one, and it is somewhat rotten, and leaks in most parts ; and, were it to incline to either side, it would completely overturn and go to the bottom ; and yet you come crowding together at the same time, each of you carrying a lot of luggage. If, then, you were to embark with all this, I am afraid that you may have reason to repent later, and especially as many of you as don't know how to swim.
Dead Men. What shall we do, then, to secure a safe passage ?
Charon. I will tell you. You must embark stripped of everything, and leave all these superfluous things upon the shore : for scarcely even so will the ferry-boat receive you. — But it will be your care, Hermes, from this moment, to receive none of them who should not come in light marching order, and throw away, as I said, his furniture and movable property. Now, take your stand near the
of Athens (cir. 1070 is. a). In obedience to an oracle, he had saved his country by getting himself killed by the enemy ; and his grateful subjects abolished monarchy in his honour. Cf. Cicero, Quasi. Tusc. i. 48, 116. Hor. Car. iii. 19. Nireus is celebrated in the Iliad as the "handsomest man,*' next to Achilleus, who marched against Ilium (ii. 671-674). Cf. Uv. Ep. Ex Ponto, iv. 13, 15. Propert, Eleg. iii. 16, 27. Hor. Ej)od. xv. 22. Nireus is often used by Lucian as the typical fop.
106 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
gangway, and narrowly examine them, and help them up, compelling them to embark stripped of everything.
Hermes. You say well, and so let us do. — Who is this first man here r
Menippus. It is I, Menippus. There, see, Hermes, let my wallet-bag and my staff be both tossed away for good into your lake ; and as for my tattered cloak, I have obligingly not even brought it.
Hermes. Come on board, friend Menippus, best of men, and take the place of precedence, by the side of the helms- man, on deck, that you may supervise the whole of them. But this handsome fellow, who is he ?
Charmolaus. Charmolaus, of Megara, he who was so much run after, whose kiss was worth two talents. 1
Hermes. So, then, pray, off with your good looks and your lips with their kisses and all, and that long, flowing hair, 2 and the blush on your cheeks, and your entire hide. 'Tis well; you are now succinctly equipped : come on board now. — And you there, the gentleman with the purple robe and the diadem, you with the grim countenance — who may you be?
Lampichus. Lampichus, autocrat of the Gelensians. 3
Hermes. Why, pray, Lampichus, are you here with so many valuables?
Lampichus. What, then ? Ought a prince to come stripped of everything ?
Hermes. A prince, of course not — a dead man, certainly. So divest yourself of these things at once.
Lampichus. There, my wealth has been cast aside, at your pleasure.
1 £480 of Attic coinage. Whether Charmolaus here is a real or a fictitious character is unknown.
2 Cf. 9. A. passim. Long hair was esteemed, in later times, at Athens, an especial mark of effeminacy. With the Comic poets it formed a frequent subject of ridicule. Aristophanes designates the dandy of the period as <T(ppayicoivxapyoKony]rr]g, " a lazy, long-haired exquisite with rings up to his nails." In the Homeric age, long hair was the rule.
3 Citizens of Gela, a wealthy city on the S. coast of Sicily, founded in the seventh century by Krete and Rhodes together. It was the metropolis ("mother city'*') of the more famous Agrigentum. Gela itself is most celebrated as having held the tomb of iEschylus. Of Lampichus no more is known than of Charmolaus, or Kraton ; but, if (as is probable) they are either historical or poetical characters, Lucian might have obtained his knowledge of them from a lost history or poem.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 107
Hermes. Cast off at once, too, your bloated pride, Lampichus, and your superciliousness ; for, if they be shipped with you, they will weigh the boat down.
Lampichus. Permit me, at all events, pray, to keep my diadem and my royal mantle.
Hermes. By no means — but leave them behind too.
Lampichus. Well, what more ? for I have abandoned everything, as you see.
Hermes. Your cruelty and your folly, and your insolence and your rage, these you must abandon as well.
Lampichus. See, I am bare of everything, at your service.
Hermes. Come on board now. — Well, you fat, gross fellow, you with the loads of flesh, who may you be ?
Damasias. Damasias, the athlete. 1
Hermes. Yes, so it seems ; for I know you from having frequently had a look at you in the Gymnasia.
Damasias. Yes, Hermes ; but take me in, now that I am stripped and bare.
Hermes. Not stripped and bare, my fine Sir, so long as you are clothed in such lumps of flesh. So put them off, since you will sink our craft if you put but one foot on board. Yes, toss away at once, also, those crowns, and the records of your publicly-proclaimed victories.
Damasias. See, I am truly and actually stripped, at your service, as you see, and of equal weight with the rest of the dead men.
Hermes. It is better to be thus unweighted. So come on board. — And as for you, Kraton, strip yourself at once of your riches, and your effeminacy besides, and your luxury, and bring neither your funeral-robes 2 nor your
1 He may be the Damasias of Amphipolis, recorded as crowned a victor at Olympia in the Olympiad cxv. Cf. Lucian, At%up. ii. In the earlier times of the great Panhellenic " Games," the athletes trained, we are assured, on the purest and simplest food. Pausanias ('OX. v.) records the name of the first kreophagist trainer. They became, at last, synonyms for gluttons and gross feeders. ^Elian ('lor. Hoik. xiv. 7.) records that, on one occasion, the Spartan Ephors publicly threatened a very corpulent citizen {vTripaapKovrTO. icai vrnpTtaxw) with severe punish- ment if he did not alter his diet, and cease to bring shame on Sparta and its laws.
2 'EvTCKpta. They were, in the case of the rich, usually of the most costly kind. See Ilepi Tlkveovg, 11.
108 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
ancestral dignities, but leave behind both your pride of birth and vain-glory, and if ever the State by public proclamation has allowed you inscriptions on your statues, leave them behind too; nor bring us any story of their having piled a huge tomb over you. For even the very mention of these things makes a difference in the weight.
Kraton. It's against my will ; however, I will cast them off ; for what can I do ?
Hermes {seeing a General in full accoutrements'). Bless me! And you gentleman armed cap-a-pied, what do you want ? or why are you carrying this trophy ?
General. Because I gained a battle, and won the prize of valour, 1 and the State did me that honour.
Hermes. Leave your trophy upon Earth ; for in Hades reigns peace, and there will be no need of weapons. — But this gentleman, so majestic in his dress, and who gives himself such airs in it, who elevates his eyebrows, who is wrapped in meditation, who is he — he, I mean, who wears the long, thick beard ? a
Menippus. A species of philosopher (so-called), Hermes; but rather (in fact) a juggler and a fellow stuffed full of preternatural pretensions. So strip him too ; for you will see many and truly ridiculous things stowed away under his cloak.
Hermes. Off you, in the first place, with your clothes ; next, with all those things there. O Zeus! what arrogance he bears about him, and what ignorance, and disputa- tion, and vain-glory, and useless questions, and thorny argumentations, and intricate conceits! Yes, and avast
1 The Athenians were accustomed publicly to decorate the soldier who had most distinguished himself in battle. The prize was a complete suit of armour (7rai'07r\ia). So Plutarch, in his Life of Alkibiades, relates that Sokrates, who had saved the life and honour of his young and handsome comrade at Potidaea, and had thus deserved the apuxTtZov, relinquished it to his afterwards distinguished pupil.
2 An amplitude of beard, ragged and untrimmed, was a characteristic of those who most aspired to the " philosophic " reputation — especially among the Cynics and Stoics — familiar to all readex*s of Lucian, and it figures largely in the Greek poets of the New Comedy. One of the wittiest of the productions of later Greek Satire is the Mi<707rwywv of the Emperor Julian, directed against the witty but licentious people of Christian Antioch.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 10i>
amount of vain labour, and trifling not a little, and non- sense, and frivolous talk, by heaven ! {producing the- treasures concealed under the sophist's cloali) and gold coin here, and hedonism, and shamelessness, and passion, and luxury, and effeminacy. 1 For they don't escape my obser- vation, however well you conceal them about your person. Now, off this instant with your lying, and your swollen pride, and the notion that you are better than the rest of the world ; since, if you were to come on board with all this, what ordinary ship of war 2 would ever take you ?
Philosopher. I divest myself of them, then, since you so order.
Menippus. Nay, but let him put off, too, that beard, Hermes, heavy and shaggy, as you observe. There are, at. the least, five pounds of hair.
Hermes. You are right. Off with that also.
Philosopher. And who will be the barber ?
Hermes. Menippus here will take the ship-carpenter's- axe and will chop it off, making use of the gangway as a block.
Menippus. No, Hermes ; but hand me up a saw — for that will be more entertaining.
Hermes. The axe will do. — Well done ! Now that you have divested yourself of your he-goatish odours, you turn out more like a man.
Menippus. Do you want me to remove a little from his- eyebrows ?
1 Lucian, it will be observed, is even more severe upon sham philo- sophy than upon the positive crimes and vices of the powerful and wealthy — probably because, having come into nearer acquaintance with the philosophic pretenders, he had frequently experienced their revenge for kis scornful treatment of them.
2 ILsvr/'/Kovropoc. A fighting ship of fifty rowers, of the class Moncris — or "man of war," of a single bank of oars. The largest vessels, built by the Greeks, of which record is left, are those of Hiero, tyrant, or prince, of Syracuse, and of the Ptolemies. One belonging to Ptolemy Philopator had forty " banks," with dimensions of 420 ft. x 60 ft., and carried 7,000 sailors and marines, besides a large number of attendants, &c. The description of this and of another ship built by this prince and, still more, that of Hiero's, given in Athenseus from con- temporary accounts — their extraordinary and extravagant equipment and decoration — almost surpasses the bounds of belief. To launch the- latter the services of Archimedes were in requisition. See Deipn. v.. 36-44.
112 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
XI.
KRATES AND DIOGENES, MEETING IN HADES, INDULGE THEIR SATIRE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE FATES OF TWO MILLIONAIRE MERCHANTS (COUSINS) WHO HAD BEEN CONSTANTLY PLOTTING, IN THE USUAL MANNER, EACH FOR THE OTHER'S LEGACY, AND WHO HAD BOTH PERISHED ON THE SAME DAY BY SHIPWRECK. THE TWO EMINENT CYNICS CONGRATULATE THEMSELVES ON THE RECOLLECTION OF THE VERY DIFFERENT CHARACTER OF THEIR OWN OBJECTS IN LIFE.
Krates 1 and Diogenes.
Krates. You used, Diogenes, to know Moerichus, the rich fellow, the millionaire — him of Korinth, who owned those numerous merchant-ships ; whose cousin was Aris- teas, himself, too, a plutocrat, who used to quote that verse of Homer : —
" Let one or other lift his man."' 3
Diogenes. Why, Krates ?
Krates. They used to court and wheedle one the other for the sake of the expected legacy (being of the same age), and publicly registered their wills ; Moerichus, if he should die first, leaving Aristeas master of all his property, and Aristeas Moerichus, should he predecease the other. Such
1 A distinguished follower of Diogenes of Sinope. He had abandoned a large fortune in order to attach himself to the doctrines and practice of the School of Antisthenes. Like his master, he lived upon the most strictly frugal fare : in which abstinent living he was not surpassed by Epikurus himself, or, perhaps, by any Christian ascetic of later ages. His marriage was somewhat romantic. His wife, Hipparchia, who belonged to an aristocratic family, had united her fate with his, in spite of great opposition from her friends ; and even declared her resolve to kill herself, if they refused consent. Krates, who left behind him some writings, now lost, lived in the fourth century. See Diog. Laert.
2 *H jx'avae ip' ?/ ty w ak. Lit. " Either do you lift me up, or I will you." The speech of Telamonian Aias to Odysseus, in the wrestling encounter between the tAvo heroes. See 'l\. xxiii. 724. The version above is quoted from Prof. Newman's Iliad of Homer. The application of the Homeric verse by Aristeas is obvious.
DIALOGUES OP THE DEAD. 113
were the terms of the wills ; while they were accustomed to surpass one the other in their mutual wheedling and flattery. The prophets, both those who divine the future from the stars, and those who divine from dreams, like the disciples of the Chaldaeans — nay, even the Pythian himself — offered the victory now to Aristeas, now to Moerichus ; and the scales were for inclining at one time in favour of the latter, and now again for the former.
Diogenes. What, pray, was the end of it, Krates ? For it is worth hearing.
Krates. Both have died on one and the same day, and the properties devolved unexpectedly upon Eunomius and Thrasykles — both relatives — who never even dreamed tnat this would happen. For, sailing across from Sikyon to Kirrha, 1 about the middle of the passage, they were over- taken by the west-north-west wind across their bows, and they were wrecked and lost.
Diogenes. It was very kind of them. Well, as for us, when we were in life, we entertained no such designs in regard to one another ; neither did I ever pray for the death of Antisthenes, that I might inherit his staff — and he used to have a pretty strong one, which he made for himself of wild olive ; 2 nor, I imagine, did you, Krates, eagerly desire to inherit my possessions at my death — my tub and my wallet, which held two quarts of lupines.
Krates. Xo, for I had no need of them ; neither had you, Diogenes : for what we needed, you inherited from Antisthenes, and I from you, possessions far better and more respectable than all the power of the Persians.
Diogenes. What are these possessions you speak of ?
Krates. Wisdom, self-sufficiency, truth, plain-speaking, freedom.
Diogenes. By my faith, yes. I remember also, that, having received this wealth in succession from Antisthenes, I left behind to you, in fact, still more.
1 Sikyon, near Korinth ; Kirrha, a port of Phokis ; both in the Korinthian Gulf. Tor the wind called Iapyx, see Hor. Car. i. 3, iii. 27 ; Virg. JEn. viii. 710.
2 Diogenes had reason to remember this fact. Upon his first ap- proaching the founder of Cynicism, Antisthenes, we are informed, drove him away with blows from this same stick.
112 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
XL
KRATES AND DIOGENES, MEETING IN HADES, INDULGE THEIR SATIRE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE FATES OF TWO MILLIONAIRE MERCHANTS (COUSINS) WHO HAD BEEN CONSTANTLY PLOTTING, IN THE USUAL MANNER, EACH FOR THE OTHER'S LEGACY, AND WHO HAD BOTH PERISHED ON THE SAME DAY BY SHIPWRECK. THE TWO EMINENT CYNICS CONGRATULATE THEMSELVES ON THE RECOLLECTION OF THE VERY DIFFERENT CHARACTER OF THEIR OWN OBJECTS IN LIFE.
Krates 1 and Diogenes.
Krates. You used, Diogenes, to know Moerichns, the rich fellow, the millionaire — him of Korinth, who owned those numerous merchant-ships ; whose cousin was Aris- teas, himself, too, a plutocrat, who used to quote that verse of Homer : —
" Let one or other lift his man. 3
Diogenes. Why, Krates ?
Krates. They used to court and wheedle one the other for the sake of the expected legacy (being of the same age), and publicly registered their wills ; Moerichus, if he should die first, leaving Aristeas master of all his property, and Aristeas Moerichus, should he predecease the other. Such
1 A distinguished follower of Diogenes of Sinope. He had abandoned a large fortune in order to attach himself to the doctrines and practice of the School of Antisthenes. Like his master, he lived upon the most strictly frugal fare : in which abstinent living he was not surpassed by Epikurus himself, or, perhaps, by any Christian ascetic of later ages. His marriage was somewhat romantic. His wife, Hipparchia, who belonged to an aristocratic family, had united her fate with his, in spite of great opposition from her friends ; and even declared her resolve to kill herself, if they refused consent. Krates, who left behind him some writings, now lost, lived in the fourth century. See Diog. Laert.
2 "H /x'avaeip' i) Ly<i> ok. Lit. " Either do you lift me up, or I will you." The speech of Telamonian Aias to Odysseus, in the wrestling encounter between the two heroes. See 'IA. xxiii. 724. The version above is quoted from Prof. Newman's Iliad of Homer. The application of the Homeric verse by Aristeas is obvious.
DIALOGUES OP THE DEAD. 113
were the terms of the wills ; while they were accustomed to surpass one the other in their mutual wheedling and flattery. The prophets, both those who divine the future from the stars, and those who divine from dreams, like the disciples of the Chaldaeans — nay, even the Pythian himself — offered the victory now to Aristeas, now to Mcerichus ; and the scales were for inclining" at one time in favour of the latter, and now again for the former.
Diogenes. What, pray, was the end of it, Krates ? For it is worth hearing.
Krates. Both have died on one and the same day, and the properties devolved unexpectedly upon Eunomius and Thrasykles — both relatives — who never even dreamed that this would happen. For, sailing across from Sikyon to Kirrha, 1 about the middle of the passage, they were over- taken by the west-north-west wind across their bows, and they were wrecked and lost.
Diogenes. It was very kind of them. Well, as for us, when we were in life, we entertained no such designs in regard to one another ; neither did I ever pray for the death of Antisthenes, that I might inherit his staff — and he used to have a pretty strong one, which he made for himself of wild olive ; 2 nor, I imagine, did you, Krates, eagerly desire to inherit my possessions at my death — my tub and my wallet, which held two quarts of lupines.
Krates. ISTo, for I had no need of them ; neither had you, Diogenes : for what we needed, you inherited from Antisthenes, and I from you, possessions far better and more respectable than all the power of the Persians.
Diogenes. What are these possessions you speak of ?
Krates. Wisdom, self-sufficiency, truth, plain-speaking, freedom.
Diogenes. By my faith, yes. I remember also, that, having received this wealth in succession from Antisthenes, I left behind to you, in fact, still more.
1 Sikyon, near Korinth ; Kirrha, a port of Phokis ; both in the Korinthian Gulf. For the wind called Iapyx, see Hor. Car. i. 3, iii. 27 ; Virg. JEn. viii. 710.
2 Diogenes had reason to remember this fact. Upon his first ap- proaching the founder of Cynicism, Antisthenes, we are informed, drove him away with blows from this same stick.
I
114 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
Krates. However, the rest of the world used to despise such kind of possessions, and no one of them courted us, looking to obtain our legacies ; but they all directed their looks to the gold coin.
Diogenes. With good reason ; for they had not where they could receive from us and stow away such possessions, gradually leaking and wasting away, as they were, under the influence of luxury, like rotten pouches. So that, if even one were to put into them either wisdom, or plainness of speech, or truth, it would immediately escape and run through, the bottom of the vessel not being able to hold it in ; something like what the daughters of Danaus, those famous maidens, experience when they draw water in their perforated pitcher : while as for the gold, they used to guard it with tooth and nail, and every possible con- trivance.
Krates. Accordingly, ive shall possess our wealth even here, while they will arrive carrying an obolus with them, and even that as far only as their ferryman.
XII.
ALEXANDER OF MACEDON AND HANNIBAL, QUARRELLING FOR PRECEDENCE, SUBMIT THE ARBITRAMENT OF THEIR CAUSE TO MINOS. EACH RECOUNTS HIS EXPLOITS. SCIPIO, THE CONQUEROR OF CARTHAGE, INTERVENES, AND PRONOUNCES IN FAVOUR OF ALEXANDER, CLAIMING THE SECOND PLACE FOR HIMSELF, AND ASSIGNING THE THIRD PLACE TO HAN- NIBAL.
Alexander, Hannibal, Minos, and Scipio.
Alexander. I ought to be preferred to you, you Libyan, for I am superior to you.
Hannibal. No, indeed ; rather, I ought to have the precedence.
Alexander. Let Minos decide then {appealing to that judge) .
Minos. But who are you ?
Alexander. This is Hannibal of Carthage, and I am Alexander, the son of Philip.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 115
Minos. Upon my word, illustrious, both of you ! But what is your quarrel about ?
Alexander. About precedence; for this fellow affirms that he was a better general than I; whereas I affirm that I surpass not only him, as every one knows, but almost all who have lived before me, in the arts of war.
Minos. Then let each speak in his turn. 1 And do you of Libya, be the first to speak.
Hannibal. In respect to this one circumstance, Minos, I derive much satisfaction — that while here I have thoroughly mastered the Greek language ; 2 so that not even in that particular can he have any advantage over me. Now, I affirm that those men are most deserving of eulogy, who, though nothing at starting, none the less arrived at great eminence, by their own efforts investing themselves with power, and being deemed worthy of governing. "Well, though I set out with few soldiers for Spain, at first being subordinate to my brother, I was judged to be the most skilful in war, and was deemed fit for the highest employments ; and I subdued the Keltiberians, and con- quered the Gauls of the West ; and, crossing the vast moun- tains, 3 I overran all the plains of the Padus, and laid in ruins so many cities, and subjected to my power the whole plain of Italy, and advanced as far as the suburbs of its Capital city, and slew such numbers on one day that I measured off their rings by bushels, 4 and bridged their rivers with the dead. And all this I accomplished with- out either getting myself called the son of Ammon, or
1 Cf. the Kaioaptg of the Emperor Julian.
2 According to the testimony of the Latin historian, Cornelius Nepos, or Probus (as the case may be), Hannibal was so well versed in the Greek language as to have composed several works in it ( Vita Excel. Imper.) ; so that Lucian, if the collocation of the words in the text is his own, as Hemsterhuis observes, does not do justice to the great com- mander's learning. Gesner proposed a slight transposition of the text, more in accord with the facts.
3 See Livy, Hist. Rom. xxi. 35-37 ; Plutarch, Bun Uap. The satire of Juvenal (x. 166) on this memorable exploit is well known : —
" I, demens, et ssevas curre per Alpes Ut placeas pueris et declamatio fias f
4 According to some historians, the number of the gold rings of the Homan officers killed at Cannae amounted to several bushels. Livy
116 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
making claim to divinity, or recounting my mother's dreams ; 1 but acknowledging myself to be human ; and putting myself in competition with the most skilful generals, and engaging with the most warlike soldiers in the world — not contending against Medes and Armenians, who seek refuge in flight before any one pursues, and yield the victory at once to the bold aggressor. Alexander, on the other hand, enlarged a dominion which he had re- ceived from his father, and extended it considerably by availing himself of the start given him by Fortune. But, when he had gained the victory over and vanquished at Issus and Arbela 2 that wretched pest Dareius, revolting from the customs of his ancestors, he began to put forth claims to divine worship, and changed his way of life to the Median mode ; and polluted his hands in the blood of his friends at his banquets, and seized them for the pur- pose of putting them to death. 3 Whereas I ruled my country upon terms of equality with my fellow-citizens, and when it summoned me to its aid, on the sailing of the enemy to Libya with a great armament, I obeyed with
inclines to one bushel only (xxiii. 12). To compare great things with small, Cannae was the " Battle of the Spurs " of modern times, as far as similarity of spoil is concerned.
1 The young King of Macedon was first saluted by the Egyptian priests as the son of Zeus Ammon (Amun), one of the divinities of the Egyptian theology, upon his visit to the oracular temple in the oasis of the African desert. See Arrian, 'Avd(3a<ng 'A\e£., and Plutarch. For the dream of Olympias, see Plutarch, \A\eg. ii.
2 The battle of Issus (b.c. 333) was fought near the city of that name in the extreme south-east of Cilicia, on the confines of Syria and the Lesser Asia. The Macedonians owed the victory as much to the unwieldy and heterogeneous masses of the enemy as to their own prowess. One of the finest of mosaics of ancient Greek art describes this subject. It was found in a mutilated state at Pompeii; and is sup- posed to be a copy of a painting of Apelles. The second great over- throw took place at Gaugamela.
3 The friends and attendants of Alexander who fell victims to his intem- perate fits of passion, or to his suspicions well or ill-founded, were Parme- nion, to whose skill he owed, in great measure, his chief victories, and his son Philotus ; Kleitus, his intimate friend and companion, who had saved ms life at the battle of the Granikus, whom he murdered in a fit of intoxication at Baktra ; his page, Hermolaus, who, with otber alienated or disgusted Macedonians, had conspired against his master, in revenge for a public indignity ; and Kleisthenes, a pupil of Aristotle. See Plutarch, 'A\e£. 49-55.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 117
speed, 1 and offered myself as a private citizen ; and after condemnation, I bore the matter with good will. These achievements I performed, non- Greek as I was, and un- instructed by a Greek education ; neither reciting and de- claiming Homer, 2 as he did, nor educated under Aristotle, that famous sophist ; but availing myself of my natural good qualities alone. These are the points as to which I maintain that I am superior to Alexander. And, if this fellow has a handsomer appearance, because he was accus- tomed to encircle his brows with the diadem — with Mace- donians, doubtless, those things are objects of veneration — he surely should not on that account be thought superior to a man of genuine nobility and of true military capacity, who owed more to his judgment than to fortune.
Minos. He has delivered no ignoble plea, and one not such as it was likely a Libyan would, on his own behalf. Now, you, Alexander, what do you say to these arguments ?
Alexander. I ought, Minos, to make no reply at all to so impudent a man ; for Fame is quite enough to instruct you what a king I was, and what a mere brigand 3 he was. However, just consider if it is by a small difference I surpass him — I who while yet a mere youth entered upon public business, and became master of a kingdom all in a state of confusion, and pursued and punished my father's
1 When the Romans, under the elder Scipio, carried the war into Africa. Avhich resulted in their decisive victory at Zama, 202 B.C., Hannibal was driven from his country by a hostile faction, with Roman co-operation.
' Cf. Plutarch. Dion Chrysostom says that Alexander knew by heart the whole of the Iliad, and many parts of the Odyssey (Aoyoi iv.). His great exemplar and admiration was the hero of the Iliad, Achilleus, whose ideal form and features were infused into his portraits by his laureate-painter, Apelles. As for the character of Hannibal, Valerius Maximus allows to the great enemy of Rome some virtues, for " humani- tatis dulcedo etiam in efferata barbarorum ingenia penetrat" {De Factis, &c, v. 1).
3 There were not wanting, as Hemsterhuis reminds us, some who attached this title to the father of the conqueror of the Persian Empire him- self. Demosthenes publicly stigmatized him as the \yarrjg tCjv 'EWi'ivcjv (*t\. iv.), just as, in later times, there were some who characterized the Roman generals and armies as " latrones, communisque omnium liber- tat is raptores." Seneca assigns the same character to Alexander — latro gentiumque vastator, $c. De Btncficiis, i. 13. Cf. De Bene/, v. 6.
118 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
assassins ; and then, by the total destruction of Thebes having terrorized all Hellas, and having been elected by them to the command-in-chief, I did not think fit to confine my cares to my Macedonian dominions, and to be content to rule over what my father had left behind him ; but, extending my thoughts to the whole Earth, and thinking it intolerable if I should not become master of the world, with a few soldiers I invaded Asia ; and at the Granikus I gained a great battle ; and seizing upon Lydia, Ionia, and Phrygia, and, in fine, conquering in succession everything in my way, I advanced to Issus, where Dareius awaited me with an army of many myriads. From that time, Minos, you know how many dead I sent below to you on one day ; at all events, the Ferryman says that his boat did not suffice, at that time, for them, but that the majority of them constructed rafts for themselves, and so made the passage. And this I accomplished by being foremost in danger myself, and deeming it glorious to get myself wounded. Not to recount to you my exploits at Tyre, or at Arbela, not only all that, but I advanced as far as the Indians, and made for myself the Ocean the boundary of my empire ; and I captured their elephants, and worsted Porus. And as for the Scythians, not a people to be despised with impunity, I crossed the Don and conquered them in a great cavalry battle. And I conferred benefits on my friends, and avenged myself on my enemies ; and, if I appeared to men to be indeed divine, they are to be excused, in consideration of the greatness of my actions, for believing something of the kind about me. Finally, I died while yet a king, whereas this fellow died in exile at the court of Prusias of Bithynia, as it was right a man of the greatest villainy and cruelty should. For hoiv he conquered the Italians I omit to say-^that he did not do it by force, but by corruption, and not keeping faith, 1 and by stratagems ; nothing according to the usages of war or above-board. And, as for his reproaching me with luxury, I think he has forgotten entirely what he was accustomed to do in Capua, living with ladies of the demi-monde, and, admirable General, wasting in pleasures the opportunities of war. I, on the
1 " Punica fides " became proverbial with the Romans, but Romana fides, perhaps, would have been equally forcible.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 119
other hand, if I had not esteemed the affairs of the West a small matter, and made my first attacks, rather, on the side of the East, what great achievement could I have done — seizing, without shedding a drop of blood, upon Italy, and subjecting to my power Libya and the continent as far as Gades ? No ; those parts of the world seemed to me not worth fighting for, being already cowed and acknowledging a master. I have said. Now do you, Minos, judge ; for, out of many facts, these are quite enough to decide by.
Scipio. Not before you have heard me, too. Minos. Why, who are you, my fine Sir ? or as what countryman will you speak ?
Scipio. An Italian ; l Scipio, the general who razed Carthage, and conquered the Libyans in great battles. Minos. What, pray, would you say ? Scipio. That I am inferior, indeed, to Alexander, but superior to Hannibal — I who vanquished and pursued him, and forced him to a disgraceful flight. How, then, is this fellow not ashamed to contend in rivalry with Alexander, with whom not even I, Scipio, his conqueror, claim to put myself in comparison ?
Miiios. By my faith, you speak the words of reason, Scipio ; so let Alexander be judged to be first, next to him come you ; then, by your leave, follows Hannibal third ; for neither is he to be despised with impunity. 2
1 'iraXuoTTjg. Properly a Greek resident in Italy ; but sometimes, as here, used for 'ItcXoq — an Italian.
2 In the 'AXrjOrjg 'laropia, one of the wittiest and most entertaining of the works of Lucian, and the original of so many other satirical romances, Alexander and Hannibal are again introduced to us con- tending for precedence, in their posthumous existence, in the Island of the Blessed. On this occasion Rhadamanthys, who is the judge, assigns the first place, also, to the conqueror of Dareius, on a throne by the side of the founder of the Persian monarchy. Scipio does not figure in this scene ; and it is a curious fact that no Roman is admitted into Lucian's Elysium. By Livy (xxxv. 14) Hannibal is represented as much more modest than he appears in this Dialogue; for, in reply to a question of Scipio, he pronounces Alexander to be the first of military commanders, Pyrrhus, King of Epeirus, second, and himself third ; although, if he had been so fortunate as to conquer his ques- tioner, as he had the other Roman generals, he would not have hesitated to give the precedence to himself. Cf. Appian, 'l<xr. Pw/t. xi. In
120 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
XIII.
DIOGENES JEERS AT ALEXANDER OF MACEDON FOR HIS LATE PRETENSIONS TO DIVINITY, AT THE SAME TIME SATIRIZING THE SERYILE ATTITUDE OF THE CONQUERED GREEK STATES TOWARDS HIM. HE PROCEEDS TO REMIND THE ARROGANT CONQUEROR OF ALL HIS VAIN POWER AND GLORY, AND CASTS LARGE PART OF THE BLAME ON ALEXANDER'S PRE- CEPTOR ARISTOTLE, FOR FLATTERING AND FOSTERING THE PRIDE AND AMBITION OF HIS PUPIL. DIOGENES, FINALLY, RECOMMENDS THE DEAD POTENTATE TO DRINK THE WATERS OF THE RIVER LETHE.
Diogenes and Alexander.
Diogenes. What's this, Alexander ? Have you, too, died, like the rest of us ?
Alexander. You see for yourself it is so, Diogenes ; but it is nothing strange if, man as I was, I am dead.
Diogenes. Then Ammon lied in saying that you were his son, while, in fact, you were Philip's ? l
Alexander. Philip's undoubtedly ; for had I been Amnion's, I should not have died.
Diogenes. Yet similar 2 stories used to be told of Olympias — that a serpent visited her, and was seen in her bed ; that
the Kaiaapeg of Julian, Alexander is put in comparison with the "Divine Julius." It is worth notice that the great Roman satirist, who makes frequent use of the name of the arch-enemy of Rome, selects him as an example, kclt' i^oxrjv, of the nothingness of human glory :
" Expende Hannibalem: quot libras in duce summo Invenies ? " Fontenelle, the most famous modern imitator of Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead, has imitated this Dialogue in his Jules Cesar et Charles XII. {Dialogues des Moris).
1 According to Plutarch, it was the ignorance of Greek on the part of the priests of Ammon which assigned to him a divine father. In- tending to greet him with the words T Q naifi'iov, they addressed him as 'Q iral A/oc (son of Zeus) a slight verbal error, which Alexander was not anxious to correct.
2 Hemsterhuis would substitute for ofiuia of the received text owoia (qualia). As for the prodigy of the Serpent, Scipio Africanus aspired to the same semi-reptile origin. Livy, xxvi. 19. Cf. JElian, Hspl Zibwv. xii. 30.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 121
then you were born from such intercourse, and that Philip was altogether deceived in supposing you were of his begetting.
Alexander. I, too, like you, used to hear these tales ; but now I see that neither my mother nor the Ammonian prophets spoke at all rationally.
Diogenes. But their lie was not unserviceable to you, Alexander, in regard to your exploits ; for many were cowed, under the impression that you were a God. But, tell me, to whom have you left behind this so great empire of yours ?
Alexander. I don't know, Diogenes ; for I had not made any arrangements about it beforehand, or only this much — that on my death-bed I gave over my ring to Per- dikkas. 1 But, however, why do you laugh, Diogenes ?
Diogenes. Why, at what else than the recollection of the doings of Hellas, that servilely flattered you, who had but just succeeded to the throne, and elected you to the hege- mony and command-in-chief against the foreigners. And some even added you to the twelve principal deities, 2 both building to you temples and sacrificing to you as to a Serpent's son ! But, tell me, where did the Macedonians bury you ?
Alexander. I am still lying in Babylon, after three days, unburied ; but Ptolemoeus, of my foot-guards, promises, if ever he has leisure from the troubles immediately before him, to carry me away to Egypt and bury me there, so that I may become one of the Egyptian divinities.
1 One of the principal generals of Alexander. Appointed to the regency, and trusting to this mark of confidence on the part pf his dying master, he laid claim to the supremacy. He was defeated, and slain by his own troops, in Egypt, while making war on Ptolem&us Soter, 321 B.C.
2 The Dii Majorcs, as they were called in the Latin theology, who, in the Homeric and Hesiodic theogony, occupy, as the third dynasty, the summits of Mount Olympus. See Plutarch's fine reflection upon the perverse titular ambition of the kings and conquerors. Eulogizing the just moderation of Aristeides, he remarks : — "09iv dvr)p irkvi]g ical djlfiOTiKog £KT))craTO rt)v (5ci(Ti\ucu>rarriv ical Oeiorarriv Trpo(Ti]yoplav — rbv AiKaiov. "O tGjv fiaaCkitov ical rvpavviav ovdelg I&'iXuhtev, ctWa Uo\i- opKtjral ical Ktpavvoi ical Kucdropeg, ivioi $' 'ktrol ical 'IipaKtg i\aipov Trpoatiyopeoofitvoi' ri\v arrb Trjg {Stag tea) r;)c dvvdneuig, wc toiKt , fxdWov i\ ti)v dirb Tt)g dptTTjg So^av dya.7r£JVT£g (B'i'oi Ilctp. "Apiar.).
122 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
Diogenes. May I not, pray, be excused for laughing, Alexander, at seeing you even in Hades still playing the fool, and expecting to become an Anubis or Osiris ? But, however, don't for a moment expect it, most respectable of godships ; for it is not allowed to any of those who have once crossed the Lake, and passed within this side of the mouth of the Cavern, to go back up to Earth. For vEakus is not so careless, nor is Kerberus so easily to be despised. However, I would gladly learn this from you — how you endure, whenever you reflect upon it, the thought of how much happiness you have left behind, above ground, to come here — body-guards, your picked corps of shield- bearers, 1 and satraps, and gold in such heaps, and adoring nations, and Babylon and Baktra, and the huge elephants, and honour, and glory, and the riding in your chariot with all the insignia of your rank, with your head encircled with a white fillet, 2 arrayed in a brooch-fastened purple robe. Do not these things cause you grief, when they recur to your memory ? — Why do you weep, fool ? Did not the wise Aristotle instruct you even so much as that — not to suppose the gifts of Fortune to last for ever ?
Alexander. He wise, who was the most inveterate of all flatterers ? 3 Just let me alone for having some know-
1 'Ywaamardc. The name given to the select body-guard of foot soldiers formed by Alexander. They numbered 3,000 men, and acted a considerable part in the achievements of the Macedonian army. Their splendid shields gave them their distinguishing name. Besides these were a body-guard called Argyraspids, " with the silver shields."' But the most magnificent " household-troops " were the " horse-guards," 1,200 in number, in imitation of the Persian "Immortals."
2 Taivia. The original form of the diadem. A narrow band of white wool, worn by the Persian monarchs round the tiara. Cf. Xenophon, Kvpo7raiSiia, viii. 3 ; Arrian, 'AvafiaaiQ, vii. 22. In Greek dress, it was the narrow band worn by women under the bosom, beneath the chiton. See Becker, Charicles.
3 Plutarch quotes letters from Alexander to Antipater and Kassander, in which the pupil of the Stageirite charges his former preceptor with the same courtier-like behaviour. As for the charge of extorting large sums of money, the great natural philosopher expended at least a great part of the gift in making his great Zoological Collection, the outcome of which is preserved to us in his Zuuv 'laropia. Cf. the Update, BiW. For the TdyaOov, (summum bomem), see Plato IIoX. vi ; and cf. Cicero, Be Fin. v. 6., &c.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 123
ledge of the character of Aristotle — how many things he begged of me, what sort of letters he sent me, and how he abused my zeal for learning, cajoling and eulogizing me now for my beauty (as though that, too, were a part of "the summum bonum"), and now for my actions and riches ; for, indeed, he was used to consider that, also, " a good," so that he did not blush, even himself, to take it — a juggling fellow, Diogenes, and a crafty trickster. But, however, this benefit I have gained from his philosophy — to be grieved at the loss of those things as the greatest "goods," which you but just now enumerated. 1
Diogenes. Well, know you what you should do ? I will suggest to you a remedy for your grief. Since hellebore 2 does not grow hereabouts, do you, at least, even gulp down and drink with wide-opened mouth forthwith the waters of Lethe, and drink again and often ; for thus will you cease to be troubled at " the goods " of Aristotle. — Why, really, I see the Kleitus you know about, and Kallisthenes, and many others rushing towards you, as though they would tear you in pieces, and wreak their vengeance upon you for what you did to them. So step off you by this other path, and [shouting after hini] drink often, as I told you.
1 Plutarch quotes a letter from Alexander to Aristotle, in which he finds fault with him for publishing- to the world his esoteric teaching (rorc aKpoafxaTiicovQ tiov Xoyuv), and so depriving him of the sole pos- session of such lucubrations.
2 A plant which grew, in particular, in two places — Anticyra, a small island off Phokis, and Anticyra in Thessaly — hence often used as syno- nyms for hellebore itself — having reputation in Greece and Italy as a specific for madness, and recommended by the authority of Hippokrates. Cf. Aristoph. 20//K6C, 1489; the poets of the New Comedy, passim; Strabo, ix. ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxv. 5 ; Plautus, Pscudohis, iv. 7 ; Persius, Sat. iii. 63, iv. 16, v. 100; Juv. Sat. xiii. 96, 97 j Hor. Sat. ii. 3, Epist. ii. 2 ; Lucian, 'passim.
124 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
XIV.
PHILIP, KING OF MACEDON, EIDICULES HIS SON ALEXANDER'S ABSURD ARROGANCE IN CLAIMING TO BE THE SON OF AMMON, AND CALLS IN QUESTION THE GREATNESS OF HIS MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS. ALEXANDER DEFENDS HIMSELF.
Philip and Alexander.
Philip. Now then, Alexander, you will not be for deny- ing that you are my son; for, had you been Amnion's, you had not died.
Alexander. Nor was I myself ignorant, father, that I am the son of Philip and grandson of Amyntas ; but I accepted the oracle as supposing it to be of service to the success of my undertakings.
Philip. What do you say ? Did it appear to you to be of advantage — the giving yourself up to be deceived out-and-out by the prophets ?
Alexander. Not that; but the non-Greeks were struck with consternation, and not one of them any longer re- sisted, thinking that they were fighting with a divine being ; so that I kept gaining victories over them with the greater ease.
Philip. And what people worth fighting with did you gain victories over, you who always came into conflict with cowards, defending themselves with miserable bows and paltry light shields, and Persian bucklers of osier-twigs ? l To conquer Hellenes — Boeotians, Phokians, and Athenians — was an achievement, and to utterly defeat the heavy- armed troops of Arkadia, and the Thessalian cavalry, and the javelin-armed soldiers of Elis, and the Mantineian
1 HtXrdpia ical yippee oiaviva. The TliXrai were a light kind of shield covered with leather, adopted from the Thracians by Iphikrates, the famous Athenian military commander, about 390 B.C. With his pcl- tasts Iphikrates gained some decided victories over the heavily-armed Spartans. The y'tppov, also, was a light, wicker-made shield, oblong in shape, and covered with ox-hide, used chiefly by the Persian troops. See Herod, vii. 75; Xen. Kvpoir. vii. 1, 33.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 125
peltasts, or Thracians, or Illyrians, or Pceonians — those were great deeds. 1 But as for Medes, and Persians, and Babylonians, and gold-equipped and effeminate soldiers, do you not know that ten thousand men, who marched up with Klearchus, vanquished them before your time ; while they did not endure even so much as to come to close conflict, but fled before an arrow reached them ?
Alexander. But the Scythians, father, and the elephants of the Hindus was not a kind of work to be lightly despised. And yet, without stirring up dissensions among them, or purchasing my victories with, treasons, I got the mastery over them ; nor did I ever perjure myself, or falsify my promise, or commit any breach of faith for the sake of conquest. And, as regards the Hellenes, while some I received under my dominion without bloodshed, as for the Thebans, you probably know by report how I punished them.
Philip. I know all this ; for Kleitus brought me word, whom you murdered with your own band while at dinner by running him through, with, a hunting-spear, because he dared to eulogize me by comparison with your deeds. Well,, you threw aside the Macedonian short cloak and exchanged it, as they say, for the Persian flowing robe, 2 and put on your head the towering tiara, and claimed divine honours from the Macedonians, from free people, — and the most ridiculous circumstance of all, — you were accustomed to imitate the manners of the conquered ! I omit to mention all your other bad actions, — your shutting up men of cul- ture with, lions, 3 and contracting marriages of such, a kind
1 Philip refers to his own military exploits. He owed, however, as much to gold as to steel. See the Aoyoi of Demosthenes. Cf. Hor. Car. iii. 16.
2 The x^ f 'A* y £ was worn originally, or chiefly, by horsemen. The kcivcvq of the Persians was a thoroughly oriental sort of dress. The chlamys, adopted from the Macedonians, was put on by the Athenian when he had attained the age of an ephebus. See Plutarch, 'A\e£. 45.
3 A rhetorical exaggeration, if not altogether a myth. Several writers have recorded the story of the imprisonment of Lysimachus (one of the most distinguished of the Macedonian generals, who after- wards possessed himself of the dominions of Alexander) in a lion's den. They assert that, like his anti-type Kichard " Cceur de Lion," he killed the wild beast by his natural arms alone, and in consequence
126 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
as you did, 1 and entertaining an excessive affection for Hephaestion. 2 One circumstance only that I have heard I commend — your keeping your hands off the wife of Dareius, who was a beautiful woman, and your taking care of his mother and his daughters : for that was conduct becoming a prince.
Alexander. But my eagerness to incur dangers, father, do you not praise, and the fact that at Oxydraka? I was the first to leap down within the fortifications, and received so many wounds ? 3
Philip. I don't commend this conduct, Alexander, not because I don't think it to be honourable for the kins: sometimes to get wounded, and to incur danger on behalf of his army, but because such conduct least of all suited your character. For if, with the reputation of being divine, you had ever received a wound, and they had seen you carried out of the battle in a litter, flowing with blood, groaning by reason of the pain from the wound, that had been subject for ridicule to the spectators, how even
of this display of courage was pardoned by his king. Curtius {Be Rebus Gestis Alex, viii.) assigns the origin of the legend to an encounter of Lysimachus with a lion of heroic size in Syria. Justin {Hist. Philip, xv. 3), a later writer, credits the more sensational account.
1 With Roxana, the Baktrian princess, captured in the Fort of Sog- diana (327 B.C.). His second wife, Stateira, a daughter of the Persian king Dareius, was afterwards treacherously murdered at Babylon by her rival Roxana, who herself, with her son, was murdered by Kassander in 311 B.C.
2 A native of Pella in Macedonia, one of the two especial " favourites " of Alexander, with whom he had been brought up as a foster-brother. He died at Ekbatana, in 325. The extravagance of the grief and mourning of Alexander is well known. Horses were shorn, the walls of cities pulled down, and the physician whose accidental neglect had caused or hastened the favourite's death was crucified. Upon his tomb 10,000 talents (about two millions and a half) were expended. The other chief favourite, Kraterus, between whom and Hephaestion fre- quent quarrels arose, as related by Plutarch CAXetZavdpog) served as a principal medium between his royal patron and the Macedonian officers, as Hephsestion for the Orientals.
3 Oxydrakse, a people of Hindustan inhabiting what is now called the Punjaub. Arrian (vi. 11) rejects the story. Diodorus and Plutarch join together the Malli and Oxydrakse on the occasion. Plutarch tells hs that the breaking of the scaling-ladder forced Alexander to leap down into the midst of the enemy, who were so much alarmed by the flashing of bis armour that they took to flight.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 127
Ammon had been convicted of being a mere juggler and false prophet, and the prophets of being mere flatterers. Or who would not have laughed at seeing the son of Zeus swooning, begging the aid of his physicians ? For now, when you are dead in fact, do you not suppose there are many who make cutting sarcasms upon that pretension of yours, when they see the corpse of the god lying stretched out, already clammy w T ith decay and swollen out, according to the law of all bodies ? Besides, even that, which you were saying was of service to you, Alexander, the fact of your easily conquering by this means — it deprived you of much of the glory of your actual successes ; for, thought to be achieved by a divine being, anything would appear to fall short of what it ought to have been.
Alexander. These are not the thoughts men have about me — on the contrary, they put me in rivalry with Herakles and Dionysus ; x indeed, I was the only one to conquer that famous Aornos, 2 neither of them having got possession of it.
Philip. Do you observe that you are talking of these exploits as though you were son of Ammon, in comparing yourself with Herakles and Dionysus ? And do you not blush, Alexander, and will you not unlearn even that puffed- up pride of yours, and know and perceive yourself to be now a mere dead man ? 3
1 Because those divinities had preceded him in the invasion of India. From the Nysa in the Punjaub, Dionysus, according to some authorities, derived his name.
- A hill-fort on the Indus, r) aopvog Trirpa, " the rock inaccessible to birds." See Curtius, Be Gestis Alex. viii. 11.
3 Among the modern imitators of Lucian, Fontenelle and LordLyttel- ton have treated this subject not unworthily of their master. In the dialogue, Alexandre et Phrine (Phryne), the celebrated original of the Aphrodite Anadyomme, after a comparison of her conquests to those of her quondam admirer, concludes : " Quand on ne veut que faire du bruit, ce ne sont pas les caracteres les plus raisonables qui y sont les plus propres." She also makes the, perhaps, too philosophic reflection : " Si je retranchois de votre gloire ce qui ne vous en appartient pas, si je donnois a vos soldats, a vos capitaines, au hazard meme, la part qui leur en est diie, croyez-vous que vous n'y perdissiez guere ? " — Dia- logues des Morts. Cf. Lyttelton's Alexander the Great and Charles XII.
128 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
XV.
ANTILOCHUS, THE SON OF NESTOR (ONE OF THE GREEK. HEROES WHO FELL DURING THE SIEGE OF ILIUM), REMONSTRATES WITH HIS FRIEND ACHILLEUS FOR HAYING GIVEN UTTERANCE TO THE WORDS PUT INTO HIS MOUTH BY THE POET OF THE ODYSSEY— THAT HE WOULD RATHER BE A SLAVE ON EARTH THAN KING IN HADES — SHOWS HIM THE USELESSNESS OF REGRETS IN THE UNDER-WORLD, AND, AT THE SAME TIME, ATTEMPTS TO CONSOLE HIM WITH THE REFLECTION THAT HE IS FAR FROM BEING ALONE IN HIS FATE. ACHILLEUS TAKES THE ADMONITION OF HIS FRIEND IN GOOD PART, BUT REFUSES TO BE COMFORTED.
Antiloclius and Acliilleus.
Antilochus. What sort of language was that, Achilleus, you addressed to Odysseus the day before yesterday about death; how ignoble and unworthy of both your teachers, Cheiron and Phoenix ! l For I overheard you, when you were saying that you would wish to be a servant, bound to the soil, in the house of any poor man " whose means of support were small," 2 rather than to be king over all the dead. These sentiments, indeed, some abject Phrygian, cowardly, and dishonourably clinging to life, might, perhaps, be allowed to utter, but for the son of Peleus, the most rashly daring of all heroes, to entertain so ignoble thoughts about himself, is a considerable disgrace, and a contradic- tion to your actions in life ; you who, though you might
1 Cheiron, the most renowned of the Kentaurs, had instructed the father of Achilleus also — in the art of obtaining an immortal wife, Thetis. He was slain accidentally by Herakles with his poisoned arrows. Phoenix, the Dolopian prince, who had been forced to flee from his country on account of having seduced his father's mistress, and had found refuge at the court of Peleus, was appointed by him his son's tutor.
2 An allusion to the confession of Achilleus to Odysseus in Hades : —
JiovXoiixrjv k tTTcipovpoQ iisjv Qrjrevtfiev aWcp 'Avdpl nap' aickfipq), $ /xt] fiioTog 7ro\vg elri,
- H TTciaiv VEfcveerai KaTa^Qifikvoicnv avaaoeiv.
Od. xi. 488-490; Cf. JEn. vi. ; Plato, Uo\. iii. (ad init.), deprecates the
sentiment.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 129
have reigned ingloriously a length of time in Pthiotis, of your own accord preferred death with fair fame. 1
Achilleus. But, O son of Nestor, at that time I was still unacquainted with the state of things here, and was igno- rant which of those two conditions was the better, and used to prefer that wretched paltry glory to existence ; but now I already perceive how profitless it is, even though the people above ground shall parrot-like sing its praises to the utmost of their power. With the dead there is perfect sameness of dignity ; 2 and neither those good looks of mine, Antilochus, nor my powers of strength are here : but we lie all alike under the same murky gloom, and in no way superior one to the other ; and neither the dead of the Trojans have fear of me, nor do those of the Achaeans pay me any court : but there is complete and entire equality in address, and a dead man is the same all the world over — " both the coward and the brave." 3 These thoughts cause me anguish, and I am grieved that I am not alive and serving as a hireling.
Antilochus. Yet what can one do, Achilleus ? For such is the will of Nature — that all certainly die : so one must abide by her ordinance, and not be grieved at the consti- tuted order of things. Besides, you observe how many of us, your friends, are about you here. And, after a short space of time, Odysseus, too, will certainly arrive ; and com- munity in misfortune, and the fact that one is not alone in suffering, brings comfort. You see Herakles and Meleager ; 4
1 Yet the invulnerable hero of the Iliad, frequently bewails his appor- tioned brief career — fiivvvOaSiov nep lovra.
2 Elsewhere termed by Lucian hoTifiia. Cf. Ecclesiastes, passim. Seneca, De Ird, iii. 43. " Venit ecce Mors, quae nos pares faciat. Ridere solemus," he proceeds, " inter matutina arena spectacula, tauri et ursi pugnam inter se eolligatorum : quos cum alter alterum vexarit, suus confector expectet. Idem facimus : aliquem nobiscum alligatum laces- simus, &c."
3 'Ey Sk ly Tifiy t)[.uv kukoq })3e ko.1 IcrQXog, the words of Achilleus to Odysseus ('IX. ix. 319).
4 The principal hero in the famous Calydonian hunt of the wild boar, whose conquest needed all the chivalry of Hellas ; who in fleetness, if not in prowess, were surpassed by the virgin Atalanta, with whom at first they had refused to associate in that arduous enterprise. The Calydonian prince had, also, been one of the Argonautic heroes. See Apollonius, 'Apr- i- and cf - 'J*- ix - 525-600.
K
130 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
and other admired heroes, who, I imagine, would not accept the offer of a return to the upper regions, if one were to send them back to be hired servants to starvelings and beggars.
Achilleus. Your exhortation is friendly and well meant : but, I know not how, the remembrance of things in life troubles me, and I imagine it does each one of you, too. However, if you do not confess it openly, you are in that respect worse off, in that you endure it in silence.
Antilochus. No, rather better off, Achilleus, for we see the uselessness of speaking about it. And we have come to the resolution to keep silence, and to bear, and put up with it, not to incur ridicule, as you do, by indulging such wishes.
XVI.
DIOGENES, THE CYNIC, EXPRESSES HIS ASTONISHMENT TO HERAKLES AT SEEING THE SON OF ZEUS IN HADES, LIKE THE REST. THAT HERO PRETENDS THAT HIS ACTUAL SELF IS IN HEAVEN, WHILE IT IS HIS eidolon, OR PHANTOM, WHICH IS AMONG THE DEAD.
Diogenes and Herakles.
Diogenes. Is not this Herakles ? It is, indeed, no other, by Herakles ! — the bow, the club, the lion's skin, the bulk — it is Herakles all over. Then, with all his being son of Zeus, has he died for good and all ? Tell me, " glorious victor," : are you a dead man ? for I used to offer sacrifice to you above ground, as if you were divine.
Herakles. And you did perfectly right ; for the true
1 KaWivuce. So called from a hymn to him by Archilochus, sung at the Olympic Games, beginning with K.aWhnic' avaz, 'HpatcXeig. — Bourdin.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 131
Herakles himself is in the company of the Gods in heaven,
and
" Enjoys Hebe of the beautiful ancles," '
while I, his ghost, am here.
Diogenes. What — a ghost of a God ? And is' it possible for one to be a God in one half of one's -person, and to have died in the other half ?
Herakles. Yes : for he has not died, but I, his simulacrum.
Diogenes. I understand. He handed you over as a sub- stitute, in place of himself, to Pluto ; and you, therefore, are a dead man in the stead of that hero.
Herakles. Something of the sort.
Diogenes. How, pray, did ^Eakus, who is so particular, not distinguish you were not he, but accepted a supposititious Herakles, 2 as soon as ever he appeared ?
Herakles. Because I resembled him so exactly.
Diogenes. You speak the truth : for so exactly do you resemble him that you are he. Consider a moment, how- ever, whether the contrary is not the case — you, in fact, are the Herakles, while it's your ghost that has married Hebe in heaven.
Herakles. You are an insolent and prating fellow ; and, if you don't stop your jeering at me, you shall presently know of what sort of God I am ghost.
Diogenes. Your bow, indeed, is out of its case, 3 and ready to hand : but I, — why should I, once dead, any longer be
The whole Dialogue is a parody of the account in the Odyssey of the interview of the hero (among other dpevt'jva icapijva of celebrities in Hades) with that of the son of Alkmene : —
t.<Jtv6i)aa ftirjv ' HpciKkr)iir)v TZiduiXoV avTOQ Ik fitT a9avaroi<ji Otottrt TepjrtTca iv OaXiyg Kai ty/i icaXkicr(pvpov"llj3T]v HciiSa Aioc fieyaXoio Kai "Hp/jc xP Vff07r £diXov.
'Od. xi. 600-604.
The visit of Odysseus to the infernal regions, or, at least, his method of conjuration, it must be admitted, is barbarous enough to excuse severer satire than even that of Lucian.
2 'Avravdpbv. A word peculiar to Lucian. Cf. KaTcnrXovg y Tvpavvoc, the offer of the tyrant Megapenthes to Klotho : — 6i (iovKtaQt Se, Kai avravdpbv vp.lv avr tpavrov Trapadioaut tov ayairi)T6v.
3 Parody of 'Otf. xi. 606.
132 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
afraid of yon ? But tell me, in the name of your own Herakles — when he was alive, did you associate with him at that time as his ghost ; or, were yon one and the same during your life, and, when you died, did you separate and did he fly off to heaven, and you, the ghost, as was natural, come to Hades ?
HeraMes. I ought not even to have replied to a man who talks thus lightly. However, pray, just hear this, too. As much as there was of Amphitryon in Herakles, 1 that has died, and I am all that ; but what there was of Zeus is living with the Gods in heaven.
Diogenes. Now I clearly understand. For Alkmene gave birth, you imply, to two Herakleses at the same time — the one by Amphitryon, and the other from Zeus ; so that, with- out its being known, you were twins, born of the same mother.
Herakles. No, vain trifler : why, we both were one and the same person.
Diogenes. It's not so easy to understand this — that there were two Herakleses compounded into one — excepting, per- haps, in the manner, as it were, of some hippocentaur, you had grown together, man and god.
HeraMes. What ! don't you suppose all men to be so com- posed of two parts — soul and body ? So what is to hinder the soul from being in heaven, which was from Zens, and the mortal part — myself — from being with the dead ?
Diogenes. Nay, most excellent son of Amphitryon, yon would have fairly advanced that argument if you were a body ; but now yon are a bodiless ghost. So you are perilously near making Herakles just now into a trinity.
Herakles. How a trinity ?
Diogenes. In this way about. If the one, whoever it is r is in heaven, and the one who is with us are you the ghost, while your body has already been dissolved and become dust on ^Eta, 2 these surely are three. And consider, there- fore, whom you will devise for the third parent for your body. 3
Herakles. You are an impudent and sophistical fellow. And who, pray, may you happen to be, too ?
1 See 0. A. x. 2 See 0. A. xiii. and 'Ep/xoTi^iog, vii.
- Hemsterhuis quotes a Latin epitaph which divides the human
DIALOGUES OP THE DEAD. 133
Diogenes. The ghost of Diogenes, the Sinopian. Bat, on my faith, he is not " with the Gods immortal"': nay, rather, I associate with the best of the Dead, and laugh heartily at Homer and such like frigid nonsense.
XVII.
MENIPPUS DERIDES THE FABLE AND FATE OF TANTALUS. 2
Menippus and Tantalus.
Menippus. Why weep you, Tantalus, or why stand you by the lake and bemoan yourself ?
Tantalus. Because, Menippus, I am dying of thirst.
Menippus. Are you so lazy as not to stoop and drink, or, by all that's sacred, even to draw up water in the hollow of your hand ?
Tantalus. No good, if I were to stoop down, for the water flees away whenever it feels me approaching it. And if even, too, I drew any up and put it to my mouth, I have not wetted the tip of my lips, before somehow or other it
animal into four distinct elements, destined for as many separate habi- tations : —
' ' Bis duo sunt homines — manes, caro, spiritus, umbra ; Quattuor has partes tot loca suscipiant. Terra tegit carnem, tumulum circumvolat umbra, Orcus habet manes, spiritus astra petit."
1 The well-known hemistich from the Iliad.
2 Another satire on the poet of the Odyssey, and on the received tl.eology : —
TavraXov tlcrtiSov, x«^67r' dkye tx ovTOL
"EoTaor ev Xi^ivy — Cf. Or. Met. iv. 458 ; Hor. Sat. i. 68 ; Epod. xvii. 66, &c. ; Lucian, Ylepl UivOovQ, NeKpofiavTEia. Euripides (*Op£<xr. 5) repeats another account of his torture, by which he floats in the Tartarean air, and is in constant terror from a rock suspended over his head : a version of the fable which Lucretius follows : —
11 Nee miser impendens magnum timet aere saxum Tantalus, ut famast, cassa formidine torpens. Sed magis in vita," &c. De Ber. Nat. iii. 900.
134 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
flows through my fingers, and leaves my hand again as dry as ever.
Menippus. Your experience is somewhat of the miracu- lous, Tantalus. But tell me why, pray, have you even any need to drink ? For you have no body ; but that which could suffer hunger and thirst, lies buried somewhere in Lydia : and as for you, the spirit, how can you any longer be thirsty, or drink ?
Tantalus. That's the very nature of the punishment — that my spirit should thirst as though it were body.
Menippus. Well, I will believe it to be so, since you declare you are being punished by the feeling of thirst. But what, pray, will there be terrible to you in that ? Is it that you fear dying from want of something to drink ? But that can't he, for I do not observe another Hades after this one, or another death to go to, from here to another place ?
Tantalus. You are right, and this, in fact, is part of my sentence — the longing to drink, without having any need to do so.
Menippus. You talk nonsense, Tantalus ; and you seem truly enough to be in need of a draught — unmixed helle- bore, by heaven ! — who have experienced a fate the opposite to that of those who have been bitten by mad dogs, 1 since you are afraid, not of water, but of thirst.
Tantalus. Not even hellebore, Menippus, do I refuse to drink ; let me only have it.
Menippus. Keep up your spirits, Tantalus, since neither you nor anyone else of the Dead will drink : for it's an im- possibility. However, not all, like you, by the terms of their sentence, thirst for water that will not stay for them.
1 "Mad" dogs, evidently, were not unknown in ancient cities, maddened, doubtless, by much the same causes as in modern days — terror, ill-treatment, bad, and insufficient food. Horace numbers them among the terrors of the streets of Kome. For a panic excited by a supposed mad donkey, see Apuleius, De Aureo Asino. Cf. Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, lxix.
DIALOGUES OP THE DEAD. 135
XVIII.
MENIPPUS DESIRES HERMES TO POINT OUT TO HIM THE BEAU- TIFUL WOMEN AND HANDSOME MEN CELEBRATED BY THE POETS. HERMES SHOWS HIM THE GHOSTS OF THE MOST FAMOUS OF THEM, AND, IN PARTICULAR, THAT OF HELENE. MEXIPPUS CYNICALLY EXPRESSES HIS ASTONISHMENT THAT A BARE SKULL SHOULD HAVE CAUSED A GREAT WAR, AND THE DEATHS OF SO MANY THOUSANDS.
Menippus and Hermes.
Menippus. And where are the belles and the beaux, Hermes ? Be my cicerone, for I am a new arrival.
Hermes. I have no leisure, Menippus : look carefully, however, at that spot, to the right, where are Hyakinthus, and Narkissus, and Nireus, and Achilleus, and Tyro, and Helene, and Leda, 1 and in fine all the beauties of old ?
Menippus. I see only bones and skulls, bare of flesh, 2 for the most part all alike.
Hermes. Yet these are the bones that all the poets rave about, which you appear to contemn.
1 Propertius (Eleg. ii. 21), in praying for the safety of bis mistress, recounts some of the famous beauties of Greek antiquity, who, he thinks, ought to be enough to satisfy Pluto : —
" Sunt apud infernos tot millia Formosarum :
Pulchra sit in superis, si licet una locis. Vobiscum est Iole, vobiscum Candida Tyro,
Vobiscum Europe, nee proba Pasiphae. Et quot Iona tulit, vetus et quot Achaia Formas,
Et Thebae, et Priami diruta regna senis."
Cf. 0. A. ii. Tyro and Leda were among the many belles who appeared to Odysseus in Hades. '08. xi. 234-296.
2 According to the poet of the Odyssey, ghosts are divested of the u muddy vesture " of flesh and bones : —
Ov yap trt crapKag re icai bar'ta Ivtg t-xpvoiv. "AAAa tci fi'iv re irvpbg Kparepov fxkvog alQofikvoio Actfivcji, lirei jce 7rpu>TCt \iiry \evk oarka Qvpog ¥vx>) $'r}VT uvtipog, d7ro7TTafisvrj 7Tf7ror?jrat.
'Od. xi. 2.
136 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
Menippus. However, point me out Helene : for I could not distinguish her.
Hermes. That skull is Helene.
Menippus. Then, on account of this, those thousand ships were equipped from the whole of Hellas, and so many Hellenes and foreigners fell, and so many cities have become ruins !
Hermes. But you never saw the lady alive, Menippus ; for even you would have acknowledged it was not a matter to excite indignation that they : —
" For such a woman many a year choose bitter woe to suffer." l
For, in fact, if one looks at withered flowers, when they have lost their brilliant colour, it is plain that they will seem to him to have lost all their beauty. While, however, they are in bloom and retain their colour, they are very beautiful.
Menippus. 'Tis this, however, I wonder at, Hermes, — that the Achasans did not know they were suffering for a thing so shortlived and quickly fading.
Hermes. I have no leisure, Menippus, to engage in a philo- sophical chat with you. So do you choose out for yourself a spot, wherever you like, and throw yourself down and there lie ; while I shall straightway go and look after the rest of the dead men.
1 Toiyd' a/x^i yvvaiKi 7ro\vv \povov akyea Ttuaxuv. A quotation of 'I\. iii. 157, where unwilling admiration is excited in the aged Priam and Trojan chiefs (as they watch the causa teterrima belli from the walls of the city), who exclaim : —
Ov vs^ecriQ Tpwag ical tvKVTjfudae, 'A^atovc
Toiyd' afKpi yvvaiKi ttoKvv "xpovov dXyea Ttdoyi.iv
'Aivuig dOavdrtjai Qeyg ac Cjrra toucev.
See the remarks of Quintilian, Be Inst. Oral. viii. 4 : <l Quanam igitur ilia forma credenda est ? Non enim hoc dicit Paris, qui rapuit, non aliquis juvenis, non unus e vulgo ; sed senes et prudentissimi et Priamo assidentes," &c. For an enumeration of the lovers of Helen, see Apollo- dorus, iii. 10. The sum-total amounts to no less than twenty-eight.
DIALOGUES OF THF DEAD. 137
XIX.
PROTESILAUS, ONE OF THE VICTIMS OF THE TROJAN WAR, SEEKS TO AVENGE HIMSELF BY AN ASSAULT ON HELENE — 51AKUS, GATEKEEPER AND ONE OF THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN HADES, REMINDS HIM THAT IT IS MENELAUS, THE COMMANDER- IN-CHIEF OF THE ACH^AN ARMY AGAINST ILIUM, WHO IS THE PROPER OBJECT OF HIS VENGEANCE. MENELAUS SHIFTS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO THE SHOULDERS OF PARIS. PARIS LAYS THE BLAME UPON EROS. .2EAKUS DECIDES THAT PROTESILAUS HAS ONLY HIMSELF TO BLAME FOR PREFERRING MILITARY GLORY TO A YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL WIFE ; BUT CONCEDES TO PROTESILAUS THAT THE BLAME, IN THE LAST RESORT, LIES WITH THE FATES.
JEakus, Protesilaus, 1 Menelaus, and Paris.
JEakus. Why are you falling upon Helen, and throttling her, Protesilaus ?
Protesilaus. Why ? Because it was through her I met with my death, JEakus, leaving behind me my house half- finished, and my newly -married wife a widow.
JEakus. Blame Menelaus, then, who led you to Troy, for the sake of such a woman.
Protesilaus. You are right. It's he I have to call to account.
Menelaus. 'No, not me, my fine sir, but Paris more likely, who, contrary to every principle of justice, ran off with the wife of his host — myself. Why, this fellow deserves to be throttled not by you only but by all Hellenes and foreigners, seeing he has been the cause of death to such numbers.
Protesilaus. Better so. Never, therefore, I assure you,
1 A prince of Thessaly who led a number of confederated Thessalian tribes to Ilium. First to leap out of his ship on to the enemy's coast, he was the first slain of the Achseans. The story of the devotion of his wife, Laodameia, is well known. Cf. 'I\. ii. 698-703 j Ov. Laodameia Protesilao ; Catullus, Ad Manlium, 70-108 : —
u Quo tibi turn casu, pulcherrima Laodameia, Ereptum est vita dulcius atque anima Conjugium : tanto se absorbens vortice amoris Justus in abruptum detulerat barathrum."
138
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
will I let you out of my hands, "ill-fated Paris," * (taking him by the throat).
Paris. Then you do an injustice, Protesilaus, and that, too, to your fellow-craftsman. For I myself, also, am a devotee of Eros, and am held fast prisoner by the same divinity. And you know how involuntary a sort of thing is love, and how a certain divinity drives us wherever he wishes, and it is impossible to resist him.
Protesilaus. You are right. Would therefore it were possible for me to get hold of Eros here !
JEakus. I will maintain the cause even of Eros against you. Why, he would himself acknowledge that, likely enough, he was the cause, as regards Paris, of his falling in love ; but that of your death, Protesilaus, no one else was the cause but yourself, who, entirely forgetful of your newly-married wife, when you brought your ships up at the Troad, so rashly and foolhardily leapt out before the rest, enamoured of glory ; on account of which you were the first, in the disembarkation, to die.
Protesilaus. Then, I shall, in defence of myself, make a still juster reply to you, JEakus. You ivill confess it, for it is not I am responsible for all this, but Destiny, and the fact that my thread of life was so spun 2 from the first.
JEakus. Rightly, too. Why, then, do you blame them ?
1 A parody of 'IX. iii. 39, where Hektor taunts his brother with his cowardice : —
Avairapi, sldog apian, yvvaifiavkc, rj7repo7revTa, k. t. X.
imitated by Ovid (according to the revision of Heinsius)
" Dyspari Priamide, damno formose tuorum."
Laod. Trot. 43.
Euripides uses a similar amalgam in Avoekevav (" ill-fated Helene"). 'OptcrTtjg, 1391.
2 'ETriKEKXuxrOai. Namely, by Klotho, the one of the three sisters whose province it is to spi)i out the fated life of man. See Hesiod. Qtoy. 905-910, and Lucian, KardirXovg 1) Tvpavvog.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 139
XX.
.EAKUS, AT THE ESPECIAL REQUEST OF MENIPPUS, INTRODUCES HIM TO THE GHOSTS OF THE MOST CELEBRATED POTENTATES OF ANTIQUITY, WHEN THE CYNIC AVAILS HIMSELF OF HIS OPPORTUNITY FOR RIDICULE AND DERISION. MENIPPUS IS NEXT INTRODUCED TO THE MOST FAMOUS PHILOSOPHERS, WHOM HE TREATS WITH NOT MUCH GREATER CONSIDERA- TION. THE DIALOGUE CONCLUDES WITH THE INTERVIEW WITH SOKRATES, WHOSE FOIBLES, REAL OR PRETENDED, ARE MADE THE SUBJECT OF SATIRE.
Merwppua and JEaJcus. 1
Menippu8. In the name of Pluto, ^Eakus, be my chaperon, and conduct me round all the sights of Hades.
JEakus. No easy thing, Menippus, to do everything. As regards, however, the principal sights, learn as follows : — that this creature here is Kerberus you are aware ; and this ferryman, who conveyed you across, and the lake, and Pyriphlegethon, 2 you have seen but now at your entering
Menippus. I know all that, and you, that you are the gate-keeper, and I saw the king, and the Erinyes : 3 but point
1 Jacobs (ap. Porson, Adversaria) thinks this Dialogue to be not worthy of the genius of Lucian. But, as Lehmann justly remarks, although it has some parts not so highly finished as is usual with Lucian, " omnino tamen ubivis spirat aura Luciani."
2 The " flaming " river, or lake, surrounding Hades. The other infernal streams are the Acheron (the joyless river), the Kokytus (the river of wailing), and the Styx {the hateful river). See that eloquent re- pertory of fantastic superstition or imagination, the Phcsdon — to which the Christian Inferno and, in particular, that of Dante is indebted. According to Plato, Acheron and the Acherusian lake, the pagan Purgatorio, await those " too black for heaven, and yet too white for hell," who, after expiating their offences, receive the reward of their good deeds. Into " Tartarus horriferos eructans faucibus sestus," the worst criminals are thrown headlong, to endure everlasting fire and tortures. Cf. Mn. vi., Georgica, ii. 490-492 ; Lucretius, Be Rer. Nat. iii.
3 The avenging divinities, the Latin Furia, in Hellenic euphemism usually known as the Eumenides (the " kindly disposed "). The triad is found first in Euripides. The individual names Alekto, Megsera,
140 DIALOGUES OP THE DEAD.
out to me the men of old times, and especially those of them who are famous.
JEaJius. This is Agamemnon, and this Achilleus, and this Idomeneus close by, and this Odysseus ; next are Aias and Diomedes, and the most valiant of the Hellenes.
Menipptu. Bah ! Homer, what creatures are the prin- cipal ornaments of your rhapsodies, that are tossed about on the ground, shapeless, mere dust all of them, and empty trumpery, in very truth "fleeting forms!" 1 And this fellow, .^akus, who is he ?
JEakus. It is Cyrus, and this Krcesus, and the one above him Sardanapalus, and the one above them Midas ; and he here is Xerxes.
Menipptu (to Xerxes). Then, vile refuse, it was at your bridging the Hellespont that Hellas shuddered, and at your ambition to sail through the mountains ? 2 And what a
and Tisiphone appear first in the Hellenic theological writers of late times. In the Bvpisvioeg of ^Eschylus, their number is unlimited.
1 Cf. Aristoph. , Opvi9tr i in the magnificent choral parabasis : —
<f>i'(riv avdptg dfiavpo(3ioi } <J>vKKu)v yti'f^ 7rpoo6fioioi, 'OXiyodpavseg, TrXdapiara tttjXov criciotidsa <j)vX' dp,fvr]vd, , AiTTi]vtQ ttyrm'tpioi, raXaol (Bporoi, dvkpeg eiKeXoveipoi.
Moschus : —
ILvdofitg tii /xdXa fidicpov drepfiova vtjypsrov vttvov.
Juvenal, Sat. x. 172 : —
" Mors sola fatetur Quantula sint hominum corpuscula," &c.
2 Menippus alludes to the canal across the Macedonian peninsula of Chalkidike (of which Mount Athos is the Southern extremity) formed by order of Xerxes, to avoid the dangerous passage round that cape. The canal, of which traces are visible, had a length of one and a-half miles. Juvenal, who, in common with many ancient and modern writers, was incredulous, thus refers to it : —
" Credit ur olim Velificatus Athos, et quidquid Graecia mendax Audet in historia. ; constructum classibus isdem Suppositumque rotis solidum mare."
Sat. x. 174-177.
Some one hundred and fifty years later a yet more ambitious, and much less praiseworthy, work was proposed by an architect in Alexander of Macedon's train — the transformation of Mount Athos into a gigantic statue of that conqueror, holding in one hand a city of 10,000 inhabi- tants, and in the other a river. See Plutarch, B/oi Ilao. 'AXe£.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 141
figure, too, is the famous Kroesus ! And as for Sardanapalus, iEakus, just permit me to give him a cuff on the ear.
Mafan. By no means, for you would shiver his skull in pieces, it is so like a woman's.
Menippus. Well, then, I will, at least, certainly spit upon him for a worn an -man.
j Eakus, Would you like me to show you the philosophers, too?
Menippus. In heaven's name, yes.
JEalcus. First of all, this is your celebrated Pythagoras.
Menippus. Good-day to you, Euphorbus, or Apollo, 1 or whatever you like to be.
Pythagoras. The same to you, with all my heart, Me- nippus.
Menippus. Have you no longer a golden thigh ?
Pythagoras. Why, no ; but come, let me see if your wallet contains anything eatable.
Menippus. Beans, my dear sir — so that's not in your way of eating.
Pythagoras. Only give them to me. Other opinions hold among the dead ; for I have learned that beans and one's parents' heads are not all on an equality here.
JEakus. This is Solon, the son of Exekestides, and that
1 Euphorbus, a Trojan hero, slain by Menelaus, who hung up his enemy's shield, as a trophy, in a temple at Mykenae. Pythagoras, who, according to the fable, asserted himself to have been, in one of the various stages of the metempsychosis, Euphorbus, proved his identity by selecting his shield by the faculty of reminiscence. Compare Lucian's Upavig Bi'wv, and "Ovtipog i) 'AXeicTpvuv, 16 ; Diog. Laert. TLtpi BjW k.t.X. (IIv6>ay.) ; Ov. Metam. xv., which book contains, as Dry den justly observes, the finest passage in that charming poem — the Pytha- gorean precepts in regard to humane living. As for the absurd legend of the " golden thigh," repeated unquestioningly by so many writers, old and modern, see "Oveipog, 'A\s%. 40 ; Diog. Laert. viii. &c. For the more historical prohibition of beans (to the highest class of his initiated followers) see Porphyry's Biog UvOay. ; Plut. 'Evfnr. ; Diog. Laert. ; and the commentaries of Hemsterhuis and Lehmann. In a well-known passage, Horace refers to the prohibited bean : —
" O quando faba Pythagorae cognata, simulque Uncta satis pingui ponentur oluscula lardo ? O noctes caenaeque deum! " — Sat. ii. 6. Cf. Juv. Sat. xv. 170-174.
142 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
Thales, and by their side Pittakos and the rest; 1 and there are seven in all, as you observe.
Menippus. These, iEakus, are the only ones of all of them without grief and cheerful. But the one covered with cinders, for all the world like a loaf baked in the ashes, who blossoms all over with blisters, who is he ?
JEakus. Empedokles, Menippus, come from ^Etna, half- boiled.
Menippus. Fine Sir of the brazen foot, what possessed you that you threw yourself into the craters of JEtna ? a
Empedokles. A sort of melancholy madness, Menippus.
Menippus. Not so, by heaven ! but vain-glory and puffed- up pride, and much drivelling — these things burned you to
1 The four other " Sages," to whom allusion is here made, are Bias, Periander, Cheilon, and Kleobulus. By far the most distinguished of these " seven wise men," as they were called kot i£6xnv, are Thales, the celebrated savant of Miletus, the originator of the theory of the Aqueous origin of the Universe, and Solon, the Attic legislator. Of the remain- ing five, their titles to supreme wisdom are not altogether unquestion- able. Periander, tyrant of Korinth, in the sixth century B.C. (if justice or humanity enter into the idea of" wisdom"), had the least indefeasible claim of all. In fact, by some authorities he was excluded from the magic number.
2 As in the case of Pythagoras, Lucian chooses to adopt the absurd popular legend, or hostile calumny, which represents this distinguished philosopher as throwing himself into the crater of .ZEtna, that his mira- culous disappearance might acquire for him the honours of divinity. Cf. 'I or. 'A\i]9. ii. 289 ; Hepl r//c Yltptypivov TeXturng, i. ; Diog. Laert. ; Strabo, vi. ; ifclian, Hoik. 'l<rr. xii. 32 ; Horace, Ars Poet. 464. Dio- genes informs us that the Pythagorean philosophers were in the habit of wearing sanflals or slippers of brass ; but Lucian's epithet, ^a\/co7row, as Wieland points out, may be derived from 'IX. xiii. 23, and from the "HXficrpa of Sophokles, 492. In spite of alleged eccentricities, Empedokles has deserved to be regarded as one of the most distinguished savants and geniuses of old Hellas. The greatest of Latin poets speaks of him in terms of the highest and most enthusiastic praise. Celebrating the glories of Sicily, Lucretius adds : —
" Nil tamen hoc habuisse viro praeclarius in se Nee sanctum magis et mirum carumque videtur. Carmina quin etiam divini pectoris eius Vociferantur et exponunt praeclara reperta, Ut vix humana videatur stirpe creatus."
De Eer. Sat. i. 729.
Of his principal poem, Tltpl <J>txT£wc, considerable fragments remain.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 143
ashes, slippers and all, not unworthy of your fate. But the clever trick did you no good ; for you clearly were proved
to have died. Sokrates, however, wherever in the
world is he, pray ?
JEaku8. He is generally talking nonsense, with Nestor and Palamedes.
Menippus. None the less I would wish to have a look at him, if he is anywhere here.
Malms. Do you see the bald-headed man ?
Menippus. All of them are bald-headed together. So that would be the distinguishing mark of all.
JEahus. I mean the snub-nosed one.
Menippus. That, too, is all. one; 1 for they are the whole lot of them all snub-nosed.
Sokrates. Is it me you are inquiring for, Menippus ?
Menippus. Yes, indeed, Sokrates.
Sokrates. How go things in Athens ?
Menippus. Many of the young men say they are engaged in philosophy. And if one were to regard their ways of dressing and walking alone, they are tip-top philosophers.
Sohrates. I have seen very many of them.
Menippus. But you have observed, I suppose, in what style Aristippus 2 came to you, and Plato himself ; the one reeking of perfume, and the other after having thoroughly learned the art of courting Sicilian despots. 3
Sohrates. But about me what opinions do they enter- tain ?
Menipjms. You are a lucky fellow, Sokrates, as to that sort of thing, at all events. All, in fact, consider you to have been an admirable man, and to have known every-
1 'Qfioiov, the French tout igal, of the use of which idiom a highly entertaining illustration may be seen in Tristram Shandy, \n. 34.
2 A disciple of Sokrates, and founder of the Cyrenaic School, as it is called. For his selfish and sensual principles of life, see Diog. Laert. ; and compare the Btwv Upamg, Athenaeus, xiii. Horace expresses his admiration for him in well-known rerses, Ep. i. 1, 17, 23, 24, and Ep. i. 1, 18.
3 The two Dionysii, uncle and nephew, the celebrated tyrants of Sicily. According to some of the biographers or historians, Plato suffered for his plain-speaking to the despots. See, in particular. Plutarch. Dion.
144 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
thing ; and that, too — for one must, I suppose, tell the truth — when you knew nothing. 1
Solvates. And I myself kept telling them that, but they would imagine the thing was pretended ignorance on my part. 2
Menvppus. And who are these about you ?
Socrates. Charmides, and Phasdrus, and the son of Kleinias. 3
Menijppus. Well done, Sokrates ; for even here you pursue your peculiar profession, and don't altogether despise the handsome fellows. 4
Sokrates. Why, what else could I engage in more plea- santly ? However, do you, please, recline close by us.
Menijppus. No, faith, for I shall go off to join Kroesus and Sardanapalus, to take up my abode in their neighbour- hood. I think, in fact, that I shall laugh not a little in listening to their doleful lamentations.
JEahus. I, too, will now be off, for fear that some one or other of the dead may get clear away without my per- ceiving him. As for the remaining sights you shall see them at another time, Menippus.
Menippus. Take yourself off at once ; indeed, these sights here are quite sufficient, iEakus.
1 The Delphic Oracle had pronounced the philosopher " the wisest man," we are assured, because for himself he constantly professed that he knew nothing. How far this exaggeration of a truth was carried by his disciples in the " New Academy " is well known. Of the scepticism of Pyrrho, who probably was considerably influenced by Sokratism as well as by Demokritus, an entertaining parody is given in the Jlpaaig
2 Elpwveiav, the special character of the Sokratic Dialogue, whence the English irony. See 'AX. 'lor. ii. 232.
- Charmides, the uncle of Plato, and Phsedrus have given their names
to two of the Dialogues of Plato. The son of Kleinias was Alkibiades, who occupies a conspicuous place in the HvjX7r6(nov, and gives his name to two Platonic Dialogues.
4 See 'AXijOtfg 'laropia (ii. 225), which gives an highly entertaining account of the manner of life of some of the celebrities met by the enter- prising travellers in the Island of the Blessed.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 145
XXI.
1IENIPPUS INQUIRES OP KERBERUS, THE CANINE GUARDIAN OP THE ENTRANCE TO HADES, AS TO THE DEMEANOUR OF SOKRATES UPON HIS FIRST ARRIVAL THERE.
2Ienijjpus. My friend Kerberus — for I am your kinsman, being myself a dog, too, 1 — tell me, in the name of the Styx, what was Sokrates like when he was coming down to us : it is to be expected that yon, as you are divine, not only bark but also utter human sounds whenever you have a mind to do so.
Kerberus. At a distance, Menippus, he appeared, in every way, to be approaching with undisturbed countenance, seeming to fear death in no great degree, and desirous to make this evident to those who stood outside the entrance. But when he stooped down and peered within the yawning cavern, and saw the darkness, and when I gave him a bite as he was long dallying with the hemlock, 2 and dragged him down by the foot, he began to squall like an infant, and to bewail his little children, and to take all possible forms in his terror. 3
Menippus. Was then the fellow a mere sophist? and did he not, in fact, have contempt for the event of death ?
Kerberus. Ko, he had not ; but when, in fact, he saw
1 See N. A. i. ; Hepi UsvOovg, 4 ; Mev'nnroQ f; Nskuoju. 10; Aristopb. Harp. Kerberus, like most of tbe monsters of Hellenic fancy or Mediaeval supersti- tion, was, cbimaera-like, a compound of dog and serpent — the reptile part of tbe monster adorning its back and forming its tail. See Apollod. ii.
5, 12. The Dog, it has been observed, has been deified (in the two principal religions of the ancient western world), in Heaven, on Earth, and in Hades, as Seirius, Anubis, and Kerberus.
2 ^lajxiXKovra avruv daicu>v r<£ Kojveiy, k. t. X. There is some am- biguity in the connection of ry tcuveiq). Fritzsche connects them with ccucioi'. The order of the text is that adopted by Jacobitz. Cf. Aristopb. Borp. 124.
3 YlavToiog lyeveTo. Nahm alle moglichen Gestalten an, d. i. war ganz ausser sich, wuste nicht, was er machen sollte. Cf. NtyptVoc, 4,
6. A. xxi. 2. — Jacobitz. This account of Kerberus differs altogether from that given by Plato in his (fraidwv: — " ovdev rpeactQ, ovdk SiacpQeipag
OVTS TOV Xpib/JCITOQ OVTE TOV TrpOGtOITOV, «U' (xXJTtip £1(00(1, TCLVpTjOOV V7TO-
fi\e\pag." Cf. Xenophon,oi'<Jf -Kpoq tov Qdvarov kfia\aKi<TaTo, d\A' [\a|0wc, k. t. X. ('A7roXoy<'a) ./Elian, n. I. ix. 7 ; Cicero, Tusc. Disp. iii. 31.
146 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
that it was necessary and unavoidable, he began to show himself courageous, as though, forsooth, ready to suffer not unwillingly what he was bound certainly to undergo, so that the spectators might admire his conduct. And, in short, about all such persons I could tell you, up to the entrance they show daring and manliness ; but what hap- pens within is a clear proof of their fear.
Menippus. And I, what did you think of my coming below ?
Kerberus. You alone, Menippus, and Diogenes before you, 1 made the descent in a manner worthy of your species ; because you entered without being compelled, or pushed in, but of your free will, laughing, after having bidden all the world to go to the devil.
XXII.
CHARON DEMANDS FEOM MENIPPUS HIS ACCUSTOMED FEE. UPON THE ABSOLUTE REFUSAL OF THE CYNIC TO PAY, A LIVELY ALTERCATION ENSUES.
Charon and Menippus.
Charon. Pay me, damned rascal, my passage-fee.
Menippus. Bellow, if that is more agreeable to you than anything else, Charon.
Charon. Pay me, I say, for my having ferried you across.
Menippus. You will not get anything from a fellow who has nothing.
Charon. And is there any man in the world who has not a couple of pence ? 2
1 The manner of the death of Diogenes is variously related. See Diog. Laert. Lucion in his IlpaaiQ Biwv makes him kill himself by swallowing an uncooked polypus. Of. Plutarch, Uepl r/yc SapKocpayiag. He is, however, usually represented as having died of old age (at ninety) at Korinth, the year of the death of Alexander of Macedon.
8 'OfioXbv. See Uspi Utv9ovg, ii. (the principal authority on the subject); Aristoph. Barp. 140; Diodorus, ii. 5; Juvenal, Sat. iii. 267 : —
" Infelix, nee habet quern porrigat ore trientem." Also Staekelberg's Die Grdbcr der Hellenen. Apuleius (Be Aureo Asino), on the descent of Psyche to the Infernal Regions, refers to this practice : — 11 in ipso ore dtcas ferrc stipes, quartern, alteram primam transvectionem, reditum altera merceiur, for (as we are told) et inter moriuos Avaritia vivit.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 147
Menippus. If there is anyone else who hasn't got them I don't know ; but I have not got them.
Charon. By Pluto, I will certainly throttle you, villain, if you don't pay up {taking him by the throat).
Menippus. And I will beat and break your skull to pieces with my staff.
Sharon. Then you will have made your so long voyage in vain. 1
Menippus. Let Hermes, who handed me over to you, pay vou for me.
Hermes. Much profit should I get, faith, if I am going to pay for the dead, too !
Charon. I shall not let go of you (tightening his grasp).
Menippus. Then haul your craft on shore, and stop till you get it. 2 But, however, how can you receive what I have not got ?
Charon. But did you not know it is absolutely neces- sary to provide oneself with it ?
Menippus. I knew well enough : but I had not got it. What then ? Ought I not to be dead on that account ?
Charon. Are you then to be the only one to boast of having made the passage gratis ?
Menippus. Not gratis, my fine Sir ! For indeed I baled out the bilge-water, and lent a hand at the oar, and was the only one of all the passengers not to weep.
Charon. That's nothing to do with the ferryman. You must pay your twopence. It's not lawful and right for it to be otherwise.
Menippus. Then take me back to life again.
Charon. A pretty idea — to get blows for my pains from iEakus, into the bargain !
Menippus. Don't bother me, then.
Charon. Show us what you have got in your wallet.
Menippus. Lupines — if you want them — and Hekate's supper. 3
1 " The meaning is : You will in vain have made so long a voyage, for if you do not give me the obolos, you will have to return to the upper world." — Jacobitz.
1 The vavXov or " fee."
3 See N. A. i. The Lupine (a species of flowering pulse) was the common and staple food of the disciples of Antisthenes. See Diog.
148 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
Charon. From where in the world did yon bring ns this dog, Hermes ? And what langnage he used during the passage — laughing and jeering at all the whole lot of passengers, and, while the rest were groaning and lament- ing, the only one to give us a song !
Hermes. Don't you know, Charon, what personage it is you have brought over — a free man and no mistake ; he cares for nobody. He is the famous Menippus everyone knows.
Charon. All the same, should I ever catch you (shaking his fist) —
Menippus. Should you catch me, my fine Sir : but you don't catch me twice (making off).
XXIII.
PROTESILA.US, AN ACH^AN HERO, WHO HAD FALLEN BEFORE ILIUM, SUPPLICATES PLUTO TO PERMIT HIM TO RETURN TO LIFE, FOR A DAT, TO VISIT HIS WIFE LAODAMEIA, AND ADDUCES AS PRE- CEDENTS THE EXAMPLES OF ORPHEUS AND ALKESTIS. AT THE INTERCESSION OF PERSEPHONE, PLUTO AT LENGTH GRANTS THE FAVOUR.
Protesilaus, 1 Pluto, and Persephone.
Protesilaus. O Lord, and King, and our God here below, and you, daughter of Demeter, do not contemn a lover's prayer.
Pluto. And you — what do you want from us, or who may you be ?
Protesilaus. I am Protesilaus, the son of Iphiklus, of Phylake, who fought with the Achseans, and was the first of the army against; Ilium to die, and my supplication is that I may have leave of absence for a short time, and return to life again.
Pluto. That's a sort of love, Protesilaus, all dead people indulge in : but not one of them will ever succeed in it.
Laert. With the poets of the New Comedy it was a fertile subject for ridicule, as displayed in Athenseus. 1 See N. A. xix.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 149
Protesilaus. But it's not life, A'idoneus, 1 I am in love with, but my wife, whom I left behind still a young bride in the bridal chamber, and went off on the voyage : for, ill-fated wretch, I died by the hands of Hektor, at the dis- embarkation. 2 Love for my wife, accordingly, wears me away immeasurably, my Lord, and I am ready, after having appeared to her, if only for a brief time, to come down again.
Pluto. Did you not drink the water of Lethe, Protesilaus ?
Protesilaus. Yes, indeed, my Lord : but the matter was beyond all bounds.
Pluto. Then just wait for her ; for she, too, will arrive at some time or other, and there will be no need for you to go up above.
Protesilaus. But I can't endure the delay, Pluto. You've been in love 3 yourself, before now, and you know what a thing love is.
Pluto. Besides, what good will it do you to live again for one day, when you will have to experience the same griefs shortly afterwards ?
Protesilaus. I think I shall persuade her, too, to follow me to you, so that, in a little while, in place of one you will receive two dead people.
Pluto. It is not lawful and right that this should be, nor has it ever been so.
Protesilaus. I will refresh your memory, Pluto. Why, on this very same plea you delivered up Eurydike to Orpheus, and you sent off my kinswoman Alkestis to gratify Herakles.
Pluto. But would you wish thus, with your bare and ugly skull, to appear to that beautiful bride of yours ? and how, too, will she admit you to her, when she is not able even to distinguish you ? Why, she will be frightened, I am well
1 A paragogic form of Aides or Hades.
2 In the Iliad (ii. 695) his slayer is anonymous. Lucian here follows Ovid {Metam. xii. 67) or some other authority.
3 With Persephone, in particular, who : —
" Gathering flowers, Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis Was gathered."
150 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
assured, and will flee from you, and you will have made your long journey to the upper world to no purpose.
Persephone. Do you all the same, my husband, set that right, and direct Hermes, as soon as ever Protesilaus is in daylight, to touch him with his caduceus, 1 and make him a handsome youth again, such as he was when lie came out from the nuptial chamber.
Pluto (to Hermes). Since it's Persephone's pleasure, con- duct this man to the upper regions, and just make him a bridegroom again. — (To Protesilaus.) And do you remem- ber you have got only one day.
XXIV.
ID0GENES DEMANDS OF MAUSOLUS, THE KARIAN SATRAP, THE REASON OF HIS ARROGANCE AND PRIDE, AND RIDICULES THE VANITY OF HIS GRANDEUR AND POWER ON EARTH, AND, IN PARTICULAR, THE USELESSNESS TO HIM OF HIS MAGNIFICENT TOMB AT HALIKARNASSUS. HE CONCLUDES HIS DIATRIBE WITH CONTRASTING HIS OWN COMPLETE IGNORANCE AND IN- DIFFERENCE IN REGARD EVEN TO THE MANNER, OR PLACE, OF HIS OWN SEPULTURE.
Diogenes and Mausolus?
Diogenes. For what reason are you so high and mighty, and claim to have precedence of us all in honour, Karian ?
Mausolus. Indeed, by reason of my kingdom, O Sino- pian — seeing I was king of all Karia, and ruled over some
1 For the magic property of the pa/3ooc, see 0. A. vii.
2 Mausolus was Satrap of Karia, on the S.W. of the Lesser Asia, under the Persian monarch Artaxerxes the Second, or Mnemon (as he was called by the Greeks). With other Satraps he revolted, and estab- lished himself as an independent prince — 377-353 HC. At his death, his sister and wife Artemisia, who succeeded him. built the splendid monument which has given its name to succeeding edifices of the kind — none of which in the Western world have any title to rivalry with it. For a description, see Pliny, Hist. Nat. iv. 36. More justly than were- most of the others, it was reckoned among the " seven wonders."' In modern times, however, in the Eastern world the tomb of Marsolus has been surpassed by that paragon of architectural beauty, the Taj Mahal at Agra.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 151
of the Lydians, also, and subjugated to my dominion several islands, and advanced as far as Miletus, overrunning the greater part of Ionia. And I was handsome and great, and strenuous in wars. IJut, what is greatest reason of all, is that I possess in Halikarnassus a very great monument lying over me, of dimensions such as no other dead man has ; nay, nor one so elaborately beautified — horses and men having been copied with the greatest accuracy in the most beautiful marble — of such sort as one could not easily find even a temple. Seem I not to you justly to be high and mighty on those grounds ?
Diogenes. On account of your kingdom, you say, and your handsome appearance, and the weight of your tomb ?
Mausolus. Assuredly, on those grounds.
Diogenes. But, my handsome Mausolus, neither that power of yours nor your figure any longer pertains to you. If, however, we should choose some judge of good looks, I am unable to say why your skull should be preferred to mine ; for both are bald and bare, and we display our teeth with equal prominence, we are both deprived of our eyes, and have been both provided with snub-noses. And as for your tomb, and those costly marbles, they, perhaps, may be of tise to the good people of Halikarnassus, to show off: for their own benefit and to get honour for themselves from strangers and visitors as having, no doubt, a certain big building. But as for you, my fine Sir, I don't see what benefit you derive from it, unless * you affirm this — that you bear a heavier burden than we, inasmuch as you are weighed down by such huge stones.
Mausolus. Will all those things, then, be of no advantage to me, and will Mausolus and Diogenes have an equality of privilege ?
Diogenes. Not an equality of privilege, most excellent Sir, — certainly not. For Mausolus will groan and lament, in remembering his possessions above ground, in which he used to imagine himself to be happy, while Diogenes will laugh at him. And as for the tomb at Halikarnassus — he
1 HX))v ei 111). " Lucian himself has animadverted upon this expression in his Solacistcs ; for correct writers wrote 7r\?)v et, or ti fii). But Lucian has often not attended to his own rule."— Hemst.
152 DIALOGUES OP THE DEAD.
will call it his own, though it was constructed by his wife and sister Artemisia; whereas Diogenes does not know whether even he has any tomb for his carcass ; for he did not even bestow a thought about it ; l but he has left behind, for the best part of mankind, the memory of himself as of a man, who has lived a life much more sublime than your monument, greatest of Karian slaves, and built on a firmer foundation.
XXV.
XI REUS AND THERSITES, DISPUTING WHICH OF THEM WAS THE MORE DISTINGUISHED BY GOOD LOOKS, APPEAL TO MENIPPUS. MENIPPUS, DISREGARDING THE AUTHORITY OF HOMER, PRO- NOUNCES THE IookqlWoq AS WELL AS THE i<TOTt/Liia, IN HADES, TO BE AS COMPLETE AS IT IS UNALTERABLE.
Nireus, Thersites* and Menippus.
Nireus. -See, I say, Menippus here shall judge which of the two is more shapely. — Say, Menippus, don't I seem to you the better-looking ?
Menippus. But who are you, really ? For it is first neces- sary, I suppose, that I know that.
Nireus. Nireus and Thersites.
Menippus. "Which, pray, is Nireus, and which Thersites ? For that's not clear as yet.
Thersites. This one point in my favour I have already — that I am like you, and that you by no means are so far
1 See N. A. i. His master Antisthenes, the founder of the Cynic School, displayed equal indifference to the rites of sepulture.
2 For Nireus, see N. A. xviii. The agreeable picture of this represen- tative demagogue, Thersites, painted by the poet of the Iliad, is well known : —
aivxioTOQ Se avi)p virb "iXtov r}\9e' $o\icbg trjv, xoAoc d' 'irspov 7r6Sa ' rw Sk w/xw Kvpru), £7ri ot7)9oq gvvoxiokotz ' avrap virepOe
- bo£bc; lr\v Ktfa\?)v, ipkfivi] 6' eTrtvrjvoQe Xdxvrf.
ii. 216-219.
See 'AX. 'I<tt., where Thersites brings an action {ypacprf vfipeug) against the poet for calumny, before the Court of Rhadamanthys, and gains his case (ii. 280).
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 153
superior as Homer, that blind fellow, commends you for being, when he calls you a finer man than the rest of us; whereas I, the peak-headed and almost bald-pated individual, did not appear at all inferior in the eyes of our judge. — But do you see, Menippus, whom you consider really the finer gentleman ?
Nireus. Me, to be sure, the son of Aglaia and Charops,
" Of all the Danai 'neath Ilion who mustered, The man of fairest form." l
Menippus. You, by no means, however, came below ground very much like a beau, as I imagine ; on the con- trary, your bones were all much alike, and your skull could be distinguished, I suppose, from that of Thersites in this respect only — that yours is easily smashed ; for it is a brittle and no virile one you have.
Xireus. Indeed, ask Homer what I was like when I was campaigning with the Achoeans.
Menippus. Mere dreams: I see, however, what beauties you have just now, and as for those former graces of yours, the people of those times know all about that.
Xireus. Have I, then, here no superiority in good looks, Menippus ?
Menippus. Neither you, nor anyone else, have any pre- tensions to good looks ; for perfect equality prevails in Hades, and all are alike.
Thersites. For me, I assure you, that is quite enough.
1 "Of kolWkttoq dv))p v7rb *I\iov ijXOop.
'IX. ii. 673. Cf. Mncis, vii. 649, of the Son of Mezentius. Nireus and Thersites became a sort of proverb for masculine beauty and ugliness. Plato, in his representation of the various choices made by human souls, for their second lives, makes Thersites adopt that of an ape. — Tick, x. ad fincm.
154 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
XXVI.
CHEIEON IMPARTS TO MENIPPUS HIS REASON FOR PREFERRING HADES TO HEAVEN AND IMMORTALITY.
Menippus and Cheiron. 1
Menippus. I heard, Cheiron, that though divine, yon had a great desire to die.
Cheiron. You heard quite right, Menippus ; and I have died, as you see, when I might have been immortal.
Menippus. Pray, what love of death possessed you, a thing undesired by most people ?
Cheiron. I will tell you, as you are not altogether with- out sense. I had no longer any pleasure to get from immortality.
Menippus. It was no pleasure to you to live and see the light of day ? 2
Cheiron. No, Menippus, for I, for my part, hold pleasure to be something which is variable, and not simple. But I was always living and in the enjoyment of the same things — sun, light, food ; and there were the same seasons, and everything happened, each in its own order, following, as it were, one after the other — I became, therefore, satiated with them : for my pleasure was dependent not on its per- manence, but on the not being constantly participant in it. 3
1 The most famous of the Kentaurs, and instructor of Peleus, Achilleus, and other heroes. He met his death by an accident, at the hand of Herakles. As the son of Cronos, he was immortal; but, preferring death, Zeus permitted him to transfer his deathlessness to Prometheus. See Apollod. ii. v. &c. ; Hyginus ; Ov. Met. ii.
2 " No longer to behold the light," to the Hellene, and, in particular, to the Athenian, living under pure, translucent skies, and physically and mentally sensitive in a high degree to the enjoyments of life, was the one great cause of regret at the moment of death — as depicted by their tragic dramatists. See, especially, Euripides, 'I^iyeveia kvAvX., 1359-1362.
- Iw, lu t Xa/nraSovxag cifitpa,
Awg ts tp'tyyoQ, 'irtpov, erepov, Altova Kal fiolpav ottcrjcrofievl Xalpe fxoi, <pi\ov <pdog. Cf. the exquisite lines in the Cenci of Shelley (v. 4).
3 Le Clerc supposes Lucian to have derived this philosophy of Pleasure from the 'Y7roj3oAtjuatoc of Menander, who, in his turn, was indebted to Alexis. The fragment has been preserved by Stobseus. For iv rip /xeraox^v b\wc, Lebmann would read, with other MSS., ptTafiaXelv — inconstant change."
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 155
Menippus. You are right, Cheiron ; but how do you endure the state of things in Hades, ever since you came here by preference ?
Cheiron. Not disagreeably, Menippus, for your equality is very democratic, and the circumstance of being in day- light or in darkness brings no difference with it : besides, one has not to be thirsty nor hungry, as up above, for we are without all those wants.
Menippus. Take care, Cheiron, that you are not caught in your own words, and your argument does not come round to the same thing.
Cheiron. How do you mean ?
Menippus. That if everlasting sameness and similarity of human life was the cause of your ennui, here, too, the sameness of things must be equally matter for satiety for you ; and you will be obliged to seek some means of mi- grating from here, also, to another life, a thing which, I imagine, is impossible.
Cheiron. What should one do, then, Menippus ?
Menippus. According to what is commonly said, I suppose that a sensible man is pleased and content with his present circumstances, and thinks none of them intolerable.
XXVII.
THE PHILOSOPHERS DIOGENES, ANTISTHENES, AND KRATES RE- SOLVE TO MAKE FOR THE ENTRANCE TO 0RCUS, TO OBSERVE THE QUALITY AND CONDUCT OF THE NEW ARRIVALS. ON THE WAT THEY ENTERTAIN THEMSELVES WITH RECOUNTING THEIR SEVERAL EXPERIENCES OF THE BEHAVIOUR OF THEIR TRAVEL- LING COMPANIONS TO HADES. UPON THEIR ARRIVAL AT THEIR DESTINATION, DIOGENES INTERROGATES A POOR MAN AS TO THE CAUSE OF HIS LAMENTATION.
Diogenes, Antisthenes, Krates, 1 and Poor Man. Diogenes. We are at leisure, friends Antisthenes and 1 See N. A. xi.
156
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
Krates : so why should we not set off for a walk straight for the place of descent, to observe the new arrivals coming down 1 to us, what they are like, and what each of them is about ?
Antisthenes. Let us be off, Diogenes, for, indeed, the spectacle would be a pleasant one — to see some of them weeping, and some entreating to be let go, and some making the descent with reluctance, and, though Hermes gives a push to their shoulders, resisting, and struggling on their backs, to no purpose.
Krates. I, also, will relate to you what I saw by the way, when I was coming down.
Diogenes. Give us the story, Krates, for I fancy you have seen some uncommonly laughable scenes.
Krates. There were several others who made the descent in my company, and conspicuous among them werelsmeno- dorus our countryman, the millionaire, and Arsakes the Median Satrap, and Orcetes of Armenia. 2 Well, Ismenodorus — for he was murdered by the robbers of Kithasron, while proceeding on foot to Eleusis, I believe — began groaning and covering his wound with his hands, and kept calling upon the new-born infants whom he had left behind him, and accusing himself of rashness, for crossing Kithseron, and traversing the neighbourhood of Eleutheria 3 (left altogether desolate by the ravages of war), and for taking with him
1 Toi'c KanovTcic. The term applied to exiles returning home, and there is reference to this in the text. See Herod, i. 62, iii. 45, .iEschylus, 'kya^fx., 1283.
2 It is uncertain whether the two last names represent historical personages, or are merely fictitious. The first is certainly either fictitious, or that of some person of whom nothing more is known than what we are here told, that he was a countryman of Krates, and therefore a Theban. Arsakes is the name of the founder of the Parthian Monarchy, which, like that of Ca>sar with the Roman Emperors, was adopted by all his successors. The first of the Arsacida? is said by Ammianus Marcellinus to have died a natural death ; while Suidas follows the account of Lucian. An Orcetes figures in the Xaptuv (14); the Satrap who, as Herodotus informs us. crucified Polykrates of Samos (iii. 130). Hems- terhuis thinks that all the three characters may be derived from the New Comedy.
3 A town or village at the foot of Kithseron, on the confines of Attica and Boeotia. The wars referred to were, probably, those waged by Alex-
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 157
only two domestics, and that, though he had with him five bowls of gold, and four cups. As for Arsakes — now ad- vanced in age and, indeed, not without some dignity about his appearance, he was annoyed after the fashion of the foreigner, and was highly indignant at trudging on foot, and claimed it as his right that a horse should be supplied to him ; and, in fact, his horse had died with him, both having been run through, at one stroke, by some Thracian peltast, in the engagement on the Araxes with the Kappadocian. 1 For Arsakes charged, as he declared to us, far in advance of the rest ; while the Thracian, awaiting the attack, covers himself with his round shield, and wards off the spear-shaft of Arsakes, and, couching his own Macedonian lance, runs him and his horse through at the same time.
Antisthenes. How was it possible for that to be done at one stroke, Krates ?
Krates. Very easily, Antisthenes. For he began charging, pushing before him a spear-shaft of twenty cubits ; while the Thracian, when with his shield he warded off from himself the onslaught, and the spear-point passed him, sank on his knees, and received the attack with his spear, and wounds the horse under the chest, who ran himself through by his own ardour and the vehemence of his speed. And as for Arsakes, he is run right through from the groin to the buttocks. You see something of what it was like : the action was rather that of the horse than of the hero. He was indignant, nevertheless, at being on a level with the rest in point of dignity, and considered it as his right to come down in the capacity of a knight. But as for Oroetes, he was very tender- footed, and was not able even to stand on the ground, not to say anything of walking — all Medes, in point of fact, have this experience, on dismounting from their horses : they walk as though upon thorns, on tiptoe, and with difficulty get on at all — so that, when he threw
ander ofMacedon and his successors. — Jacob. The range of Kithseron was thickly wooded, and favourable for robbers.
1 In Armenia. By the Kappadokian, probably, is to be understood Eumenes, whom Perdikkas (who had usurped the chief command of the Macedonian army at the death of Alexander) had appointed to the post of Lieutenant in Kappadocia and Paphlagonia. — Jacob.
158 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
himself down, and lay there, and would by no means allow himself to be set on his feet again, the excellent Hermes took him up and carried him as far as the ferry-boat; while I set myself laughing.
Antistheues. Well, as for myself, when I was making the descent, I did not at all mix myself up with the rest, but, leaving them to lament, I ran forward to the ferry- boat, and took my place beforehand, that 1 might have a comfortable passage. In fact, during the voyage they were shedding tears, and suffering from sea-sickness, while I was exceedingly entertained by them all.
Diogenes. You, Krates, and you, Antisthenes, chanced to tall in with fellow-travellers of such description. My fellow-travellers down were Blepsias the money-lender, from Pisa, and Lampis of Akarnania, who had been captain of mercenaries, and Damis the millionaire, he of Korinth. Damis died from poison administered by his son ; Lampis cut his own throat for love of Myrtium, the celebrated courtesan; while Blepsias, the poor wretch, was said to have slowly starved to death ; and he showed it clearly enough, appearing pallid to excess, and attenuated to the most extreme point. I, although aware of the facts, began to question them as to the manner of their deaths. Then, when Damis was accusing his son, " You suffered, however, no unjust fate at his hands," said I, " since, while you at once possessed a quarter of a million, and lived in luxury yourself, nonagenarian as you were, you used to supply a youth of eighteen with just sixpence. And as for you, Mr. Akarnanian (for he, too, was uttering groans, and imprecating curses on Myrtium), why do you blame Eros, when you ought to accuse yourself f you who, while you never trembled at the enemy in battle, but used to fight, regardless of danger, in the front ranks, were caught, admirable man, by the made-up tears and sighs of a common prostitute ! x As for Blepsias, he anticipated blame and accused himself, of his own accord, of exces- sive folly, in that he hoarded up his money for heirs in no way related to him, thinking, the fool ! to live for ever. However, to me they afforded no common amusement by
1 Cf. 'Eraijooh' AiaX.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 150
their groans then . Bnt, now we are at the entrance,
we must watch and observe carefully the arrivals, while yet at a distance. Bah ! they are numerous and various enough, and all in tears, except these newly-born children and infants. Nay, even the very old fellows are bewailing themselves. What's this ? Has the magic potion of life, forsooth, got them under its influence ? However, I want to question this superannuated old man. — What are you weeping about, dying at your time of life ? Why are you indignant, my fine Sir, and that, when you have arrived at a good age ? You were, doubtless, some king?
Poor Man. Not at all.
Diogenes. Well, some satrap or other?
Poor Man. Not that, even.
Diogenes. Then you were, doubtless, a rich man, and it troubles you, I suppose, to have died and left behind you much luxury ?
Poor Man. Nothing of that sort ; on the contrary, I had arrived at about the full age of ninety years, and led a life of want, sustained by means of my fishing-rod and line, excessively poor, childless, and lame, into the bargain, and half blind.
Diogenes. Then, though you were in such a condition, did you wish to go on living ?
Poor Man. Yes, for the light of day was sweet to me, and to die is a terrible thing and to be avoided.
Diogenes. You are bereft of your senses, old man, and behave in the face of inevitable Necessity like a child ; and that, though you are a contemporary of the Ferryman there. What, pray, could one in future say as regards the young, when people of your time of life are so fond of living, who ought to pursue Death as the one remedy for the evils essential to old age ? — But let us be gone, now, for fear someone may suspect us of wishing to run away, if he sees us crowding about the entrance-gate.
160 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
XXVIII.
MENIPPUS RIDICULES THE STORY OF THE PROPHET TEIRESIAS AS FOUND IN THE POETS AND THEOLOGISTS, AND, IN PAR- TICULAR, HIS METAMORPHOSIS INTO A WOMAN.
Menippus and Teiresias. 1
Menippus. Whether, in fact, you are blind, Teiresias, it is no longer easy to distinguish ; for the eyes of all of us alike are empty, and only their sockets remain ; and, for the rest, you would no longer be able to tell which was Phineus, 2 or which Lynkeus. That, however, you were a prophet, and that you are the only one who has ever been of both sexes — both a man and a woman — I am aware, having heard so from the poets. In heaven's name, there- fore, tell me which life did you find by experience the pleasanter — when you were a man, or was the woman's superior ?
Teiresias. The woman's, Menippus, far away, for it was more free from the cares of life, and the women lord it
1 The famous prophet of Thebes, who figures conspicuously in the Sophoklean drama. His blindness has been variously accounted for. One narrative attributes it to the indignation of Athena, whom he had chanced to see in the bath, who, however, gave him, by way of compen- sation, the prophetic faculties. His transformation into one of the opposite sex is attributed to his having killed a female serpent, and his double experience induced Zeus to make him arbiter in his dispute with Hera upon the question, which sex has the greater enjoyment j and, when he pronounced in favour of the weaker, the indignant Hera deprived him of sight. See Apollod. iii. 6 5 Ov. Met. iii. 318-338. Cf. '08. xi. where Odysseus, by means of his barbarous magic rites, evokes the spectres of the dead.
2 Phineus, the Thracian king and prophet in one, famous as having been the especial object of the persecution of the 'kpizv^icu (on account of his cruelty to his sons), and as the instructor of the Argonauts. The cause of his blindness is variously given. See Apollod. i. 9, 21, 22 ; iii. 14, 7 ; Apollonius, 'Apy. Milton celebrates the blind prophets and poets of Hellas in the well-known passage in his Par. Lost : —
" Blind Thamyris, and blind Maeonides, And Teiresias and Phineus, prophets old.
(iii. 35.)
DIALOGUES OP THE DEAD. 161
over the men, and they are not forced to go to fight in war, or to stand sentinel at the battlements, or to wrangle in parliament, or to be cross-examined in law courts.
Menippus. Have you not heard, Teiresias, the Medeia of Euripides, how she pities the female sex, in her speech, as wretched, and having to undergo certain intolerable pangs — those of childbirth ? x But tell me — for the iambics of Medeia remind me of it — did you ever have a child, when you were a woman, or did you continue barren and un- fruitful in that state of life?
Teiresias. Why do you ask that, Menippus ?
Menippus. No offence intended, Teiresias; but answer me, if it is agreeable to you.
Teiresias. I was not barren, and yet I did not have a child at all.
Menippus. That's quite enough. If you had a womb, in fact — I wished to know that.
Teiresias. Of course I had.
Menippus. And was it in course of time that it disap- peared, and the sexual part was obstructed, and your breasts were removed, and the manly parts sprang into existence, and you grew a beard ; or did you immediately from being a woman turn out a man ?
Teiresias. I don't see what your question means exactly.
1 The forsaken wife of Iason thus expresses the unhappy condition of her sex : —
TwaTictg i<Jj.uv dBXiwrarov (pvrov ' "Ac TrpCJTCt /x(v del xpn^druyv vTrepfioXy Yloaiv irpidaBai, §tcnz6Tr)v rt atopa-Tug Aa(3eii>' kcikov yap rovd' It dXyiov kcikov, Kdv T(^o' dywv /xsyicrTog, r) kcikov Xafitlv
- H xpil aT0V ' Ou y*p evicXttig d.7raXXayai
Yvvai^iv, ovd' olov r dvrjoacrOai iromv, Ei'c Kaiva S' i']9r\ Kai vofiovg d<piyfitvr]v Aei fidvTiv elvai, ^.rj fxaQovcrav o"iKo9tv, 'Or<p /idXicrra \pi]airai avvtyvkry.
Atyoueri 8' r//zac, wg aKivdvvov fiiov ZCJfitv kclt olicovg, oi Si fiapvavrai Sopi KctKuig (ppovoiivreg ' wc rplg dv Trap' dairiSa 2ri/mi ^sAoi/x' dv fiaXXov rj TiKtiv U7ra£.
231-251. M
162 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
But you appear to me, however, to doubt that these things were so.
Menippus. Why, is not one allowed to have any sort of doubt in these cases, Teiresias ; but, like some simpleton who doesn't inquire into the truth, must one receive them as gospel, whether they are possible or not'?
Teiresias. Do you not, pray, believe other things to have so happened as they are related — when, for example, you hear that certain persons have been changed from women into birds, or trees, or quadrupeds ; into Philomela, 1 or Daphne, or the daughter of Lycaon ?
Menippus. If ever I come across them, I shall know — what they say. But you, my fine Sir, when you were a woman, did you play the prophet then, as afterwards, or did you learn to be man and prophet at the same time ?
Teiresias. Just see. You are ignorant of everything that concerns me — how I put an end to a certain quarrel among the gods, and how Hera blinded me, in consequence; and how Zeus consoled me for my misfortune by the gift of prophecy. 2
Menippus. Do you still stick to your lies, Teiresias ? However, you do so quite in prophetic style ; for it is the custom of you people to say nothing rational or true. 3
1 For the tragic and frightful story of Philomela (from which Shak- spere,or whoever was the author, derived the idea of the tragedy of Titles Andronicus), see Ov. Met. vi. 424-676. For Daphne, Met. vi. 205, and 6. A. ii., xv. For the daughter of Lycaon (the impious king who served up human flesh to Zeus during his wanderings in Arkadia), Callisto, see Met, ii. 496.
2 See Ov. Met. iii. 333-338 :—
gravius Saturnia facto, Nee pro materia fertur doluisse ; suique Judicis aeterna damnavit lumina nocte, etc.
8 Cf. Aristoph. 'OpviOeg, 960-991; Juv. vi. 512-591; Apul. De Aur. Asino ; Lucian, 'AXkZavdpog, Ni'ypivoc, etc.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 163
XXIX
AGAMEMNON INQUIRES OP (TELAMONIAN) AIAS THE REASON OF HIS LATE COOL RECEPTION OF ODYSSEUS, WHEN HE CAME DOWN TO LEARN THE FUTURE FROM TEIRESIAS. AIAS JUS- TIFIES HIS HOSTILE FEELING BY ALLEGING THE CONDUCT OP ODYSSEUS TO HIM, IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPETITION FOR THE ARMS OF ACHILLEUS.
Aias and Agamemnon}
Agamemnon. If you in a fit of madness, Aias, killed yourself, and intended also to murder us all, why do you blame Odysseus ; and, the day before yesterday, why did you not even look at him, when he came to consult the oracle, or deign to address a word to your old comrade and companion, but haughtily passed him by with huge strides ? 2
Aias. With good reason, Agamemnon ; for he was the actual and sole cause of my madness, seeing that he put himself in competition with me for the arms.
Agamemnon. And did you consider it your right to be unopposed, and to lord it over all without the toil of contest ?
Aias. Yes, indeed, in such respect ; for the suit of armour was my own, as it was my uncle's. 3 Indeed, you others, though far superior to him, declined the contest for your- selves, and yielded the prize to me ; whereas the son of Laertes, whom I often saved, when in imminent peril of being cut to pieces by the Phrygians, set himself up to be my superior, and to be more worthy to receive the arms.
Agamemnon. Blame Thetis, then, my admirable Sir, who, though she should have delivered over the heritage of
1 Cf. '08. 542-563 ; Soph. Alag, 1355 ; Ov. Met. xiii. 1-398, where, at the close of the lengthy harangues of the rival competitors, Odysseus prevails,
" fortisque viri tulit arma disertus."
2 The Homeric phrase — fiaicpa /3i/3ac.
3 Peleus : Telamon and he being brothers.
164 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
the arms to you as her relative, took and deposited them for general competition.
Aias. No, but Odysseus, who was the only one to put himself forward as claimant.
Agamemnon. It is excusable, if, human as he was, he had great longing after glory, a very pleasant acquisition, for the sake of which every one of us, also, underwent dangers ; seeing, too, he conquered you, and that before Trojan judges.
Aias. Jknow what Goddess gave sentence against me: but it is not allowed one to say anything true regarding the divinities. But as for your Odysseus, however, I could not by any means cease from hating him, Agamemnon ; not even if Athena herself should enjoin it upon me. 1
.XXX.
SOSTRATUS, 2 FOR HIS CRIMES, ABOUT TO BE CONSIGNED BY MINOS TO THE TORTURES OF TARTARUS, PROTESTS AGAINST THE INJUSTICE OF HIS SENTENCE ; SINCE, UPON THE ADMISSIONS OF HIS JUDGE HIMSELF, HE HAD BEEN A MERE INSTRUMENT IN THE HANDS OF FATE. MINOS, MOVED BY THE PLAUSIBILITY OF HIS PLEA, REPRIEVES HIM.
Minos and Sostratus.
Minos. Let this brigand Sostratus be cast into Pyri- phlegethon, and let the sacrilegious rascal be torn piecemeal by our Chimsera ; 3 and, as for this tyrant, let him be ex-
1 Athena had favoured the pretensions of her protege. Her inter- position at a still more critical juncture, between the two principal Achaean chiefs, quarrelling for the captive girls, Briseis and Chryseis, may be seen in 'I\. i. 193-222.
2 Of this follower of Prokrustes, nothing more is known than his name. Lucian (as remarked by Du Soul), from a passage in his A»7/iatva£ seems to have written his life, and, in the 'AXsZavdpug, he is numbered among the worst criminals.
3 This divine monster, who has given to the modern languages a word expressive of the fabulous or impossible, was a composition of lion, goat, and dragon or serpent, as described in 'IX. vi. 180-183 : —
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. 165
posed, Hermes, side by side with Tityos, 1 and have his liver gnawed, too, by the vultures. But as for you good people — depart with all speed to the Elysian field, and inhabit the Islands of the Blessed, 3 in recompense for your just actions in life.
Sostratus. Hear me a moment, Minos, and judge whether I appear to you to say what is just.
Minos. Must I listen to you again ? Why, have you not been out-and-out convicted, Sostratus, of being a bad man, and of having murdered a number of people ?
Sostratus. I have been condemned, it is true ; but con- sider whether I shall be, in fact, justly punished.
Minos. Very certainly you will be ; if, at least, it is just to suffer merited punishment.
t) d'ap' lr\v 9uov yevog, ovS' av9pu)Tr(t)v' UpocrOe Xsujv, ottiQ^v dk dpaKwv, fiktrarj Se x^a-ipa, Auvbv drro7rvdov(ra 7rvpbg fiivog alOofikvuio. Hesiod makes her still more formidable by giving her, like Kerberus, three heads. Qtoy. 319-325. The fire-breathing monster, we are in- formed by that poet, was killed by Bellerophon and Pegasus. It was thenceforth settled (according to Virgil, Mn. vi. 288) at the entrance to Orcus, the most dreaded of the infernal terrors. So Ov. Tristia, iv. 7. Cf. Lucretius, Be Rer. Nat. v. 904-906.
1 Tityos, one of the chief criminals in Tartarus, was the gigantic son of Zeus or of Gaia, and had his habitation in the island of Euboea. It was an attempted outrage on Leto, or her daughter Artemis, which en- tailed upon him his tremendous penalty in Tartarus, where, like Milton's Satan, he lay " stretched out huge in length " : —
Viscera praebebat Tityos lanianda, novemque Jugeribus distentus erat. (Ov. Met. iv. 456.)
Cf. Lucretius, iii. 984-994; Virg. Mn. vi. 595; Statius, Thebais i. Apollod. i. 4. 1.
2 For a description of the Homeric Paradise, see '0<5. iv. 565-570 : —
Ty 7T£(0 prjlCTTT] filUTr) TTtkll av9pu)7roimv'
Ov vapETog ovt dp y,£ijuwv Trokvg, ovte 7t6t o/xftpog, k. t. X.
Cf. Hesiod, 'Ep. icai 'Hju, 170-174; Pindar, 'OX. ii. 109:—
laov de vvKTtaai altl, 'lea civ afikpaig uKi — ov txovTsg, airovkoTtpov
'E(t9XoI VSflOVTCLl (Slo — TOV. . . .
See Mn. vi. 743; Ov. Amor. ii. 6, 49-58; Plato, QalSuv; Lucian, Iltpl Qvo-iiov; 'AXr]9. 'lor. ii., and a charming description in an epigram in the Anthologia Grcsca, addressed to Upwrn : —
Ovk Waveg, JIpwTT], fitTtfitjg 8'lg afitivova x&pov, K. r. X.
166 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
Sostratus. However, answer me, Minos : for I will put briefly a certain question to you.
Minos. Speak, let it only not be long, that we may pass judgment on the rest of them forthwith.
Sostratus. Whatsoever actions I performed in my life, whether did I do them, of my own free will, or had they been spun out for me by the Fate ? l
Minos. By the Fate, to be sure.
Sostratus. Wei], then, did all of us who have the repu- tation of being good or bad, do those actions of ours as subservient to her ?
Minos. Certainly to Klotho, who appoints to each one at birth what he is to do.
Sostratus. If, then, a man, forced by another, should murder some one, having no power of resisting his com- pulsion, such as a public executioner or an officer of the guard — the one obeying the judge, the other the prince — whom would you charge with the murder ?
Minos. It is clear one would have to charge the judge or prince ; since it is not the sword itself we must accuse? for that, as the instrument for his rage, is merely the minister of him who first gave the occasion for its use.
Sostratus. Bravo, Minos, for giving more forcible illus- tration to my instance. — And if a man, when his master sends him, comes in place of his master, with gold or silver, to whom must one attribute the favour, or whom must one register as the benefactor ?
Minos. The sender ; for the carrier is an agent merely.
Sostratus. Do you see, then, how unjustly you act in
1 Namely Klotho, the Mo'ipa whose particular province it was to unwind or spin out the thread of human existence, whence her name. See 'EXeyxofi. She occupies a prominent place in the KarcnrXovg 7) Tvpavvoe. Cf. Xapiov. 13, 14; Nejcp. AiaX. xix. ad Jin.
2 " Lucian seems to make sarcastic allusion to a religious ceremony of the Athenians at the festival of the Bov<pov'ia (" Ox-Murder "), when the priest-butcher of the cow or ox fled for his life ; while the axe, by which the murder was effected, was brought to trial and condemned as the guilty accomplice. This subject may be seen described at length in Meursius, and Castellanus on the Hellenic Festivals." — Jens. This very significant survival of early sacrificial ritual took place at the Dipolia
('•Festival of Zeus"). See Aristoph. TseiP Olympian Court, rises, and, with ms usual candour, affirms that the objections and arguments of their avowed enemies are not at all to be wondered at ; and, in fact, himself points to the prevalence of injustice and cruelty, the triumph of the bad, and the oppression and sufferings of the good on the Earth. He takes occasion to ridicule the studied ambiguity and obscurity of Apollo and his oracular prophecies, and the mischiefs arising from them ; and next criticises the policy which admitted so many strange and outlandish divinities to the rights of Olympian Godship. Poseidon and Apollo next address the Council ; the former voting for violent and summary measures — nothing less, in fact, than the destruction of Damis by a thunderbolt ; in which opinion (later) he is vigorously supported by Herakles. The latter calls attention to the inferiority, and confused and illogical method, of their apologist, and advises that an associate-advocate be supplied to him, to whom alone 170 ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. it should be allowed to speak, Timokles acting merely as his prompter. The opportunity is not lost by Momus for sar- castic allusion to Apollo's own confused prophetical style ; and, ridiculing the proposition of an associate-advocate, he calls upon him opportunely to give some ex tempore speci- mens of his oracular faculty. Thus urged, with much reluctance and diffidence Apollo complies, to the great entertainment of his censor. At this juncture there arrives in hot haste, fresh from the yesterday's scene of verbal conflict at the Painted Porch, Hermagoras, a statuary, who, like the Ephesian town-clerk, may be supposed to have been a not entirely disinterested well-wisher to the Olym- pian Establishment. In iambic verse he announces the approaching renewal of hostilities, in the oracular strain so dear to Apollo, and so well known to readers of Herodotus, of the 'Qpvtdeg and 'I-n-xelQ of Aristophanes, and of Lucian. The Celestials arrange themselves in attitudes of eager ex- pectancy ; and the verbal duel below begins with a vitupera- tive onslaught (in which controversial virtue Zeus recognizes their champion's strength to lie) on the part of Timokles, and a dispute on the question upon which of the two rested the onus probandi. This being settled, at length, by the con- cession of Damis in favour of his opponent, the combatants engage in earnest. As the fortune of the day seems to incline to this side or that, the celestial -spectators express, chorus-like, their hopes or fears — the latter, however, very greatly preponderating ; Momus not omitting to exercise his powers of sarcasm. Timokles, after vainly throwing overboard his sheet-anchor — in the shape of a remarkable syllogism — takes refuge, as his opponent tauntingly ex- presses it, at the altars. Damis, claiming the victory, now retires from the scene, pursued by the vituperation and even missiles and blows of his enraged antagonist. The celestial clients of Timokles disperse, consoled by the re- flection of Hermes, that, in spite of all the arguments of the wicked philosophers, at all events the larger part of the world, Greek as well as barbarian, will continue to be on their side, and not cease to supply them with the rich steams of sacrifice. Zeus, however, cannot refrain from the expression of his feeling, that he would rather have ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. 171 one such able champion as the Epikurean, than a thousand conquests by stratagem or force. This masterpiece of Lucian opens with parodies (in hexameter and iambic verse) of the Homeric epics, of Euripides, and the tragic poets.] Zeus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, Hermes, Poseidon, HeraMes, Kolossus, Momus, Hermagoras, Timokles, Damis. Hermes. O Zeus ! why pensive mutter'st inward words, Re-pacing, lonely, as a student pale ? To counsel call me : cast on me thy care, Scorn not thy servant's chat nonsensical ! x Athena. Yea, thou supreme of governors, our father, child of Kronos, I, owl-eyed goddess, Trito-born, cling to thy knees im- ploring. Speak out, and no concealment make ; thereby we all shall know it, What plotting gnaweth inwardly thy secret heart and vitals, Or what draws out thy heavy moan, and stains thy cheek with pallor ? 2 Zeus, (to himself.) No dire disaster, so to say, exists, No woe so terrible and tragical, 1 These iambics parody some unknown tragic dramatist. They are thus translated by Wieland : — O Zeus, was ist dir, dass du so allein, Gedankenvoll und grungelb, mit der Farbe Von einen Philosophen, auf und nieder gehst, Und mit dir selber sprichtst ? Entdeck' es mir. Lass mich an deinen Sorgen antheil nehmen ; Vielleicht kann eines treuen Dieners Rath, So schlecbt er ist, dir noch zu statten kommen. The English version of the hexameters has been modelled on the metre of Professor Newman's Iliad of Homer. 2 A parody of 'Od. i. 45, and 'I\. iii. 35, and other Homeric pas- sages : — Auch ich, O unser Vater Kronion, der Konige hb'chster, Ich, die grauaugige Gottin, aus deinem Haupte gebohren, Knie vor dir. O hore mich an ! verhehle nicht langer Was am Herzen dir nagt ! Was ist dir, lass es uns wissen, Dass du so schwer erseufzest, und deine Wange so blass ist ? 172 ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. But Gods in heav'n mnst toil beneath the load. 1 Athena. Apollo ! what an overture of speech ! 2 Zeus, (to himself.) Rascals! infernal nurselings of the Earth, And thou, Prometheus ! Oh, how deep thy stab ! 3 Athena. Say, what ? for only we thy friends will hear. 4 Zeus, {to himself.) O whirr of lightning's mighty crash, what now wilt thou avail me ? 5 Hera. Calm your wrath, since we cannot all play comedy, Zeus, like these geniuses, nor have we swallowed Euripides whole 6 so as to respond to you in tragic guise. Do you suppose us not to know the cause of your grief, what it really is ? Zeus. Thou know'st not: else loud clamour would'st thou raise. Hera. I know the real source of your sufferings — -a love- affair. However, from force of habit I no longer make a clamour, having been often before now insulted by you in that sort of thing. Likely enough, no doubt, you have found a Danae, or Semele, or a Europa again, and are tor- mented by your passion, and so are planning to take the form of some bull, or satyr, 7 or to become gold and flow in a stream through the roof into the bosom of your mistress : for these are the signs — these heavy sighs and tears and pallor — of nothing else than of love. Zeus. Silly creature, to suppose our trouble to have any- thing to do with love and such trifles ! 8 1 Parody of opening verses of the Orestes : — Es giebt, um alles auf einmal zu sagen, Kein Ungemach, kein Leiden, kein Tragodien-Ungliick, Womit wir Gbtter uns niclit placken mussten. 2 Apoll ! was kundigt uns der Eingang an ! 3 Kann was verruckters sein als diess Pedantenvolk auf Erden ? O Prometheus ! Was hast du mir fur Uebel zubereitet! 4 Was ists denn ? Rede frei, du sprichst ja nur Zum Chor von deinem Hausgenossen — 6 () du, des fiirehterlich rasselnden Blitzes Gepolter — was hilfst du ? 6 Borrowed from Aristophanes, Barp. etc. 7 To make love to Antiope, daughter of the River-God Asopus, and mother by Zeus of Amphion and Zethus. She is named again below. Cf. Milton :— " Some beauty rare, Calisto, Clymene," etc. {Par. Beg. ii. 186), etc. See Aristoph. 'OpviQeg. 554-560, Nt0. 1063-4. 8 This response of Zeus, as has been pointed out, by a very slight ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. 173 Sera. But what else, if not this, annoys you — con- sidering you are Zeus himself ? Zeus. In peril dire, affairs divine are placed, and here is the proverb verified, Hera, "it now stands upon a razor's edge," l whether we are to have honour any longer paid to us, and to have our accustomed honours on Earth, or, in fact, to be altogether neglected, and to have no reputation at all. Hera. The Earth has not produced any Giants again, has it ? Or have the Titans burst their chains, and over- powered their guard, and do they once again take up arms against us ? Zeus. Fear not : no danger threatens from below. 2 Hera. What else, pray, could there be to alarm ? For I don't see, if something of the sort does not distress you, for what reason you leave your proper character, and come out as another Polus or Aristodemus. 3 Zeus. Timokles the Stoic, and Damis the Epikurean, Hera, yesterday, from some discourse or other begun be- tween them, were disputing on the subject of Providence, in the presence of a very numerous and select audience — a circumstance which especially annoys me ; and Damis affirmed that neither have the gods any existence, nor do they exercise any supervision at all over what happens on Earth ; while Timokles, best of men, endeavoured all he could to maintain our cause. At this juncture, a dense mob surging against them, there was no definite conclu- sion of the conference ; for they separated, after agreeing to consider the remaining arguments at some future time. And now all are in a state of suspense in regard to this discussion, as to which shall have the best of it, and be alteration of the first word, and the addition of the beginning of Hera's reply, may be resolved into iambics : — ^Q fiaicaip' T Hrtc Iv tpu)Ti, ical roiavraig Traidiaig 07u O'afiirepa Trpdy/jiaT avert akXo ri. 1 A common Greek proverb. Cf. 'I A. x. 173 5 Theognis, 557 ; Herod, vi. 11 ; JEsch.XotQ. 883 ; Soph.'Avr. 996. 2 A parody, perhaps, of Euripides, <boiv. 118 ; — SapffEL' to. y* tvduv aaQaXuig t%ti iroXtg. 3 Celebrated tragedians of the age of Demosthenes. See Lucian's "StKvofxavreia. 16. 174 ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. judged to have the more truth on his side. You see the clanger, how our interests are altogether in a strait, risked upon the ability of one man. 1 And one of two things must happen — either we must be despised, and be voted mere names, or we are to be honoured as heretofore, supposing Timokles shall have the best of the argument. Sera. A terrible state of things, this, of a verity ; and. not without reason, Zeus, were you acting the tragedian, under the circumstances. Zeus. And you imagined that, in such trouble, I had thought of a Danae or Antiope ! — What now, Hermes, and Hera, and Aphrodite, should we do ? Do you together, according to your several ability, devise something. Hermes. For my part, I hold you should summon an Assembly, and refer the consideration of the matter to the whole body of the Gods. Hera. I am exactly of the same way of thinking. Athena. I, however, have the contrary opinion, father — that we don't throw heaven into utter confusion, nor make it plain that you are disturbed by the occurrence, but manage this business privately, in such manner that Timokles shall have the best of it in argument, and Damis leave the conference an object of thorough ridicule. Hermes. But since the contest of the philosophers will be in public, these things will not be unknown, Zeus, and you will have the repute of being tyrannical, should you not throw open to all a discussion about matters of so much importance and general interest. Zeus. Well, then, make your proclamation at once, and let all of them put in an appearance — for you are right. Hermes, {mounting the bema.) Halloo ! I say, come together, you Gods, to a meeting ; don't loiter, come all, in a body, come ! we shall discuss business of great importance. Zeus. Is it in this bare, unornamental, and prosaic style you make your proclamation, Hermes ; and that, too, when you are summoning them on matters of highest import ? Hermes. Well, but how, Zeus, do you require me to do it ? 1 Zeus may have condescended to borrow this expression from the famous Funeral Oration of Perikles, as reported by Thucydides : — p) iv evl avdpl 7ro\\wv aptrag icivSvvEvtaOcu tv re ical x tl P 0V Utrwrt iriOTtv 9i)vai. ii. 35. ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. 175 Zeus. How do I require you to do it ? I say you ought to impart solemnity to your proclamation by some sort of verse, and with poetical magniloquence, that they may be induced to assemble with more alacrity. Hermes. Yes, but such is the business of versemakers and professional reciters, while I am not the least of a poet. So I shall completely spoil my proclamation, by stringing together verses either with too many or too few feet, and shall be the object of their ridicule for my want of poetic skill. In fact, I observe that even Apollo himself is laughed at for some of his oracular responses, 1 although his obscu- rity 2 conceals the greater part of his blunders, as his hearers have not too much leisure for examining his metrical effusions. Zeus. Then, Hermes, mix up in your proclamation, chiefly, verses from Homer, in the manner he was wont to convene us. Of course, you call them to mind ? Hermes. Not so very accurately and readily ; but, all the same, I will try (much preliminary clearing of the throat): — Let none of Gods,whate'er the sex, fail to obey my summons, Nor any River stay behind, except the stream of Ocean, Nor any Nymph : but haste ye all to swell the lofty Council Of Zeus, whoe'er at hecatombs illustrious are feasted, Modest howe'er your rank — if mean, or even stark ignoble, Come hither, all, whoever sit beside the steaming altars. 3 1 The oracles were delivered in verse. Herodotus has preserved for us some remarkable specimens of these ingeniously ambiguous prophetic utterances. See, especially, Herod, i. 46-56, vii. 140-144; Thucyd. ii. 54; and cf. the very witty parodies and ridicule of Aristoph. in his master- piece, the 'OpvLOeg (960-988) ; Lucian, Oeaiv 'EkkX., 'AXc£. ; Juv. Sat. vi. 555, etc. 2 'AocHpEiag. Or, reading 7-/70 uavriKrjg (with Jacobitz), " oracular skill." 3 Dass kein weiblicher Gott, dass keiner vom Mannergeschlechte, Noch der Fliisse, der Sohne des alten Oceanus einer, Noch der Nymfen sich saume ! Kommt alle zu Jovis versammlung, Die ihr an festlichen Tagen die Hekatomben verschmauset, Alle, so viel' als euer, vom ersten Rang und vom zweyten Bis zu den Nahmenlosen herab, an bekranzten Altaren Sitzet, und gierig den Rauch vom brennenden opferfett einschlurft ! (Wieland.) Hermes is indebted, in particular, to 'IX. viii. 7, xx. 7, ix. 228, xiii. 227, successively, for the farrago of his parody. 176 ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. Zeus. Bravo, Hermes. Yon have performed your crier's part most admirably; and, indeed, they are already rushing together. So take and seat them, each according to rank, as it belongs to him by reason of material or art — the Golden in the front rank, then next to them the Silver ; next in due order all the Ivory ones ; after them the Bronze or the Marble; and among these same let those of Pheidias, or Alkamenes, or Myron, or Euphranor, 1 or of similar artists, have the best places. As for these rabble, and inartistic fellows, let them be crammed together some- where at a distance, and serve only to fill up the House as dummies. Hermes. So it shall be, and they shall take their seats as is proper. But it's not so easy to know — when any one of them is of gold, indeed, and of many hundredweight, 2 but not perfect in workmanship, but plainly vulgar and plebeian, and badly proportioned, shall he seat himself before the bronze gentlemen of Myron, and of Polykleitus, 3 and of Pheidias, and the marble ones of Alkamenes ? Or must we consider Art to have precedence ? Zeus. So it ought to be ; but, all the same, preference must be given to Gold. 4 1 The first of these most distinguished sculptors and statuaries of Hellas and the world is sufficiently well known. Alkamenes, the most eminent of the pupils of Pheidias, was especially famous for a statue of Aphrodite. Myron, the sculptor of the well-known Discobolos, an elder contemporary of Pheidias, was the Landseer of Greek sculptors. His Cow was especially in high repute, and in the Greek Anthologia thirty-six epigrams celebrate her praise. It was removed from Athens between the age of Cicero and that of Pausanias. This beautiful statue survived, at least, tothesixth century. Of the works of Euphranor, a native of Korinth, but, like most of the great artists, resident at the " hospitable" Athens, most celebrated was his representation of Paris, of which the statue in the Museo Pio-Clementino is probably a copy. See Pliny, Hist. Nat. 2 JloXvrdXavTog rr\v o\ky\v. Lit. " many talents in weight." The raXavrov, both gold and silver, was used as a measure of weight varying at different periods. Here the gold talent, probably, is intended. 3 Polykleitus, of the Argive and Sikyon School of Sculpture, a con- temporary of Pheidias, has been ranked second only to the Koryphaeus of Greek Art. The Argive was more celebrated for human, the Athenian for divine figures. The most famous of his works were the Doryphorus, or Kanon (as it was termed, from being held to be the ideal of the human form), and his Hera. See Pliny, Hist. Nat. 4 " An excellent trait," remarks Wieland, " of the anthropomorphic character of this Jupiter." ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. 177 Seniles. I understand you to direct me to seat them according to wealth and property, not according to excel- lence and real value. — Come, then, to the front seats, you golden gentlemen. (In a whisper.) The foreigners, Zeus, appear to be the only ones likely to occupy first places ; for you observe of what description the Greeks are — elegant and good-looking enough, and artistically fashioned, but, none the less, 1 all of marble or bronze, or (at all events) the most costly of them are ivory, with just a little gold gilding so as merely to have a surface tint and veneer of that metal; but inside they are, in fact, all wooden, shelter- ing whole troops of rats, that form regular colonies there ; while Bendis here, and that Anubis there, and Attis at his side, and Mithras and Meen * are all of solid gold, and pretty costly, and no mistake. Poseidon. Is really this justice, Hermes, that this dog- faced fellow of Egypt should have place before me — actu- ally before Poseidon, God of the Sea, himself ! Hermes. Yes, but, Earth-shaker, 3 Lysippus 4 fashioned you as a poor fellow of bronze — for the Korinthians had then no gold, and that is more precious than all the other metals put together. You must, therefore, submit to be thrust aside, and not be angry, if a fellow with such a huge snout ' of gold has been preferred to you. Aphrodite. In that case, Hermes, take me, too, and give me a seat on the front row ; for I am golden. Hermes. Not as far as I can see, Aphrodite : but (unless 1 Jacobitz has dfiolwc, " alike." 2 Bendis, a Thracian divinity, Avhom Hesychins identifies with Artemis. See 'Lcapo-Mcvwrxof, 24 ; Strabo, x. Mithras, the Persian solar divinity, represented in sculpture in a Phrygian dress, kneeling on a prostrate bull, whose throat he is cutting. Meen, or Lunus, a Phrygian divinity. Consult Spanheim, Be Usu Numism. Por Attis and Anubis, see 6. A. xii., N. A. xiii.,Zerc Tpoty. , Ekk\. Qsa>v. 3 'EvvotriyaiE — the Homeric epithet for Poseidon. 4 Lysippus, of Sikyon, the distinguished sculptor-laureate of Alexander of Macedon, whose statues in bronze (in which material only he worked) are said to have been 1,500 in number. With Apelles in painting, he had, in sculpture, the monopoly of Alexander's portraits, of which he executed a large variety, none of which have come down to us. 5 Anubis. u Plangentis populi currit derisor Anubis." — Juv. Sat. vi. 534. N 178 ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. I am altogether purblind) after having been hewn out of white marble from Pentele, I imagine, you then, at the good pleasure of Praxiteles, became Aphrodite, and were handed over to the Knidians. 1 Aphrodite. Indeed I have a very credible witness I shall quote to you — Homer himself, who up and down his poems calls me the " Golden Aphrodite." Hermes. Why, indeed, the same Homer says that Apollo, too, is very golden and rich : 2 but now you will see even him seated somewhere in the third class, 3 deprived of his crown by thieves, and completely robbed of the pegs of his cithara. So be satisfied that even your place in the assembly is not, in fact, among the lowest classes. Kolossus (of Rhodes). With me who would venture to compete, for I am the very Sun himself, and of size so enormous ? 4 If, to be sure, the Rhodians had not thought fit to construct me of so portentous and excessive dimen- sions, at an equal expense they could have made for them- selves sixteen Gods of gold. So that, by the rules of proportion, I should be considered of all the greater value ; 1 The Knidian Aphrodite, one of the most celebrated statues of anti- quity, and the production of one of the most eminent of Greek sculptors, perished by fire at Constantinople, in the reign of Justinian. It had the reputation of being the most perfectly beautiful of the statues of the Goddess, and was modelled from the famous ketcsra, Phryne, who, also, was the original of the equally famous picture of Apelles — the Aphrodite Anadyomene (" Aphrodite Eising from the Sea "). Cf. Lucian, 'Epwrf c, 11, k. t. X. Pentelicus, an offshoot of the Mt. Parnes range, in Attica, famous for its marble, derived its name from the borough of Pentele. 2 " He is called ' rich,' but nowhere in Homer 7ro\vxpv(rog } which is the usual epithet of Venus in Hesiod." — De Soul. 3 } Ev rolg Zevyiraig. Among the Zeugitce (those who could afford to have a yoke of oxen), the third class of the citizens in the timocratic constitution of Solon. The income of the Zeugite was fixed at from about £8 to £12 per annum. The Thetes, whose property-qualification fell below £8, formed the fourth and lowest class. The Pentecosio- medimnoi, who possessed a minimum income of 500 medimni or drachmae (about £20), were ranked in the first class. 4 He was the work of Chares of Lindus, 280 B.C. This gigantic bronze statue of Apollo, one of the " Seven Wonders," had a height of over 100 feet. It was thrown down by an earthquake about fifty years after its creation, and lay where it fell until the year 667 a.d., when the Saracen Arabs broke it up. The extraordinary fable, so often repeated by modern writers, of its striding the Khodian harbour, originated in the sixteenth century. See Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxv. 10. ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. 179 and the artistic skill is to be counted into the bargain, and the perfection of the work in a statue of such magnitude. Hermes (aside to Zeus). What must I do, Zeus ? For this for me, at least, is a hard business to determine : for if I should regard solely the material, he is bronze ; but if I should reckon at the cost of how many thousands he has been fabricated, he would be far above the first-class claimants. Zeus (aside to Hermes). Why, what must he, too, needs come here for, to reproach the insignificance of the rest, and to be a nuisance to the company ? (To the Kolossus) Well, but hark you, most excellent Rhodian, even if you are to be preferred to the utmost to your golden rivals, how in the world would you ever occupy the front place, unless all have to stand up, that you alone may be accom- modated, and occupy the whole Pnyx l with one of your buttocks ? So you will do better to give your vote standing up, and make your bow to the council. Hermes. Here, again, is another difficult thing. They are both of them, in point of fact, bronze, and of the same workmanship — each of them the work of Lysippus, and, what is most important, of the same rank as to birth — seeing both are sons of Zeus — Dionysus here and Herakles. Which of them, pray, shall have precedence ? For they are wrangling, as you observe. Zeus. We are wasting time, Hermes ; whereas we ought long ago to have been at business. So now let them take their seats higgledy-piggledy, where each has a mind to ; and, at some future time, a sitting shall be given to settle that point, and I shall know then what is the rank to assign to them. Hermes. But, Herakles ! what an uproar they make with their clamours for their vulgar and every- day wants — "doles! doles! where is our nektar? The ambrosia runs short. Where are the hecatombs ? The sacrificial victims for the public!" 2 1 A semicircular hill, near the Areiopagus, on which the Athenian 'EKK\t](na, or Commons' House, held its sittings. For an entertaining scene at one of these sittings, see Aristoph. 'A^ap. 1-202. 2 A double satire on the celestial gourmandism and the selfish policy of the imperial Eoman Government in keeping the populace of 180 ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. Zeus. Silence them at once, Hermes, that they may learn on what account they have been assembled, and drop this nonsense. Hermes. Not all of them, Zeus, understand Greek, and I am not much of a linguist, so as to make my proclamations intelligible to Tartars, and Persians, and Thracians, and Kelts. It will be better, therefore, I imagine, to make signs, and in that way to enjoin silence. Zeus. So do. Hermes. Capital : they have become dumber than the philosophers themselves. So it is high time for you to harangue them. You observe they have been long re- garding you fixedly, expecting what you will say. Zeus (aside to Hermes). Yes, but what my feelings are, Hermes, I will not shrink from imparting to you, as you are my son. You are aware how bold and magniloquent I always was in our public Assemblies. Hermes. I am, and I used to dread hearing your harangues ; most especially when you would threaten to drag up from their foundations the earth, and sea, and the Gods and all, by simply letting down that golden chain of yours. 1 Zeus. However, now, my son, I don't know whether it is from the magnitude of the present pressing dangers, or from the number of the company — for our Parliament is crowded by the Gods to an excess, as you see — but I am utterly confused in mind, and am all of a tremble, and my tongue seems tied. But, what is strangest of all, I have clean forgotten the exordium to my speech, which I had prepared for myself, so that it might have as specious a beginning as possible. Hermes (in a whisper). You have ruined everything, Zeus ; they suspect your silence, and expect to hear some very great calamity as the cause of your hesitation. the capital dependent on periodical supplies for their sustenance. Juvenal, Sat. x. 78-81, alludes to this policy : — " qui dabat olim Imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se Continet, atque duas tantum res anxius optat — Panem et Circenses." Cf. Aristoph. 'OpviQee, 1515-1524. 1 See 6. A. xxi. ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. 181 Zeus. Would you have me, then, Hermes, begin to recite to them that celebrated prelude of Homer ? Hermes. Which ? Zeus. " Hear my words, all ye Gods and all ye Goddesses, listen ! " ' Hermes. Get out with you. Those introductory verses have been enough used up by you in our wine-parties. But, if you like, drop the bother of metre, and do you string together, of the harangues of Demosthenes against Philip, whatever parts you choose, with a few variations. At least, that's what most orators do nowadays. Zeus. Excellent, a compendious sort of oratory, and a convenient and facile resource for those who are at a loss, that you suggest. Hermes. Lead off, then, at last, pray. Zeus {mounting the tribune). I think, gentlemen 2 — Gods, I mean — you would choose before a good deal, that it should be clear to you what at length this matter in truth is, with respect to which you have been brought together. This being the case, then, it is proper you should listen to me with all attention. The present crisis, Gods, indeed, all but declares aloud in words that we must vigorously apply ourselves to the matters before us, while we seem to be very remiss in regard to them. Now I desire — Demos- thenes, to confess the truth, fails me here — to explain clearly to you the business about which I am so perturbed, and for which I convoked Parliament. Well, yesterday, as you know, on the occasion of Mnesitheus, the sea-captain, offering a thanksgiving sacrifice for the safety of his ship, which had been all but lost off Kaphereus, 3 we were feasting 1 " Kf k\ote fiov ttclvtzq re Qeol navai re Qtaivai." — II. viii. 5. 2 *& dvdpeg Bsoi. " The wit of this address can only be imperfectly expressed in a foreign language. The general opening of Demosthenes, and of all, who declaimed before the sovereign people at Athens, was 'Q avtipeg 'AOrjvaioi. Jupiter, who in his embarrassment begins to quote the introduction to the first Olynthiac Oration of Demosthenes, in his anxiety forgot to change the words, and is on the point of addressing the Gods in those identical terms. When the avdpeg is already out, he bethinks himself all at once, and hence the avdpeg 8soi in the original, which in a Greek audience must have excited loud laughter." — Wieland. 3 A rocky promontory off S.E. Eiabcea, in modern days known by the 182 ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. at the Peirseus, such of us as Mnesitheus invited to the sacrifice. Then, after the libations, you turned jour- selves to your several occupations, each according to his fancy ; but I, for it was not yet very late, went up to the city, to have an evening -walk in the Kerameikus, 1 reflecting, at the same time, on the niggardliness of Mnesi- thens, who, to entertain sixteen Gods, slaughtered only a single cock, and that, too, a long since old and wheezy one, and four grains of exceedingly mouldy incense, 2 so that it was at once consumed on the coals, and did not afford as much smoke as could be smelled by even the tip of our nostrils ; and that, though he promised whole hecatombs, when his ship was just being carried on to the rocks, and was actually within the breakers. And, when pondering these things, I find myself near the Stoa, 3 I observe a very large crowd of people jammed together — some within, in the Hall itself, but many in the open air; and some persons shouting and vehemently clamouring, seated on the benches. Guessing then, what indeed was the fact, that these were philosophers of those contentious sort, I had a mind to stand by and listen to what they say ; and (for I had enwrapped myself, as it chanced, in a cloud of the densest), by disguising myself in their fashion, and by letting down my beard, I had a pretty close resemblance to a philosopher. Well, I say, elbowing aside the crowd, I enter without being known who I was. There I find the Epicurean Damis, the practised villain, and Timokles, the Stoic, best of men, disputing with uncommon vehe- mence. Timokles, in fact, was actually all in a perspiration, and already becoming hoarse, by his loud shouting ; while Italian name of Capo d'Oro. It was the scene of the shipwreck of the confederated Achrean fleet on the return from the destruction of Ilium. 1 There was an inner and outer Quarter of the Potters. The former, embraced within the city, included the Agora ; the latter was the principal suburb of Athens. It was the inner Kerameikus that Zeus chose for his walk. 2 Alkiphron, the well-known epistolary writer, a younger contem- porary of Lucian, has the same words in a passage in Book iii. 35, as pointed out by Keitz. 3 Tt)v Hoiicikriv, sub. 2ro«v. One of the numerous lounging Halls in Athens, so called from being decorated by frescoes by the painter Polygnotus, representing scenes in the battle of Marathon. ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. 183 Damis, making fun of him sardonically, still further provoked his antagonist. Their whole argument, for- sooth, was about us. Why, that accursed Damis was affirming that neither do we exercise any providence over men, nor superintend their actions ; maintaining nothing else than our entire non-existence, for that plainly was what his argument amounted to. There were some who applauded him. But the other, Timokles, took our part, and fought for us vehemently, 1 and fell into a passion, and struggled for us in every possible way, glorifying our pro- vidence, and recounting with what beautiful order and suitable arrangement we plan and dispose each particular part. He, also, had some backers, but, indeed, he had already tired himself out, and was speaking badly, and the majority were beginning to fix their attention entirely on Damis. I, perceiving all that was imperilled, ordered Night to envelop them and break up the meeting. Thereupon they went off, after agreeing to discuss the subject fully on the next day ; and I, joining the crowds, listened to their praises of Damis's arguments, while they were on their way to their homes, and already choosing his side in far the larger numbers : there were some, however, who thought it fair not to condemn beforehand the opposite arguments, but to wait to see if Timokles shall say anything to the point to-morrow. These are the reasons for which I called you together ; no trifling ones, Gods, if you shall consider how our whole honour, and glory, and revenue consist in men. If they should be persuaded either that we don't exist at all, or that, existing, we yet are altogether regardless of them and all their concerns ; as far as regards the Earth, we shall be de- prived of victims, dignity, or honour, and we shall sit idly in Heaven, 2 attacked by famine, as we shall be deprived of the benefits of those feasts of theirs, and their holy-days, and public-games, and sacrifices, and vigils, 3 and solemn proces- sions. Wherefore, in view of matters of such importance, I say that we ought all to devise some means of safety, in our 1 l Yir£pt}iaxti, or "beyond his strength;" or simply " fought for us." 2 " Magna otia Cceli."— Juv. Sat. vi. 394. Cf. Aristoph. 'Opvi9. 610- 637, fc.r.X. 3 Hawvxtfwv (Lat. pervigilia), lit. " all-night festival, or watching." See Aristoph. Barp. ; Eurip. 'Ektvtj. 1365; Herod, iv. 76; Plato, IIoX. 184 ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. present circumstances, and by what means Timokles shall conquer, and be reputed to have more truth on his side, and Damis be derided by the audience: for I, for my part, have not excessive confidence in this Timokles, that he will conquer by himself, if he do not receive some help from us. Do, then, your herald's duty, Hermes, and make your pro- clamation according to the legal forms, that they may all stand up and record their votes. Hermes (shouts). Attention! Silence! Order! Which of the full-grown Gods, 1 who are privileged, wishes to speak ? — How's this ! No one get up ! Ah ! you are tongue-tied and dumbfounded at the bigness of the message, are you ? Momus. "May all of you, I pray, be turned straightway to earth and water." 2 Now, I, if I be allowed, at least, to speak with perfect freedom, should have a good deal to say, Zeus. Zeus. Speak, Momus, with all boldness ; for you are plainly going to unburden your mind freely for the public good. 3 Momus. Hear then, all you Gods, what comes from the heart, as they say. Why, I have been quite expecting our affairs to come to this pitch of perplexity, and that many sophistical fellows of this sort would sprout up against us, who would get from ourselves the source of their daring. And, by Themis, we have right to be angry neither with Epikurus, nor with his associates and propagators of his arguments, if they have supposed such kind of things about 328. A Latin poem by an unknown poet, which celebrates the vigils of a lover, has come down to us with the title of Pervigilium Veneris. 1 TeXeiiov. " Wer unter den volljahrigen Gottern." — Wieland. With preceding commentators AVieland erroneously supposes the limit of age in the Athenian iKK\i)aia to have been fixed at thirty years. All citizens from the age of eighteen or twenty had the right, or rather duty, of taking part in their truly popular Legislature, nor was any precedence legally given to age, although by the Solonian constitution such priority had in the earlier period prevailed. Hermes, in inviting discussion, employs the regular Athenian formula, rig fiovXirai dyopeveiv; 2 'AW vfieig fiiv TravTic, vccjf) icai yala ykvoiaBt, the objurgation of Menelaus, addressed to the assembled Achaean chiefs, who thought proper to decline the challenge of the " glorious " Hektor ('IA. vii. 99). 3 Or, according to the common reading, " you are well known to speak your mind," &c. ZEUS THE TRAGEDIAN. 185 us. For what, pray, would anyone expect them to think, when they see such confusion in human life — their good men neglected, perishing in poverty, and diseases, and slavery ; while thoroughly bad and rascally men are pre- ferred to honours, and abound in wealth, and lord it over their betters ; l the sacrilegious 2 not punished, but getting off scot-free, the innocent impaled alive, or sometimes beaten to death ? Naturally, then, when they see these things, do they determine thus about us, as non-existent at all, especially when they hear the oracles pronounce that a certain man, by crossing the Halys, will destroy a mighty kingdom, 3 but don't explain, however, whether it is his own or that of his enemies he will destroy ; and, again, "By thee, O Salamis divine, children of women shall die," 4 for, in fact, both Persians and Greeks, I imagine, were children of women. Nay, when again they hear the epic poets and reciters to the effect that we fall in love, and get wounded in battle, 5 and serve as slaves, and are put in chains, and engage in civil wars, and have ten thousand troubles of every sort, and that, too, while we claim to be blessed and incorruptible — what else can they do than laugh at us, and justly enough, and hold our power in contempt ? However, we get into a rage if a few men (not entirely fools) convict us of these things, and reject our providence ; whereas we ought to be content, if there are still any who sacrifice to us, after such scandalous behaviour. 1 Cf. Hor. Sat. ii. 1 : "Cur eget indignus te divite ?" &c, and Milton : — " If every just man, that now pines with want, Had but a moderate and beseeming share Of that which lewdly -pampered luxury Heaps now upon some few with vast excess, Nature's full blessings would be well dispensed," &c. — Comus. 2 'UpoavXovg. Lit. " robbers of temples," who, to judge from their frequent juxtaposition with the worst characters, had no better repute in pagan Hellas than in mediaeval Europe. 3 One of the many responses given to Krcesus by the Delphic Oracle, on inquiring as to the event of the impending war with the Persian monarch. The Halys was the boundary river. See Herod, i. 53. Cf. Flut. Oeixiar. 4 ^Q Otit] "EaXa/xig, cnroXsig Sk av TtKva yvvaiKSJv^
- H TTOV <TIClC}'a^.8VT}Q Ar)flt]T£pOQ, ?/ ovviovai]Q,
- Who is meant by " Phales " is conjectural. Gesner would read
THE CONVICTED ZEUS. 3
[Cyniskus, a Cynic philosopher (as his name imports), en- couraged by Zeus to ask a favour, protests that his request will be a very modest one and very easy to grant : he is not
1 Zn-c 'EXtyxonzvog — "Zeus Convicted," "Confuted," or "Cross- Examined." Of this Dialogue Wieland remarks: — " Never, probably, had any writing a more appropriate title than this, in which Jupiter, in a tete-a-Ute, is forced by the straightforward and undaunted Cynic, in a way such as, probably, he had never yet experienced from any son of Earth, to confess the truth. The worst blow, to which dogmas, that are not grounded upon Reason, can be submitted, is when one holds up their mutual contradictions to the light. One spares oneself, by this means, the trouble of refutation, and can calmly see them, like the armed men sown by Kadmus, annihilate themselves. This is the spec- tacle which Lucian gives us, in this Dialogue, in his best manner.
" The inconsistencies of the Pagan doctrines of a Fate, of the Provi- dence of their Gods, and of the system of Rewards and Punishments after death, appears in it in a light, by whose brilliance Jupiter himself is quite dazed and reduced to silence ; or, what is still more humiliating, to so miserable a shift, that Cyniscus himself, at last, out of mere pity, and content with having deprived him, after complete overthrow in open field, of his power, his dignity, and his kingdom, and leading him in triumph mortally wounded, presents him with his life for so long as in the course of Nature it might be expected to last. The questions which he lays before Jupiter had, in fact, been already debated in the Jupiter in Tragedy, between Damis and Timokles, not to the advantage of the party of the Gods. But Lucian, as it seems, held it to be necessary to deliver a last decisive assault. Jupiter had to be driven out altogether from his last lurking-holes, and to be convicted of his wicked deeds so completely, that the most shameless sycophant must blush any longer to undertake his defence. This it is, that Lucian, as it seems to me, in this little Dialogue, in so masterly a way, and with so much fineness of touch, manages to effect, that I know no more complete example of the transformation of the antipodes of reason (as Homer expresses it) ' into earth and water.' "
210 THE CONVICTED ZEUS.
going to petition for wealth or power, but simply for en- lightenment on certain perplexing points of theology and metaphysics. He begins with a request to be informed as to the truth of the statements of Homer and Hesiod respecting the Fates, and their absolute control over human life. Zeus assures him of their omnipotence. The apparent contradictions of the Hellenic Scriptures are easily ex- plained by the circumstance that their.inspiration had not been constant : that, when those theologian-poets spoke of their own free motion, they were, like ordinary mortals, liable to error ; but everything uttered by them under direct inspiration of the divinities is entirely to be received. Cyniskus then inquires whether Zeus himself acknow- ledges subjection to the Fates, to Chance or Fortune (also the object of the popular Creed) ; and, upon the assent of the " King of Gods and men," he proceeds to quote the well-known passage in the Iliad on the " Golden Chain,"and, sarcastically, remarks thatthe Fates themselves more justly might boast of suspending him in mid-air. Becoming more and more uneasy at every new question, Zeus professes himself to be at a loss to divine at what his interlocutor is driving. Nor is his alarm without some reason, since the Cynic next inquires the purpose of the hecatombs of slaughtered victims for the altars, and of all the costly sacrifices ? Instead of direct reply, Zeus takes occasion to denounce the philosophers and sophists, and their well-known impiety. Pressed on the question of utility, he defends the sacrificial system upon the pretext of its being an outward and visible sign of respect and honour on the part of men for what is greater and nobler than themselves. To which the Cynic retorts that one of these wicked philosophers might be disposed to ask in what con- sists the superiority of the Gods, seeing that they are sub- ject and subordinate to Fate : for the accident of " immor- tality," so far from being an advantage, retains them in everlasting servitude. Nor, if the Hellenic theology was to be believed, could it be said that all divinities are in enjoyment of so much happiness — a positiorrwhich Cyniskus illustrates by some conspicuous examples. Zeus now resorts to indirect menaces, and angrily hints at some supernatural punishment of the audacious sceptic: but the philo-
THE CONVICTED ZEUS. 211
sopher calmly expresses his confidence that he can suffer nothing which has not been, by the Fates or Destiny, fore- ordained. Besides, he observes that not even the most audacious insulters of the Gods themselves — the many plunderers of their temples — seem to be any the worse off for their sacrilege, while the innocent frequently fall victims to the indiscriminating thunderbolts.
Drive n to bay T the champion of the orthodox Olymp ian theol ogy reprobates the philosopher as one of those w ho are f or destroying all idea of a divine providenc e ; Cyniskus inquires who or what is Providence, and how exercised, and is told that he is becoming grossly impertinent ; but he extracts the reluctant admission that the Gods, after all, are nothing but the agents and ministers of Destiny. Zeus, however, attempts to rescue himself and his colleagues from the consequent position of utter superfluousness and con- tempt by claiming credit for oracles and prophecies. The Cynic retorts, of what use are warnings against the inevitable — to say nothing of the ambiguous and misleading cha- racter of these divine oracles. Zeus makes some feeble attempt at an apology, and then, not obscurely, threatens the dernier ressort of the most forcible of his arguments — the thunderbolt. Cyniskus tauntingly remarks that what is fated is fated — and he is quite prepared to receive the in- evitable. He wishes to know how it happens that such men as Aristeides, Sokrates, Phokion, suffered, while the tyrants of the world, for the most part, have been allowed to flourish. That is easily answered, rejoins the king of Gods, for are not men to receive their deserts in a future life ? His unrelenting tormentor retorts once more that, for his part, he would rather escape certain misery and suffering in this life than have the offer of not altogether certain happiness in another state of existence. But, con- tinues the Cynic, if Fate or Predestination, ordain and control everything, how, in fine, can there be any logical place for a Minos to distribute rewards and punishments ? Zeus disdains to answer so captious a question, and stigmatizing his satirical examiner as impudent and sophis- tical, abruptly leaves him. As a parting shot, the Cynic bawling after him desires to learn, particularly, where, after all, these Fates are to be found — or how they
212
THE CONVICTED ZEUS.
manage to transact so enormous an amount of business, with their extremely limited number, and ventures to think that they themselves must have been born under a not too propitious destiny. As for himself, he professes himself quite satisfied with the information he has extracted from the highest authority, and contents himself with the reflec- tion, that, as for the points upon which he had failed to receive information, it was, apparently, not in "the fates " that he should be enlightened.]
Zeus, Cyniskus.
Cyniskus (with wallet and tattered cloak). I will not trouble you, Zeus, about such matters — asking for wealth, gold, and kingdoms, which are objects most fervently- prayed for by the rest of the world, and which are not altogether easy for you to grant. I observe, indeed, that you generally turn a deaf ear to their prayers. 1 But there is one thing, and that a very easy thing to grant, I did wish to obtain from you.
Zeus. What is that, Cyniskus ? For you shall not fail to get it, especially since, as you say, it is a modest favour you ask.
Cyniskus. Just give me an answer in regard to a certain not difficult question.
Zeus. Your petition, of a truth, is a small matter and soon settled : so ask whatever you have a mind to ask.
Cyniskus. Here it is then, Zeus. You read, doubtless, you as well as the rest, the poems of Homer and Hesiod. Tell me, pray, are those things true which these poets have so magnificently declaimed about Destiny and the Fates — that whatever lot they spin out for each mortal, at his birth, is not possible to be avoided ? 2
Zeus. Indeed, all that is quite true : for there is nothing
1 See 'iKapo-Miviirirog, 25.
2 See 'IX. xx. 128 (the words of Hera); '08. i. 17-19, 35-40 (where the conflict between Fate and Providence involves the reductio ad ab- surdum); Hesiod, Oeoy. 905,906 ; Theognis, Tvwp. 815.
THE CONVICTED ZEUS. 213
that the Fates do not ordain ; but all things that happen, whatever they are, are turned upon their spindle ; and they have, each one of them, their final event, from, the very first, strictly determined : nor is it possible or right for it to be otherwise.
Cyniskus. Then, when the same Homer, in another part of his poem, says :
" Lest to the house of Aides, despite of Fate, he send thee," 1
and that sort of thing, we must say, I suppose, that he is then talking nonsense ?
Zeus. Certainly. For nothing could happen so, inde- pendently of the law of the Fates — nothing beyond the stretch of their thread. But, as for the poets, whatever they sing under the constraining inspiration of the Muses, that is truth : when, however, the Goddesses desert them, and they poetize of themselves, on such occasions, I say, they are liable indeed to error, and are apt to contradict their former assertions. And they may be pardoned, if, as they are but men, they don't know the truth, after it has left them, which, so long as it was present, poured forth its strains through them.
Cy?iiskus. Well, we will say so then. But further answer me this, too. Are there not three Fates — Klotho, Lachesis, and Atropos ?
Zeus. Of course.
Cyniskus. Destiny, 2 then, and Chance — for they, too, are
1 M)) Kal vrrtp Mdipav dofxov "A'idog sicracplKrjai,
'IX. xx. 336. The warning of Poseidon to ./Eneas not to engage in battle with Achilleus. If we choose to read fiolpav, Poseidon might, perhaps, be relieved of the charge of having perpetrated a ridiculous " bull." Gellius (Koct. Att. xiii. 1) takes vrrep fiolpav to be simply prater naturam, "unnaturally," "violently." But the interpretation of Cyniskus is the probable one.
2 " Lucian means what we call 'Destiny' (Schicksal), Eiixapnevrjv. This word seems to have a meaning identical with HtTrpuiikvr], and is used by some writers as a synonym for MoTpa ; by others, however, it is distinguished from her, and even from Pepromene, so that the question of Cyniskus, who does not know too well what he was to make out of all these names, is quite natural. Since, however, Jupiter knows no more of the matter than other people, so he gets out of the difficulty with the accustomed answer in such cases — ' it is not oermitted to us to see clearly in these things.' " — Wieland.
214 THE CONVICTED ZEUS.
much in everyone's month — who ever are they, and what power does each of them exercise ? Have they a power equal to that of the Fates, 1 or something even above them ? I hear, however, everyone say that nothing is more powerful than Chance and Destiny.
Zeus. It is not permissible for you to know everything, Cyniskus. And with what purpose, pray, did you ask this question about the Fates ?
Cyniskus. I will tell you, if you will tell me first, Zeus, this too — do they govern you, as well ; and is it, really, a matter of necessity for you to hang suspended by their thread ?
Zeus. It is matter of necessity, Cyniskus. But why did you smile, pray ? 2
Cyniskus. I called to mind those verses of Homer, in which you have been represented by him as declaiming in the popular Assembly of the Gods, when you threatened
1 Talc MoipaiQ — the Latin Pare®. The Latins gave these dread divinities the names of Nona, Decuma (or Decima), and Morta (or Mcera), according to an authority quoted by Gellius, iii. 16. The ety- mology of both Motpai and Pare® seems to be the same, and to denote the distributive or apportioning powers.
2 " Here, too, Jupiter answers conformably to the Homeric and popular Theology, which makes the Gods dependent on Fate (Schicksal), or Necessity (Nothwendigkeit), and, also, even upon the Parcse, who execute the laws of Necessity. As, however, nothing was firm or stereo- typed in the Greek Theology, the common belief did not hinder many, to whom the consequences of such teaching were a stumbling-block, from thinking otherwise. Pausanias, where he speaks of the statues of Jupiter Olympius at Megara, gives as the reason why the Horce and Parccs are represented hovering above the God's head, that it was pretty generally recognized that Pepromene (' Fate '), is subject to Jupiter alone, and that the Horce are ruled by him, and kept in due order. But Lucian's Jupiter, weak as he was, had, at least, so much understanding as to know that a Necessity, subject to his absolute will, could be no Necessity ; and is, accordingly, resolved not to overstrain his power, either in regard of the Parcce that hover over his head at Megara, or of the statues and altars, which, according to the testimony of Pausanias, he possessed here and there under the name of Moiragetes (' Ruler of the Fates'): but, rather, with a good grace confessed that not only could he not alter the laws of Fate, but that he was, as regards his own person, subject to them. Lucian could with so much the greater justice make his Jupiter confess this, because the Delphic Apollo himself, when Kroesus bitterly reproached him after the unlucky event of his war with Cyrus, excused himself in the same way (Herod, i. 91)." — Wieland.
THE CONVICTED ZEUS. 215
them to suspend the universe by a certain golden chain — for you asserted that, of yourself, you would let down the chain in question from Heaven, and tliat all the Gods to- gether, if they chose, might hang by it and use all their force to pull it down, but that they certainly would not drag the chain down, whereas you yourself, whenever you wished, easily
"Aloft could draw the Earth itself, and Sea, and all within them." 1
On those occasions, I confess, you appeared to me to be admirable in your strength, and I used to shudder with terror while I listened to those verses ; whereas now I see that all this time you have been yourself suspended with your chain and all your threats, by a slight thread, as you admit. Klotho, it seems to me, according to this, might boast with far more justness, as it is she who drags up and hangs you in mid air by her spindle, for all the world as fishermen do their little fish from their rod and line.
Zeus (indignantly). I don't know what these same ques- tions of yours mean.
CynisJcus. This, Zeus — and, by the Fates and by Destiny, do not hear me with harsh or angry feeling, if I speak the truth with freedom. Why, if this is so, and the Fates rule all things, and nothing of what has once been decreed by them can be altered by anyone, with what purpose do we men offer sacrifices and presentwhole hecatombs to you, 2 with prayers for good things from you. For I don't see what advantage we could get from this piece of attention, if neither it is possible for us to find, through vows and prayers, means of averting evils, nor to obtain any heaven -given good.
1 'IX. viii. 26. See 0. A. xxi.
2 The Homeric hecatomb (lit. " sacrifice of a hundred victims)," hyper- bole as it might seem, was upon occasion, even vastly exceeded. The Jewish and Pagan priesthoods and ritual were alike insatiate in their sanguinary sacrifice, for almost every occurrence of public or private life : and the thirst for blood rose with the magnitude of the event to be celebrated. For example, see 1 Kings, viii. 63 (22,000 oxen, 120,000 sheep) ; Suetonius ( Vita Duod. Casarum, Caligula, 14), records that 100,000 various victims were sacrificed, at one time, to the divinity of Caligula. See Juv. Sat. xii. 101-120; Clement Alex. Padag. ii. 1$ Lucian, Hepi Qvaliov. ; Porphyrius, Tlepi 'E^o^c.
216
THE CONVICTED ZEUS.
Zeus (vehemently). I know where you get those pretty questions from — from those cursed sophists, who assert that we don't even exercise any providential superintendence over men ; and without doubt, they ask such questions out of sheer impiety, diverting the rest of mankind from sacrifice l and vow-making, as being quite useless : seeing, as they affirm, we neither pay any regard to what is done among you, nor, in fine, have any power at all in respect to earthly affairs. However, they shall have no reason to be pleased by their pursuance of such inquiries.
Cyniskus (calmly). No, by the spindle of Klotho, I declare, Zeus, it was not from being influenced by those people that I put these questions to you ; but our line of discussion itself, I don't know how, has gone on till it ended in this — that sacrifices are supererogatory and superfluous. But again, if you please, I will put the question to you briefly, and do not shrink from answering me, and be so land as to give a more candid reply than is your wont.
Zeus. Ask away, if you have leisure to talk such trifling nonsense.
Cyniskus. You affirm that everything is done by the Fates ?
Zeus. Well, I do.
Cyniskus. But that it is in your power to alter their decrees, and to spin them back ?
Zeus. Not at all.
Cyniskus. Would you have me, then, lead up to the necessary consequence, or is it plain enough without my mentioning it ?
Zeus. Oh, quite plain. But those who sacrifice, do so, not on account of any need for it — to make a return, and, as it were, to purchase good things from us ; but, in a particular manner, out of honour for what is superior to themselves. 2
1 Zeus, apparently, had quite forgotten the consolatory observation of Hermes at the conclusion of the memorable debate between Damis and Timokles.
2 Jacobitz, departing from the authority of the Codices, reads aXXd for {], by which the meaning of the reply of Zeus is considerably altered. According to the generally received text, we read, " but those who sacrifice do so, not by reason of any need of ours, but to make a
THE CONVICTED ZEUS. 217
Cynishus (triumphantly). That's sufficient — since even you allow that the sacrifices are of no earthly use, hut are offered simply by way of friendly feeling on the part of men, who honour the superior power. Yet if any one of those sophists you speak of were present, he -would ask you why you affirm the Gods to be superior, and that, seeing they are fellow-slaves with men, and under subjection to the same mistresses — the Fates. For the plea of immortality will not avail them, so as, on that account, to gain the re- putation of superiority: because that accident, in fact, makes it far worse for them, seeing that death would have removed them to a state of freedom ; while, as it is, your business ends only with infinity, and your slavery, wound up with that long-reaching thread, is everlasting.
Zeus. But, Cyniskus, that eternity and that infinity of ours is a blessed one for us, and we live in the enjoyment of all good things.
Cynislcus. Not all of you, Zeus. On the contrary, even among you your concerns have been variously portioned out, and considerable confusion exists in your midst. You, indeed, are fortunate, for you are king, and can hoist up Earth and Sea by just letting down a bucket-rope, as it were. But Hephaestus now, he is lame, and a sort of mechanic and blacksmith by trade ; as for Prometheus, he was once upon a time crucified 1 — and as for your own father, what shall I say of him, who is still a prisoner in chains in Tartarus ? They do say that you Gods even play the gallant, and get wounded in battle, and sometimes work with men as slaves, as certainly did your own brother with Laomedon, and Apollo with Admetus. These circum- stances don't seem to me to be very happy ones ; on the contrary, some individuals among you appear to be for- tunate and lucky, and others the opposite. I omit, in fact, to mention that you are apt to fall among thieves, 2 just as we are, get robbed by plunderers of your temples, and
return for favours received, and, as it were, to purchase good things from us, &c." Jacobitz's revision is more consistent with the reply of the Cynic.
1 See 0. A. 1 ; JEschyl. ITpo/x. Aeafi. ; and the humorous scene in Aristoph. 'OpviOeg, 1494-1551.
2 Even in Heaven itself, among themselves. See 0. A. vii.
218
THE CONVICTED ZEUS.
from a state of the greatest wealth become paupers, in the twinkling of an eye. And many before now have been melted down, for all their being of gold or silver; to whom, I presume, that fate had been destined.
-^Zeus (frowning). There! These, now, are mere wanton insults of yours, Cyniskus. Indeed, you will repent of them some time or other.
Cyniskus. Spare your threats, Zeus, as you know that I shall suffer nothing, which has not been determined by Fate before you had anything to do with it : since I notice that not even the robbers of your temples themselves are all punished ; on the contrary, the majority of them get away from you scot-free. In fact, I suppose it had not been fated for them to be caught.
Zeus. Did I not say that you are, without doubt, one of those fellows who are for doing away with providence by your style of argument ?
Cyniskus. You are terribly afraid of them, Zeus, I don't know why. Everything, in fact, I say, whatever it may be, you suspect to be their teaching. But I — from whom else should I learn the truth rather than from you ? — I should be glad to ask you this, too, who is this " Provi- dence " * of yours ; is it some Fate, or a divinity even above her, 2 as it were, ruling over the Gods themselves ?
Zeus. I told you already before that it is not lawful or proper for you to know everything. And you, although at the beginning you said you would ask a certain single question, don't stop a moment, putting a number of hair- splitting subtleties to me ; and I see it is the chief aim of your discourse, to prove we exercise no providential care over human concerns in anything.
Cyniskus. That is not my affair : but you affirmed, a little before, that they are the Fates that accomplish everything ; unless, perchance, you repent of making those concessions,
1 Upovoia. " So the Stoics named ' Providence ' (die Forschung), which they attributed to the Gods, without detriment to their necessary Fate, and on account of wbich they were in perpetual feud with the Epi- cureans." — Wieland. Cf. Herod, iii. 108; Plato, T</i. 44; Cicero, De Div. i. 51 ; Seneca, Be Providentid ; Macrob. Sat. i. 17.
2 Jacobitz reads virip ravrriv in place of virep ravrag, upon what au- thority does not appear.
THE CONVICTED ZEUS. 219
and recall again what yon have said, and pnt in a claim for " Providence," and thrust Destiny aside altogether.
Zeus. By no means ; on the contrary, it is Fate that brings each thing to pass through our agency.
Cyniskus. I understand. You say you are a kind of agents and ministers of the Fates. But, however, even so, it would be they who exercise providence, while you are, as it were, a sort of tools and instruments of theirs.
Zeus. How ?
Cyniskus. How ? Why, just as, I suppose, the carpenter's axe and auger work together, in some sort, for the crea- tion of the work : but no one would say that they are the workman himself, nor the ship the work of the axe or the auger, but of the shipwright. Analogously, then, Destiny is she who acts as the shipwright in regard to each parti- cular, while you are, I presume, the axes and augers of the Fates : and, as it seems, men ought to offer their sacri- fices to Destiny, and demand their good things from her ; whereas they approach you, honouring you with their processions and sacrifices. And yet they would not do it reasonably, even in honour of Destiny. For I don't suppose it to be possible even for the Fates themselves to change or upset anything of what has been originally de- creed respecting each several event. At all events, Atropos 1 would not tolerate it, if anyone were to turn back the spindle, and undo the work of Klotho.
Zeus. And do you, Cyniskus, now require that not even the Fates be held in honour by men ? Well, you seem to have for your object to throw everything into confusion. We, however, if for nothing else, should be justly honoured, at least, for our giving out oracles and predicting every particular thing which has been determined by the Fates.
Cynislcus. Upon a survey of the whole matter, it is use- less, Zeus, for those to whom it is altogether impossible to guard themselves against them, to foreknow events that are to take place ; unless you say this — that one who has learned beforehand that he will have to die by an iron spear-head, might be able to escape death by shutting him- self up. But that is impossible : for Fate will drag him
1 As her name implies, the irreversible one, " with whom is no vari- ableness, neither shadow of turning."
220 THE CONVICTED ZEUS.
out to set him hunting, and will deliver him up to the spear ; and an Adrastus will hurl his javelin against the wild boar, and will miss him, but will slay the son of Krcesus ; just as though the javelin had been carried against the youth by irresistible command of the Fates. The saying of Laius is, indeed, ridiculous, which says : —
" Sow not, in heav'n's despite, a field of sons : Sure death you'll meet from your own progeny." l
For an exhortatory warning against events that will cer- tainly so happen is, I imagine, superfluous. So, in fact, after the oracle, he did "sow," and "the progeny" slew him. Therefore, I don't see upon what pretence you demand pay for your oracular art. Why, I omit to mention that you Gods are accustomed to return to the majority of your clients oracular responses of double and ambiguous meaning, and don't make it over clear, whether the one who crosses the Halys will destroy his own kingdom, or that of Cyrus : 2 for the oracle might be made to mean both.
Zeus. Apollo, Cyniskus, had some cause for anger against Krcesus, inasmuch as he tempted him by boiling lamb's flesh and a tortoise together. 3
Cyniskus. As a God, he ought not even to have been angry : but, however, it had been fated, I presume, for the Lydian that he should be deceived by the oracle ; and, besides, Destiny spun for him, that he should not understand too clearly what was in store for him. So even your oracular art is her work.
Zeus. And do you leave nothing for us, but are we Gods without any purpose, and do we not import any sort of providence into human affairs, and are we, like a lot of axes and augers, in actual fact, unworthy of sacrifices ? Indeed, I think you quite reasonably have a supreme contempt for
1 Mr/ cnrupe TiKViov aXoica Saifi6vu)v j3la'
Ei yap TtKvuHTEiQ 7ratd airoKTtvCi c' 6 fig.
Eurip. <Poiv. 118, 119.
" Besiie nicht die Kinderfurche, dir verbieten es Die Gutter! thust du es, so todtet dich dein Sohn."
Wieland. 2 See 'Llvq Tpayydog, 29-31 ; 'EkkX. Bsu>v. 3 Ibid.
THE CONVICTED ZEUS. 221
me, because, as you see, I forbear my hand, although ready to hurl my thunderbolt at you, all the time you are making all these cavillings against us.
Cynislcus. Shoot away, Zeus, if it has been fated for me to be struck by a thunderbolt ; and I will not blame you at all for the stroke, but Klotho, who wounds me by your agency : for I would not affirm even that the thunderbolt was the cause of the wound. However, I will ask this of you — yourself and Destiny — and do you answer me, also, on her behalf ; for you reminded me by your threat : Why ever in the world do you leave alone robbers of your temples and pirates, and such a number of insolent wrong-doers, and men of outrage and violence, and perjurers, and fre- quently cast your bolt against some poor oak, or rock, or mast of a ship that has done you no harm ; and, at times, against some good and just traveller ? 1 Why are you silent, Zeus ? Or is it not lawful and right for me to know even thus much ?
Zeus. Why, no, Cyniskus ; and you are a meddlesome sort of fellow, and I don't know where you come from with these jumbled-up arguments.
Cyniskus. Then may I not even ask you this — you, I mean, and Providence and Destiny — why ever did Phokion, that good man, die in such poverty and want of the actual necessaries of life, 2 and Aristeides before him ; while Kal- lias and Alkibiades, youths unbridled in their licentious- ness, abounded in wealth, and Meidias, the insolent upstart,
1 See Tifiuv. 1-5.
2 This well-known Athenian statesman and military commander, contemporary with the Macedonian Philip and Alexander, fell a victim to the unjust suspicions of his countrymen of traitorous designs. He died by the ordinary Athenian method of public execution — the adminis- tration of hemlock — in his eighty-fifth year. Upon what authority Lucian reduces him to actual poverty, is not clear. Plutarch, who gives the details of his life, informs us that he was distinguished by his fru- gality and simplicity of diet, but does not state that he ever suffered from destitution. Lucian ('AXtjQ. 'lor. ii. 23) places him in the Elysian paradise. As for Aristeides, his poverty seems to have been his own choice. It is of him that Plutarch makes the admirable remark at the expense of the kings and heroes of History. The Kallias here referred to, the stepson of Perikles, was known for his extravagant dissipation. Xenophon's Zv/xiroaiov takes place at his house. Cf. Zeig Tpay. 48 j Tifnov. 24.
222 THE CONVICTED ZEUS.
and Charops of .ZEgina, a man of infamous debauchery, 1 who killed his mother by starvation. And, again, Sokrates, why was he handed over to the Eleven, while Meletns was not so ? 2 and Sardanapalns, why had he kingly power, with his debauched character, and why were such a number of good and honourable Persians impaled or crucified by him, because they were not content with his proceedings ? Not to mention to you things of the present time, or further particularize — the wicked and the avaricious happy and fortunate, the good driven and carried off into captivity, oppressed through poverty, by diseases, and ten thousand evils.
Zeus. Why, don't you know, Cyniskus, what punish- ments the wicked endure after this life, or in how much happiness the good pass their time ?
Cyniskus. You talk to me of Hades, and the Tityuses and Tantaluses. But, as far as I am. concerned, whether there is anything at all of the sort I shall know clearly enough when I am dead : and, as for the present, I would prefer to pass my life happily during this life, as long as it might be, and, after death, to have my liver gnawed by sixteen vultures — but not, while here, to be as thirsty as Tantalus ; and in the Islands of the Blessed to drink, reclining in the Elysian meadows with the heroes. 3
Zeus. What do you say ? Do you disbelieve or doubt that there are certain punishments and rewards, and a judg- ment-seat, where at length each one's life is inquired into ?
1 Meidias, an Athenian plutocrat, is chiefly known as the enemy of Demosthenes the orator, who was deterred from delivering his carefully- prepared speech against the plutocrat by dread of his powerful influence. — See Plutarch, B. II. Of Charops of iEgina nothing seems to be known.
2 Meletus, or Melitus, a bad tragic poet, was the public accuser put forward by the enemies of Sokrates. Like other similar sykophants, he was afterwards made a sort of scape-goat by the fickle Athenian demos. The real informers were Any tus and others. — See Xenoph. "Atto/xv. i. ; Lucian, ArifiibvaZ. 1 1 ; A/c KarTjy. 6. The Eleven, or fiofiocpvXaKeg, were officers entrusted with the execution of the decrees of the Areiopa- gus and of the Heliasts, and with the safe keeping of prisoners.
3 For Lucian's idea of the Elysian Fields, see the charming description of the Isle of the Blessed (in his 'AXrjO. 'I(rr. ii. 5-27) and its vanishing joys, in which some of the Lucianic commentators have discovered a covered satire on the 'A7rofcd\in//ic of the Christian Scriptures.
THE CONYICTED ZEUS. 223
Gyniskus. I hear that a certain Minos, a Kretan, acts as jndge in such matters; and answer me somewhat about him, too : for he is said to be your son.
Zeus. And why do you ask about him, Cyniscus ?
Gyniskus. Whom does he punish chiefly ?
Zeus. The wicked, of course, such as murderers and temple robbers.
Gynisku*. And whom does he despatch to the heroes ?
Zeus. The good and holy, who have lived virtuously.
Gyniskus. Why, Zeus ?
Zeus. Because some deserve reward, others punishment.
Gyniskus. And, if a man have done some dire action unwittingly, does he deem him deserving, too, of being punished ?
Zeus. By no means.
Gyniskus. Nor, I suppose, if a man does some good action against his will, would he think it proper to reward him either ?
Zeus. Why, no, to be sure.
Gyniskus. Then it befits him, Zeus, neither to punish nor to reward anybody ?
Zeus. How, not anybody ?
Gyniskus. Because we men do nothing of our own wills, but are compelled by some inevitable necessity, if, at least, those things are true which have been before admitted — namely, that Fate is the cause of everything. In fact, if a man commit a murder, she is the real murderess ; and if he rob a temple, he does what it has been ordered him to do. So, if Minos intend to give just judgment, he will punish Destiny instead of Sisyphus, 1 and Fate instead of Tantalus. For what wrong did they commit, since they obeyed their orders ?
Zeus (in a towering rage). It is no longer worth while
1 The well-known king of Korinth, equally famous for his commerce and his craft — o KepCiaroQ ykvtr dvdpoJv. 'I\. vi. 153. By the poet of the Odyssey he is tortured in Tartarus for his misdeeds by the everlast- ingly rolling rock, or huge stone, which, as soon as pushed up the hill, rolled back again, 'O^.'xi. 593-599. Cf. Lucretius, De Rerum Nat. iii, 1013; JEn. vi. 602; Ov. Met. iv. 460; Cicero, Disp. Tusc. \. 5, 10; Aristotle ('P^jrop. iii. 19) represents the poet as employing the fable metaphorically. For Tantalus, see Ntic. AiaX. xvii.
224 THE CONVICTED ZEUS.
even to reply to you and yonr questions — for you are an impudent fellow, and a sophist into the bargain ; and I will leave you and go away this moment.
Cyniskus (calling after him). I did want to put to you again this question, too — Where do the Fates spend their days, or how do they manage to reach to the superinten- dence, even to the smallest particular, of so many matters — and that, though they are only three ? For they seem to me to live a laborious and no enviable sort of existence, in having such a quantity of public business ; and, as it appears, they were born under a not altogether propitious Destiny, even they. I, at all events, if choice were given to me, would not exchange my own life with them, but would pass through life still poorer than I am rather than sit plying my spindle full of such a quantity of trouble- some business, and looking after each particular item. However, since it is not easy for you to reply to them, Zeus, we shall be even content with those answers which you have made : for they are quite enough to throw light upon the argument concerning Destiny and Providence. As for the rest, probably it was not fated for me to hear them.
THE CONVENTION OF THE GODS. 1
[Zeus, to husk the loud murmurs and growing discontent of the privileged classes of Olympus at the constant influx of novi divi, which threatens altogether to swamp the ancient orders of divinity, summons a General Assembly for the purpose of taking measures to remedy the evil. After proclamation by Hermes, by permission of the Pre- sident, Momus, the Censor, or Public Prosecutor, of Olympus, again undertakes the not uncongenial task of exposing the patent scandals flourishing in their midst. He repeats his old complaints, 2 and animadverts sarcastically upon the scandal, that not only are mortal men deified, but that they bring with them a whole train of disreputable followers of low or hybrid origin, whom, surreptitiously, they introduce into the Tiaut monde, and, by corrupt arts, contrive to get raised to the Olympian peerage; that these dieux nouveaux insist upon an equal share, with the ancient aristocracy, of the public feasts and sacrifices. Here the President interposes, and calls upon the Public Prosecutor to proceed from general to particular charges, and specify names. Thus admonished, Momus particularizes the most conspicuous scandals of this kind, and proceeds (in spite
1 Qz&v 'EKKXTjo-ia — the " Popular Assembly of the Gods " — is the title of this witty piece. Inasmuch as, however, on this memorable occasion, the " upper " and " lower " Houses (the Boule and Ecclesia) sat and voted together, the French " National Assembly " or "Con- vention " more exactly represents the character of the present meeting of the divinities. The usual English representative title is " Council," which does not accurately express the original.
2 See Zevg Tpay.
Q
226 THE CONVENTION OF THE GODS.
of a caution from Zeus to except certain privileged per- sonages from his indictment) to insinuate that the case of the " king of Gods and men " himself is not unobnoxious to severe criticism — in particular, in regard to certain events in the island of Krete, the scene of his education and (alleged) decease ; and his notorious amours with certain terrestrial mistresses, which were at once hazardous and ridiculous. He does not omit to descant upon a number of other notorious scandals caused by the too free conduct of other deities of either sex, in imitation of their father and sovereign lord. At the urgent interposition of Zeus, passing over the Ganymede scandal, he next attacks the Oriental, and especially Egyptian, interlopers ; and, again called to order, passes on to the various oracular divinities, and their portentously-increasing number — in- stancing certain well-known athletes, who had received the honours of divinity and immortality. One of the results of this extension of the celestial franchise, accord- ing to the Censor, is the increase of perjury. Descending rapidly to human concerns, he severely assails the new- fangled names bandied about in the logomachies, and word-twisting of the " philosophers ;" and has a fling at the new fashion of deifying Nature and Destiny, &c, which threatens to divert the old-accustomed rich sacrifices from Heaven to Earth. At this point of his oration, observing signs of weariness from some, of hostility from others, Momus brings his address to a somewhat abrupt close. Leave having been given by the President, he then reads the resolution.
The Decree sets forth, in the approved (Attic) legal forms, the principal cause of the convocation of the Assembly — viz., the intrusion of spurious and barbarous interlopers, the overcrowding of Heaven, and the conse- quent alarming and extraordinary rise in the market- prices of their ambrosia and nectar, and the arrogance and presumption of the dieux nouveaux. It announces the meeting of the celestial Chambers in the approaching winter, when an Inquisitorial Commission is to be ap- pointed for thorough revision and strict scrutiny of the claims of the several more recent and surreptitious additions to the theocracy ; when they will be expected to produce
THE CONVENTION OF THE GODS. 227
credentials, and proofs of the soundness of their claims : the penalty of the flames of Tartarus to be enacted for all who disobey the ruling of the Commission. Also, it is to be within the powers of the same Commission to ascer- tain and curtail the present pluralities and patronage of the various members of the ancieri regime.
To this decree Zeus vouchsafes to give his imprimatur, and the Assembly is prorogued.]
Zeus, Hermes, and Momus.
Zeus. Have done with your muttering, Gods, and don't crowd yourselves into corners, and take counsel with one another in whispers, in your anger because a number of unworthy guests share our table. But, inas- much as a Convention has been summoned to deliberate about these matters, let each one say openly what he thinks, and produce his charges. And you, Hermes, make your proclamation according to the legal requirements.
Hermes. Oyez ! Silence ! What God, of full age and qualification, who has the right, desires to harangue ? The subject of inquiry is respecting resident- aliens * and strangers.
Momus. I do — Momus — if you would give me leave to speak, Zeus.
Zeus. The terms of the proclamation already give you leave. So you will have no need of my permission.
Momus. I assert, then, that some of us act in a strange manner — to whom it is not sufficient that they have been themselves transformed from men into Gods, but, unless they render their hangers-on and attendants possessors of equal rights with ourselves, consider they have accom-
1 McrotKwv. The Metceci formed a regular and numerous resident- colony in the Greek States, or cities (10,000, at Athens, in the third century B.C.), subject to severe restrictions and disabilities. They were forced to serve in the armies, but were not admitted to any sort of legislative rights of the State in which they lived. Chiefly engaged in trade, they were always actually regarded as %evoi (foreigners), though nominally distinguished from them.
228 THE CONVENTION OF THE GODS.
plished no great or gallant achievement. Now I claim, Zeus, from you the privilege of free speech, for otherwise I could not venture upon it — but all know me, how free I am of tongue, and that I could not be silent in regard to any dishonourable action : for I examine everything critically, and declare my opinions openly, neither fearing anybody nor disguising my feeling out of mistaken modesty. Thus I have the reputation with the large majority of being a nuisance, and a calumnious character, and am entitled by them a sort of public accuser. But, however, as it is permitted to me, and has been so declared in the crier's proclamation, and you, Zeus, give me power to speak out quite freely, I will speak without any sort of reserve. Well, there are a considerable number, I affirm, who, not content that they themselves participate in the same councils with us, and take part in our banquets on equal terms with ourselves — and that, though they are half mortals — bring up their servants and Bacchanalian hangers-on, into the bargain, into heaven, and enregister them as Gods. 1 And now they receive the distributions of sacrificial meats on equal terms with us, and share in our sacrifices, without even paying us the foreigners' tax.
Zeus. Give us no riddles, Momus, but speak clearly and explicitly, and supply us with the names of the accused. For now your statement of the case has been recklessly brought before the public, so that one guesses at a number of indi- viduals, and fits one individual to one and another individual to another of your charges. You, who are a bold and inde- pendent speaker, ought not to shrink from saying anything you have to say.
Momus. Bravo, Zeus, for urging me to freedom of speech : indeed, you act in this right royally, without mistake, and magnanimously. So I will even out with the names. Well, that most excellent Dionysus, who is half man (not even Greek on his mother's side, but grandson of the daughter of a certain Syrophenician merchant, Kadmus), ever since he was voted worthy of immortality, what sort of character he has I say nothing — neither of his hair-fillet, nor of his drunkenness, nor of his gait. For you all see, I
1 See Zevg Tpay.
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suppose, how womanly and effeminate he is in disposition, only half in his senses, reeking with the fumes of unmixed wine from early morning. 1 He introduced among us a whole tribe of his relations, and comes and brings his troop of dancers, and makes Gods of Pan, and Silenus, and the Satyrs, a set of rustics and goatherds, most of them, skittish and goatish, and strange of form — of whom the one has horns, and from the middle downwards, in fact, resembles his own goat, and displays a long beard, and differs but little from that animal ; another is a bald old man, with a snub nose, usually mounted upon an ass. He is Lydian. 2 As for the Satyrs, with their pointed ears, and bald heads, with horns, such as grow on recently-born kids — they are by way of being Phrygians. And they are even endowed, the whole lot of them, with tails. You see what sort of divinities this worthy finds for us. And, then, do we wonder that men have contempt for us, when they see such, ridiculous and pro- digious Gods ? I omit to mention that he brought up, too, a couple of women — the one being his mistress, Ariadne, 3 whose crown, actually, he inserted in the circle of the stars ; the other, a daughter of the Icarian farmer ; and, what is most ridiculous of all, Gods, even Erigone's dog, even him he brought up, for fear the girl might be grieved, if she should not have her accustomed play -fellow, and object of her affec- tion, her dear whelp. Don't these things appear to you to be wanton impertinence, and drunken folly, and matter for de- rision ? Now listen, pray, to the history of the rest of them.
1 See 6. A. xviii.
2 Silenus, as a native of Nysa in Karia, might more properly be termed a Karian. This inseparable boon-companion of the God of the Vine always appears in Art as the personification of coarse and gross sensuality in face and figure, and usually in a state of intoxication. The presiding deity of the Chase and of the Farm does not cut a much more respectable figure. In the famous romance episode of Pysche and Cupid, he is repre- sented as acting in the character of protector of the persecuted heroine. Both Silenus and Pan are often pluralized by the poets.
3 Deserted by her lover, whom she had just rescued from a terrible fate, and left in the island of Naxos, the Cretan princess (so we are in- formed) forgot her grief in a strong attachment to the wine -divinity. The crown, promoted to the stars, was given to her by Dionysus at their union. See Ariadne Theseo of Ovid. For the story of Erigone and her faithful dog Mara, see Apollod. iii. 14. The dog is known to modern astronomy as Procyon.
230 THE CONTENTION OF THE GODS.
Zeus. Don't say a word, Momus, either about Asklepius or about Herakles — for I see what is the drift of your speech — for as to them, one of them is a physician and cures men of diseases, and hath "many fighters' value ; " ] while Herakles, who is my son, purchased his immortality by not a few toils. So don't bring accusations against them.
Glomus. I will hold my tongue for your sake, Zeus, though I have much to say. However, if they have nothing* to show else, they still keep the marks of their fire burns. 2 And, if it were allowed me to use freedom of speech in regard to yourself, I should have had much to say.
Zeus. Indeed, you have, by all means, full leave to say your say as far as I am concerned. But, surely, you are not for bringing an action against me, too, as an alien for usurping rights of citizenship ? a
Momus. In Krete, to tell the truth, not only is it possible to hear this insinuation, but there is something, besides, they allege about you — they even point out your sepulchre. 4 However, I believe neither them nor the ^Egeans of Achaia, who affirm that you were a changeling. But, as to those matters which I consider ought especially to be reproved, those I will venture to speak of. The beginning, surely, of such breaches of the law, and the first cause of our Council being overrun with bastards, you yourself supplied, Zeus, by your familiarity with mortal women, and going down to them now in one shape, now in another ; so that we actually fear that someone may get hold of you, and sacrifice you, when you are a bull ; or some goldsmith may
1 Parody of part of the Homeric verses : —
'larpbg yctp ctvrjp 7roWu>v civtc'i^ioq dXXiov 'lovg r' tKrafii'Eiv, t7rt r' ?y7na ^dp/xaKa TrdoGHV.
'IX. xi. 514-515. " Surely a sage chirurgeon, skilful to cut out arrows, And overspread assuagements soft, hath many fighters' value."
(Prof. Newman's Iliad of Homer.)
2 See 0. A. xiii.
3 Eeviag diwKEig. A legal formula taken from the Attic law courts. Cf. Aristoph. 20. 718 ; Demosth. passim.
4 This subject for satire is a favourite one with Lucian. See T//iwv, 6 j Ztvg Tpay. 45; Tlepi Qvtnwv, 10; &i\o\pzvSr)g, 3. The Ch. Fathers, also, make the most of it. Lactantius ^ivesthe inscription on the tomb ; Chrysostom, Horn. iii. (as quoted byDu Soul). Cf. Pausanias, vii. 24.
THE CONVENTION OP THE GODS. 231
work you up when you are gold, and, in place of Zeus, you might become either a necklace, or a bracelet, or an earring. However it may be, you have filled Heaven, at all events, with these semi-gods, for I cannot otherwise characterize them. And the thing is most ridiculous, when someone all on a sudden hears that a Herakles has been proclaimed divine ; while Eurystheus, who imposed his orders upon him, has died ; and a temple of Herakles, the servant, and the tomb of Eurystheus, his master, are adjoining. Again, Dionysus is divine at Thebes ; while his cousins, Pentheus, and Aktreon, and Learchus * were of all men most miserable in their fate. From the first moment, Zeus, you opened your doors to such individuals, and turned your attention to mortal women, they have all of them set to imitating your example — and that not the male part of them only, but (what is most scandalous) the female also. Who does not know about Anchises, and Tithonus, and Endymion, and Iasion, 2 and the rest ? So I think I will pass those particulars by, for it would be a long business to criticize them all.
Zeus. Not a word, Momus, about Ganymedes, for I shall take it ill, if you cause the boy any pain by reproaching him with his birth and family. 3
Glomus. Then neither shall I say anything as to the eagle — how it has taken up its abode in Heaven, and sits upon the royal sceptre, and all but makes its nest upon your head, with the reputation of being divine. Are we to pass
1 Pentheus, the king of Thebes, who made himself remarkably singular (rara avis in terris) by his opposition to the brewers and wine- merchants of the day, who revenged themselves by holding him up to future ages as the especial object of the detestation and punishment of the divinity, by whose frenzied priestesses he was torn to pieces. The Bd\<aL of Euripides is founded upon this history. Learchus, the son of Athamas and Ino, was killed by his father in a fit of madness, sent by the angry divinities Hera and Nephele. See Hyginus, Fab. i. 2 ; Ov. Fasti, vi. 479. For Aktseon, see 9. A. xvi.
2 For Anchises and Endymion, see 9. A. xx. xi. Iasion, the son of Zeus and Elektra (daughter of Atlas) was the favoured lover of Dcmeter. See 'Od. v. 125; Hes. Oeoy. 969 ; Ov. Amares, iii. 10, 25-44, Met. ix. 421. According to Apollod. (iii. 12), it was not the Goddess, but Iasion, who made the first overtures, for which he was struck dead by a thunderbolt by Zeus.
3 See 9. A. iv. v. Wieland thinks that Lucian here alludes to the deified Ganymede of the Emperor Hadrian.
232 THE CONTENTION OF THE GODS.
this eagle by, too, for Ganymedes' sake ? Well, Attis, at all events, and Korybus, and Sabazius x — from what part of the world have they been rolled in npon us one after the other ? Or that Mithras, the Median, with his oriental mantle and tiara, who does not even speak a word of Greek, so that, even if one drink his health, he doesn't understand ? So, of course, the Scythians and Dacians, upon seeing their characters, bid us a long adieu, and immortalize and elect for Gods for themselves whomever they may choose; in the same manner in which Zamolxis, 2 slave though he was, was enrolled, who crept in I don't know how. However, all these things, Gods, are comparative trifles. But you, with the dog-face, 3 the ^Egyptian, wrapped up in linen wraps, who are you, excellent Sir, or how do you put in a claim to be divine with your barking ? And what is the meaning of this bull from Memphis, that spotted individual, being worshipped, 4 and delivering oracles, and having pro- phets ? I blush to speak of the ibises, and apes, and goats, and other yet more ridiculous objects of worship, I know not how staffed into Heaven from Egypt ; and how do you, Gods, submit to see them worshipped upon a perfect equality with, or even to a greater degree than, yourselves ? Or you, Zeus, how do you like it, when your ram's horns sprout out upon you ? 5
Zeus. These Egyptian facts you mention, of a truth, are
1 See Zevq Tpayydog and 'Iicapo-Mev. Sabazius, a Phrygian divinity, ■was identified with Dionysus. Cf. Aristoph. 'OpviO. 875, Avgigt. 388. Cicero, De Nat. Deor. ii. 23, 58. Macrob. Sat. i. 1. Korybus may be either the representation of the Korybantic family, or an individual said to have been the son of Kybele.
2 A Thracian divinity, or prophet, who is said to have been a slave of Pythagoras. See Herodotus (iv. 94, 95), who describes the barbarous sacrifices to this God ; Apuleius, De Magid, 290.
3 Anubis. See N. A. xiii.
4 For the Egyptian worship of and extraordinary reverence for Apis, or the sacred Bull of Memphis, see Herodotus iii. 27-29 ; Plinj 7 , Hist. Nat. viii. 46 ; Ammianus Marcellinus, Ees Gesta, 22.
5 In the character of Zens Ammon. He was represented sometimes as a ram, sometimes as human, excepting the head (or only the horns) of a ram. The chief seats of his worship were the Egyptian Thebes, and the famous oasis in the bordering desert. See Herod, ii. 42 ; Lucan, Tharsalia, ix. 511. Lucian, it seems, had not Plutarch's respect for the (innocent) non-human species ; or Montaigne's juster estimate of the relative value of Life (Essais, ii. 12).
THE CONVENTION OF THE GODS. 233
scandals. But, all the same, Momus, the greater part of them are allegorical ; and it is not at all right for an un- initiated person, like yourself, to laugh at them.
Momus. We are sadly in want, then, Zeus, of mystic initiation into the Mysteries, so as to know the Gods that are Gods, and the dog-headed that are dog-headed.
Zeus. Have done, I say, with the concerns of the Egyp- tians : for we will consider about them, another time, at our leisure. Do you go on with the rest.
Momus. About that Trophonius, Zeus, and — what particu- larly chokes me — that Amphilochus l who, son of an accursed matricide, utters his prophecies, excellent man, in Cilicia, lying for the most part, and juggling, for the gain of a couple of oboles. So, forsooth, Apollo, you are no longer in esteem ; but now every rock, and every altar, 2 which may be sprinkled with oil, and have garlands, and can supply an impostor, such as exist in quantities, delivers its oracles. Already, indeed, the statue of Polydamas, the athlete, cures fever- stricken patients at Olympia, and that of Theagenes in Thasos ; 3 and they offer sacrifices to Hektor, at Ilium, and to Protesilaus, over the way, in the Cherso- nese. 4 Ever since we have become so numerous, perjury has increased all the more, and temple-robbery, and, in a word, they have altogether despised us, and very rightly.
1 See Tssk. AiaX. iii.
2 Cicero characterizes these highly profitable sources, among others, of sacerdotal revenue, as flexiloqiuz et obscura, ut interpres egeat inter- prete. De Div. ii. 56. By the Christian Fathers they were held to have been directly inspired by the demons (or, rather, devils), who perso- nated the divinities of Paganism : " In oraculis autem," says Tertullian, u quo ingenio ambiguitates temperent in eventus, sciunt Croesi, sciunt Pyrrhi." — Apolog. 22. Lactantius, and St. Augustin {De Div. Dcemonum and De Civit. Dei), sti'ongly maintained the reality of such diabolic in- spiration. Eusebius (Ei>ay 'A-nod. Upotr.v.) quotes a number of instances of these tricks of the "juggling fiends." Cf. Bayle, Sur les Oracles.
3 Two famous athletes, the latter of Herculean strength. See Pau- sanias ('H\. ii.), who states that there were statues setup to the honour of Theagenes in many parts of Hellas, and even in foreign countries, which healed men of their diseases, " kui I'oaij/xara re cwtwv tw/itvov." The islanders of Thasos enjoyed the privilege of giving birth to this Samson — a somewhat troublesome one, according to the account of the Greek traveller. Cf. Lucian, Ildic 8 si 'lor. 2uy. 35. For Polydamas, see Valer. Maximus, De Factis, etc., ix. 12.
4 For Protesilaus, see N. A. xix.
234
THE CONTENTION OF THE GODS.
Thus much as to bastards and fraudulently-registered Gods. For my part, when I hear, as I now do, a number o£ strange names of certain qualities, which certainly are not found with us, nor can at all agree together ; at all that, Zeus, I laugh consumedly. For where is that Virtue, so much in the mouths of all of us, and Nature and Destiny and Chance — without any certain existence, and empty names of things — which have been invented by those stupid dolts, the philosophers ? Yet, though they are plainly fictitious, to such a degree have they influenced the fools, that not one of them cares even to offer sacrifices to us ; being well persuaded that, even though he should present ten thousand hecatombs, Chance would all the same effect what was de- creed, and what had been spun out from the first for each individual person. I should, therefore, be glad to ask you, Zeus, have you ever seen either Virtue, or Nature, or Fate ? For that, in fact, you do hear them in the discussions of the philosophers, I know, unless, indeed, you are, in a manner, deaf, so that you don't hear their clamours. Though I have still much to say, I shall now bring my speech to an end. I observe, in fact, that the majority are annoyed by my words, and are hissing : those, especially, to whom the freedom of my address has come home. If, however, you desire an end to these evils, Zeus, I will read off a certain resolution in regard to them, composed by me just now.
Zeus. Read : for all your charges are not without some reason. And I must put a check upon the greater part of them, so that they don't come to too great a head.
The Decree.
In the Name of God, 1
In a legitimately-convoked Popular Assembly, on the seventh day of the first decade of the month, 2 under the
1 'AyaQy Tvxy. A form used on solemn occasions, and inscribed on public monuments, by Hellenic custom, of which the Latin equivalent was quod felix faustumque sit. Cf. Thucyd. iv. 118. Arist. 'Opv. 435, 675 ; GeafJi. 283 ; Plato, No/t. 625.
2 'Efidony iGTctfisvov. The Attic month was divided into three decades — 6 iGTajAkvog or apxofitvog firjv (the commencing month), 6 fieawv (the middle), and 6 <p9iv<ov (the concluding decade of the month). Cf. Aurq $>wvii. i.
THE CONVENTION OF THE GODS. 235
presidency of Zens, and vice-presidency of Poseidon, Apollo in the chair, Momns, son of Nux, acting as registrar, 1 and Hypnus brought forward the motion : — Whereas many strangers, not only Hellenes, bnt even barbarons peoples, not at all deserving to share onr rights of Olympian citi- zenship, have been by some means illegally registered, and have got to have the reputation of being deities, and have crowded up all Heaven, so that the banqueting-hall is filled with atumultuous and turbulentmob, arabbleof people of all sorts of lingos ; there is a failure in the supply of ambrosia and nektar, so that now a half-pint of the latter is sold at a mna? by reason of the number of the drinkers ; and these, with insolent audacity, have ousted the ancient and genuine deities, and claimed the first places for themselves, contrary to all the traditions of our constitution, and wish to have precedence even on the Earth. Be it, therefore, decreed by the Senate and the People, that about the winter solstice a popular Assembly be summoned on Olympus, and seven of the first-class Gods be elected as Inquisitors — three from the old Senate of the time of Kronos, and four from the Twelve, of whom Zeus shall be one. Be it further enacted, that these Inquisitors sit en permanence, after having taken the customary oath — by the Styx ; that Hermes make pro- clamation and assemble them all together, as many as put in their claims, as tax-payers, to a seat in the Convention ; and that they bring with them sworn witnesses under oath, and proofs of their birth and family. Thereupon let them appear severally, and the Inquisitors, after close scrutiny, shall declare them to be bond fide Gods, or shall despatch them down to their proper sepulchres, and their ancestral vaults : And, be it enacted, if any one of the rejected Gods once ejected by the Inquisitors, be caught in the act of climbing into Heaven, that he shall be thrown into Tar- tarus. Further, be it enacted that each God employ himself solely about his own proper business : that neither Athena practise Medicine ; nor Asklepius trade in oracles ; nor
1 'O Zevg tirpvTartve, Kal Trpot]dptve Uocsiduiv, iirtOTCtTU 'AttoWwk For the proper meanings of these legal formula, see Smith's Diet, of Ant. (article JBoule) and cf. Thucyd. iv. 118; Demosth. Aoyoi ; Andokides, Aoyog Ilgpj Mv<rr. ; Pollux, 'Ovofiaor. viii. 98.
» jfcM.
236 THE CONTENTION OF THE GODS.
Apollo have all to himself so many departments, but choose onb some one province — either be a prophet, a professor of music, or a physician.
Be it further decreed, that the philosophers be warned not to invent empty names, nor talk nonsense about what they don't know. And as regards the disfranchised Gods, who already have been deemed worthy of temples and sacrifices, their statues are to be thrown down, and the statue of Zeus, or Hera, or Apollo, or someone else to be inserted in the temples, instead : That, as for those others, fcheir State erect a tomb for them, and set up a pillar in place of an altar. And, if anyone disobey this proclamation, and be not willing to come before the Commission, let them give judgment, by default, against him. 1 Such is our Decree.
Zeus. Very just, Momus, and every one who is in favour of it hold up his hand ; 2 or, rather, so let it take effect at once : for I know that the dissentients will be in the majority. The Assembly is now dismissed. But, whenever Hermes shall make proclamation, come each of you with clear testimonials, and plain proofs of your titles — the father's and mother's names, and whence, and how, he or she became a divinity, his tribe, and wardsmen. 3 As, in the case of whoever shall not exhibit these, whether a claimant has a big temple upon the Earth, and whether he is regarded by men as divine, the Commission will not trouble them- selves.
1 'Eprjfiiiv avrov KaradiaiTrjaavriov. Sup. duo)v. Cf. Lucian, 'Ynkp JLik. 15 — ipij/xTjv KaradiaiTrjaag tov (3i{3\iov. The ip)]<pia/j,a, " the decree," is the Act passed by the (3ov\i) and £Kic\?]aia conjointly : the Trpofiovktvixa, as the word implies, is the resolution of the first " house" filone, which had no legal force until ratified by the popular Assembly. It is not uninstructive to remark that, by the Athenian constitution, every Bill to be introduced into the " Commons " was for some time pre- viously exposed to the public view of the whole body of citizens.
2 There were two methods of voting, by " show of hands " (xEiporovia) and by " balloting" (\p7](j)o^opia). The former was the more usual.
3 By the constitution of Kleisthenes the whole Attic population was redistributed into ten <pv\cti (" tribes "), which were subdivided each into ten Sijuoi ("hundreds"). The term (pparpiai ('"'wardsmen"), a signifi- cant word, was still retained.
THE FERRY-BOAT: OR, THE TYRANT
[Charon, ready to set sail, awaits impatiently the ap- pearance of Hermes, who is behind time with his accus- tomed batch of ghosts ; and gives vent to his vexation in complaints to Klotho, his colleague. Presently, the Con- ductor of the Dead is seen approaching, heated and out of breath, driving the ghosts before him. He accounts for his delay by narrating the attempt to escape of one of his convoy, the tyrant Megapenthes, and the difficulty of the re-capture, which was effected only by the timely assistance of the cynic Kyniskus (a fellow-ghost) ; and the fugitive tyrant now appears on the scene securely fettered.
Before setting sail for Hades, Klotho receives from Hermes, and enters on his way-bill, the names, nationality,, and manner of death of the various passengers. The cynic philosopher complains that she has unfairly neglected him ; and declares that he had long been intending to anticipate her decree. In contrast to the disciple of Antisthenes, the tyrant begs long and vehemently for respite, however brief, on various pretences, all of which are sternly rejected by the Fate. In the end, he is forcibly carried on board by Hermes and Charon, aided by the Cynic, and bound to the mast. At this stage, the cobbler, Mykillus, comes forward to expostulate with Klotho yet more strongly at her long neglect of him, and, to her expressions of astonish- ment at his eagerness to embark, he replies by narrating,
1 Kara7r\ouc t) Tvpdvvog. Strictly, " The Putting-in, or Arrival of the Ferry-Boat," etc. For the sake of brevity, the usual title has been adopted here. The opening scene, it is highly probable, was suggested to Lucian by some graphic picture.
238 THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT.
at considerable length, his reasons for not shunning Cha- ron's boat ; and, at the same time, confesses his previous illusions in regard to the imagined happiness of the despot, Megapenthes.
Klotho now gives orders for weighing anchor ; when the cobbler, finding that he was to be left behind until the next day, owing to the crowded state of the boat, struggles hard to get on board, and, failing in the attempt, jumps into the Styx, to get across by swimming. He is, then, perforce, taken into the boat — a place being found for him on the shoulders of the tyrant — which proceeds on its voyage : while Kyniskus, like the cobbler afterwards on landing, declares his inability to pay the small coin required as the fare, and earns his passage by taking an oar.
The tedium of the rest of the voyage he relieves by giving the " time " to his fellow-rowers, to the tune of some popular sea-song, and in jeering at the lamentations of the rich passengers, in which amusement he is joined by the cobbler. Upon landing, the cynic and cobbler join com- pany, and proceed arm in arm towards the tribunal of Rhadamanthys. The Infernal Judge orders that the various dead men be brought before him. The cynic at once demands to be heard against the tyrant ; and, after previous satisfactory examination of himself, which results in his receiving a passport for the Elysian Fields, he charges Megapenthes with his foul deeds of cruelty and of debauchery. That royal criminal is found to be covered with the stigmata — the brand-mark, of his crimes and vices ; and, to estab- lish the accusations of his principal accuser, the tyrant's own lamp and bed are brought forward as witnesses. At the suggestion of his accuser, Megapenthes, in place of being consigned to the flames of Pyriphlegethon, is pro- hibited from drinking of the waters of Lethe ; and his punishment in Tartarus consists in an ever-present recol- lection of his evil deeds. In accordance with the terms of his sentence, he is now dragged away by the Erinyes, and chained by the side of another royal criminal, Tantalus ; who, as a comparatively innocent offender, had some reason to complain of this unexpected addition to his torture.]
THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT. 239
Charon, Klotho, Hermes, Megapenthes (a newly -deceased king), Kynishus (a Cynic philosopher), MyJcillus (a Cobbler), Rhadamanthys, Tisiphone, and a number of Dead Men.
Charon (fretfidhj). Well, Klotho, this little craft of ours long ago has been ready and excellently equipped for putting to sea : for the bilge-water has been all baled out, the mast has been hoisted, the sail spread, every one of the oars supplied with its thong, and as far as I am concerned, nothing prevents our hauling our little anchor aboard, and proceeding on our voyage. But that Hermes is behind his time, whereas he ought to have been here long since. Our ferry-boat, therefore, as you see, has not a single passenger on board, though it might have made the passage three times to-day already. And it's close upon evening ; l and we have not yet turned over even a penny. And so, I know very well Pluto will suspect me of laziness in the business ; and that, though the blame lies with another. Our fine honourable gentleman undertaker, like any mortal, 2 has himself drunk of the waters of Lethe, 3 up yonder, and has quite forgotten to return to us ; and, either he is wrestling with his young men in the Palaestra, or playing his lyre, or reciting some oration, and showing off his own silly nonsense. Or, maybe, perhaps, the excellent gentleman is practising his light-fingered art, and outwitting some one — for that, too, is one of his accomplishments. 4 And so he takes his liberties with us, and that, while he half belongs to our establishment.
Klotho. But what would you have ? How do you know,
1 2\:e£6v afKpl (3ovXvtov. Lit. "close upon ox-loosing time." See 'IX. xvi. 779 ; 'OS. ix. 58. (according to Eustathius, in loco, fiovXvrovSe denotes r/ /u£07/p/3p/'a // oXiyov ri /xeTa nzat)n(5piav, u about noon," when they unyoked the oxen to avoid the midday heats) 5 Aristoph. 'OpvLQeg, 1500. Cf. Virg. Ec. ii. ; Hor. Car. iii. 6.
2 r Qa7ctp rig aXXog (Jacobitz), following the principal MSS. Lehmann adopts the reading of the Scholiast, e H nrsp rig aXXog, " if any one else."
3 " The waters of the upper Lethe" is Charon's euphemism for the juice of the grape. See Lucian's ITepj Tl'evOovg, 25; Aristoph. Barp. 106 (where Xanthias terms the infernal stream to A/j07jc ttiS'iov). The idea of the river of Lethe is later than the theology of Homer and Hesiod.
4 See 0. A. vii.
240 THE FERRY-BOAT: OR, THE TYRANT.
Charon, whether some pressing business has not been im- posed on him, from Zeus wanting to use his services after time, for some commission above ? He, too, is his lord and master, you know.
Charon. But not, Klotho, to make despotic use beyond all fairness of a common possession ; for, we never have detained him when he had to be off. But I know the reason. We have only asphodel, 1 and libations, and cakes, and the offerings to the dead ; 2 and all the rest gloom, and mist, and darkness : while in heaven all is bright, and they have large supplies of ambrosia, and abundance of nectar. So I fancy it is pleasanter to linger with them : indeed, he takes wing from us to the upper regions, just as if he were escaping from some prison. But when it is time for him to come down to us, leisurely, and with slow enough steps, and painfully he makes the descent at last.
Klotho. Don't give way to your temper, Charon, any longer : for here is the very person himself hard by, as you see, bringing us a number of individuals ; or rather scaring them along en masse with his rod, for all the world like a herd of goats. But what's this? I see one of them handcuffed, and another grinning, and one individual with a wallet suspended from his shoulder and with a club in his hand, staring grimly at them, and urging on the rest. And don't you see Hermes himself in a bath of perspiration, his feet covered with dust, and all out of breath ? His mouth, anyway, is a regular steam-engine? 3 — what's this, Hermes? what's all this hurry about, for you seem to me to be a good deal put out ?
1 The asphodel, a plant of the lily kind, is one of the few delights of the Elv r sian fields. See 'OS. ix. 538, xxiv. 13 ; and cf. Hesiod. "Epya, 40:—
~Srj7rioi, ovck "wacnv, oaip ttX&ov tfpiov 7ravr6g, Ovd' oaov iv p,aXaxy ti kcli aa<podkX(p ply' ovuap.
For a description of the " Fields of the Blessed," see in the 'AvQoXoyla a beautiful epitaph on a girl named Ilpojrt] : —
Ot'K War eg Upu>Tr], pert fir] g d' eg apeivova ^wpav.
2 For the use of no-nava and kva.yiopa.Ta in the Greek sacrifices to the dead, see the dictionaries of Hesychius and Suidas.
3 Megtov yovv aaOparog avrqj to aropa. — The anachronism may be allowed, perhaps, for the sake of the illustration. Wieland translates : — " wie er keucht und kaum zu Athem kommen kann."
THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT. 241
Serines {puffing and perspiring) . What else, Klotho, than that, from chasing this runaway sinner here, I was within an ace of being a deserter from my ship to-day ?
Klotho. But who is he ? Or what was his intention in running away ?
Hermes. That's plain enough — he preferred living. He is some king or despot — to judge, at least, by his lamenta- tions, and the wailings he gives vent to ; he says he has been deprived of vast pleasure of some sort.
Klotho. Then did the fool run away, as if he could have a longer lease of life, when his spun out thread had actually failed ?
Hermes. Run away, do you say ? Why, if this most ex- cellent gentleman here, he of the club, had not aided me, and we had not caught and handcuffed him, he would even have got clean off from us altogether. From the moment, in fact, Atropos had delivered him over to me, all the way he resisted and struggled ; and, firmly planting his feet on the ground, he was by no means an easy charge. Sometimes, too, he would fall to supplications and make vehement en- treaty, demanding to be let off for a little, with offers of large bribes. However, I, as you may well imagine, did not let him off, seeing that he wanted the impossible. Well, when we were now at the very mouth of Orcus, while, as was my custom, I was counting over the tale of the dead to iEakus, and he was making up their reckoning by the ticket sent him by your sister, 1 somehow or other, without beiug observed, the thrice-damned fellow got clean away. One dead man, accordingly, was wanting to the full tale ; and, says iEakus, raising his eyebrows, " Pray, Hermes, don't practise your thievish, art with everyone you meet: you have quite enough sport in heaven; the affairs of the Dead are managed with strict attention to business, and by no means can they be slurred over. The ticket, as you observe, has ' one thousand and four ' scratched on it ; whereas you come to me with one short : this won't do, unless you tell me that Atropos has cheated
1 Atropos (" the Sunderer ") ; Klotho being " the Spinner," and Lachcsis "the Apportioner" of human life. See Hesiod. Geoy. 903,
- A<nr. 258; Juv. Sat. ix. 135, 136. Hermes appears to have forgotten
that to cross the Styx Charon's boat was de rigueur,
R
242 THE FERRY-BOAT: OR, THE TYRANT.
you." I, blushing at his lecture, quickly recollected what had happened by the way ; and when, after a glance around, I saw this fellow nowhere, perceiving his flight, I set out in pursuit with all the speed I could by the road lead- ing to daylight, and this most excellent person followed me quite of his own accord. So, running at a speed as if off from a starting line at a racecourse, we overtake him just at Tamarum * — so nearly did he succeed in escaping us.
Klotho. And we, Charon, but now were condemning Hermes's neglect of duty !
Charon. Why, pray, do we longer delay, as though we had not wasted time enough already ?
Klotho. You are right. Let them embark ; and I, with my way-bill ready in my hand, and taking my seat, as is my custom, at the gangway, will make my diagnosis of each of them, as he embarks — who he is, and where he comes from, and what the manner of his death. And do you take them from me, and pack them together, and arrange them in regular order. And do you, Hermes, first of all, toss in those new-born infants there ; for what could they answer to my questions ?
Hermes. There, Ferryman, is the exact number — with the exposed infants, 2 three hundred in all.
Charon. A fig for your fine rich haul ! You come and bring me a lot of unripe dead !
Hermes. Will you have us, Klotho, embark the unwept next?
Klotho. Do you mean the old ones ? So do. {Aside, in disgust) Why, indeed, should I be troubled with inquiring
1 The south-eastern extremity of Lakonia. The famous cavern, fabled to be the descent to Orcus, was there situated, through which Herakles dragged Kerberus from his infernal post. See Apuleius, Dc Aur. Asino, and Psyche's descent to Hades. Cf. Aristoph. Barp. 187; Lucian, Ns/aiojuaiTf/'a.
2 How prevalent was the practice among the Greeks and Latins of "exposing" infants, whom the parents were unable or unwilling to bring up, and how large the numbers thus inhumanly disposed of in obedience to the oracles, is abundantly evident in their literatures — in particular, in the drama, in the New Comedy, in the imitations of Plautus and Terence, and in the Greek romances. See Aristoph. Nf0. 522, and the charming pastoral romance of Daphnis and Chloe, where both the hero and herione are rescued castaways. The founders of the Roman and Persian monarchies were the same. See Herod, i. 107-117. Livy, Ann. i. &c.
THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT. 243
into matters which happened before the days of Eukleides. 1 — You who are above sixty, yon come forward now. What's this ? Have they their ears so plugged up by age that they don't hear me? (To Hermes) You will, likely enough, have to take them up and bring them along.
Hermes. Here, again, are this lot, four hundred all but two — quite ready to melt in your mouth, all of them, and full-ripe, gathered in not before it was time. 2
Charon. By heavens ! no, for they are all of them, already, regular raisins
Klotho. Bring up next those who received their death- wounds in battle, Hermes. — (To the wounded) And first tell me, how you met your deaths to come here ? Or stay ; rather, I will myself examine you by the written instruc- tions. (Looking at her ivay-bill) Yesterday there must have perished in battle, in Mysia, four and eighty, and among them, Gobares, the son of Oxyartes. 3
Hermes. They are here.
Klotho (reading again from her tablets). Seven have cut their own throats on account of some love-affair, and the philosopher Theagenes on account of his mistress, the courtesan from Megara. 4
Hermes. They are here, at your side.
Klotho (referring to her tablets). And where are those who died at each others' hands, fighting for the throne ?
1 After the Peloponnesian War, the Lacedaemonians had imposed upon conquered Athens the well-known government of the (t Thirty Tyrants." These having been expelled in the archonship of one Eu- kleides, a general amnesty in regard to all previous offences was decreed. Klotho means that the Dead, before her, are too old and feeble for examination.
2 Hermes derives his forcible metaphor from the vintage. Wieland has, " alle weich und reif, und zu rechter Zeit abgeschnitten."
3 Lucian probably alludes to some battle which had been fought about the time of his writing. As a Syrian, he frequently refers to Eastern names and events. Perhaps no writer has exposed the ridicu- lousness of War, among the atoms of our M mole-hill," more satirically than Voltaire (in particular, in his Micromegas and other romances), or Swift, in the Voyage to Lilliput.
4 Theagenes, if not a merely fictitious name, may be the person com- memorated by Lucian in his Hepi r/)c Hspiypivov TeXevrtjg, as con- jectured by Du Soul ; or he may be the tyrant of Megara mentioned by Thucydides (i. 126). There was a distinguished athlete of that name, recorded by Pausanias.
244 THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT.
Hermes. Here they are.
Klotho. And the man who was murdered by his own wife and her lover ?
Hermes. There, close to yon.
Klotho (referring again). Ah! to be sure, bring up at once those victims of the tribunals of justice — I mean, I say, those who have perished by the bastinado, and those who have been impaled alive. 1 And those sixteen killed by pirates — where are they, Hermes ?
Hermes. Here they are, those with the death-wounds, as you see. — Is it your wish I bring up the women, at the same time ?
Klotho. By all means, and the shipwrecked people at the same time, for, indeed, they perished in the same manner ; and the victims of the fever, those too — and, with them, the physician Agathokles. But where is the philosopher, Kyniskus, who was fated to die by eating Hekate's supper, and the purificatory eggs, and the raw polypus, into the bargain ? 2
Kyniskus. I have been at your elbow this long time, most excellent Klotho. But what wrong have I done, that you left me such a length of time up above ? For you all but spun out your whole spindle for me ; although I often en- deavoured to cut the thread and come here ; but, somehow or other, it was not to be sundered.
Klotho. I left you behind as a superviser, and physician, of human wickedness. But come on board, and good health to you.
KynisTcus. In heaven's name, not before we have shipped this fellow here in fetters : for I am afraid he may get over you with his entreaties.
Klotho. Come, let me see who he is.
Hermes. Megapenthes, the son of Lakydas, the despot. 3
Klotho. Come on board, you.
1 Or " crucified " 5 ' avaaKokoiriZHv being sometimes used in the sense of avacFTCivpuvv. See Lucian, Upo/x. 7, and Hepi 7-/7C Hep. TeX. 11 (in a cele- brated passage referring to Christ's crucifixion). Cf. Herod, i. 128, ix. 78.
2 Such, according to one account, was said to have been the cause of the death of the Cynic Diogenes. See Jlpaatg Biojv. 10, and Nek. Aia\. 1.
3 Probably, a merely typical despot — as no historical personage of that name seems to be known to History. A son of Menelaus so named is mentioned in 'Od. iv. 11, xv. 100, 122.
THE FERRY-BOAT: OR, THE TYRANT. 245
MegapentJies (imploringly). No, don't, my Lady Klotho ! pray, suffer me to go up again to the light for a little while : then I will come of my own accord, without any one sum- moning me.
Klotho. But what is it for which you wish to go ?
MegapentJies. Just give me permission to finish my man- sion first — for my palace has been left but half completed.
Klotho. You trifle. Embark, then !
Megapenthes (on his knees). It is no long time I ask, O Fate. Suffer me to stay behind just this one day, until I have given some instructions to my wife about my money, as to where I had that vast treasure interred.
Klotho. Your fate is fixed. You cannot obtain your wish.
MegapentJies (weeping and groaning). Is such a vast amount of gold, then, to perish ?
Klotho. It will not perish. So have no fear on that score, at least : for Megakles, 1 your cousin, will inherit it.
MegapentJies. Alas ! the contumely ! My enemy, whom through indolence I, yes I, did not put to death beforehand ?
KlotJio. The very same, and he will survive you forty years, and some little time longer, into the bargain, inherit- ing your mistresses, and your wardrobe, and all your gold.
MegapentJies. You do me wrong, Klotho, in assigning my wealth to my greatest enemies.
Klotho (scornfully indignant). Why, you, did not you in- herit those very things which were Kydimachus's, most noble Sir, after having slain him, and cut the throats of his little children before his eyes, as he yet breathed ?
MegapentJies. But now they were mine.
KlotJio. Nay, your time for possessing them is now over.
Megapenthes (coaxingly). Listen for a moment, O Klotho, to what I desire to say to you quite in private, in no one's hearing. — (To his fellow ghosts) Do you stand aside for a little. — (In a whisper to KlotJio) Should you suffer me to run away, I promise to give you this day a quarter of a million pounds sterling. 2
1 A A r ery aristocratic name at Athens. The Megakles of History was the rival of Peisistratus, in the sixth century B.C. Alkibiades traced his descent from these Alkmwonids. Cf. Aristoph. Ne0. 71.
2 XiXia TciKavra \ovaiov tTncfi)j.iov. " A thousand talents of coined gold."
246 THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT.
Klotlw. What, ridiculous man, do you still keep your gold and your thousands in mind ?
Megapenthes. And I will throw into the bargain the two large mixing-bowls, 1 if you like, which I received after putting Kleokritus to death, weighing each a hundred talents of pure fine gold.
Klotho. Drag away and weigh him, 2 at once : for he does not look like coming on board of his own accord.
Megapenthes (to his fellow ghosts). I call you to witness — my walls remain unfinished, and my naval docks. I should have certainly completed them, if I had lived only five days longer.
Klotho. Don't fret yourself. Another will build them.
Megapenthes. Well, then, I beg of you this, at all events, surely reasonable request.
Klotho. What?
Megapenthes. For me to live on so long as until I shall have brought the people of Pisidia under my subjection, and imposed tribute on the Lydians, and raised to myself a vast monument, and inscribed on it all the great military exploits of my life.
Klotho. Ah ! you fellow, you no longer ask for a single day, but a respite of something like twenty years.
Megapenthes. Indeed, I assure you I am prepared to offer you securities for my speedy return. And, if you wish it, I will hand over to you as my substitute my only beloved son. 3
Klotho. Abominable villain ! — him, whom you often used to pray you might leave behind in the world ?
Megapenthes. Those vows I offered up a long time ago : but now I see what is better.
Klotho. He, too, will come to you in a little while, taken off by the new king.
1 Kparfjpag {iczpavrvvai). So called as used for mixing the wine and water, which almost invariably was drunk by the Greeks rather than pure wine. They were a common dedicatory offering in the temples, and often were elaborately decorated.
2 "EXketz. A play upon the word used by Megapenthes — meaning both to " drag along" and " to weigh."
3 "AvTCtrSpov vfiiv avr tficiVTov 7rapa£to<ru> rbv c\ya.Tn]Tuv. Lehmann detects, in these words, '*' a not obscure allusion" to the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ.
THE FERRY-BOAT: OR, THE TYRANT. 247
Megapenthes. Well, then, don't deny me this favour at least, Fate !
Klotho. Which ?
Megapenthes. I wish to know how matters will go on after my decease.
Klotho. Listen, then : for when you have heard you will have the more anguish. Your slave Midas will have your wife ; indeed, he had an intrigue with her long ago.
Megapenthes (furious). The cursed rascal, to whom, by her persuasion, I gave his freedom !
Klotho. And your daughter will be numbered among the mistresses of the now reigning despot ; and the pictures and statues, which the city set up and dedicated to you formerly, will all be overturned, and afford ridicule to the spectators. 1
Megapenthes. Tell me, and is there not one of my friends indignant at these proceedings ?
Klotho. Why, who was your friend, or on what account could he be so ? Are you ignorant that all, who adored you and eulogized every one of your sayings and doings, did so either from fear or from expectation, from love of your power, and with their looks eagerly fixed on their opportunity ?
Megapenthes. Yet when they poured out their libations at my dinner-parties, with loud voice they were accus- tomed to invoke many blessings upon my head, ready each one of them to die for me, if it were possible. And, in fine, I was the great object of their adjuration. 2
Klotho* Accordingly, it was when you were dining with one of them, yesterday, you died : for the last goblet
1 Portraits, in the form both of statues, busts, and of pictures, especi- ally the former, as is well known, were exceedingly common methods of self-glorification among the tyrants of Greek and Latin antiquity. Of what vast numbers of them must hare been dispersed throughout the Roman empire, some idea may be formed from the records of such writers as Suetonius and Tacitus. As they were usually set up during the life-time of the original, their testimonial value is easily appreciated. If the tyrant had made himself especially hated, his splendid images were ignominiously shattered, when he was no longer an object of terror. See Juv. Sat. x. 58.
2 Or, as proper name, "their Horleus" — the divinity who punished perjurers. Cf. lies. "Epya. 804., Geoy. 231. Herod, vi. 86. For a graphic picture of parasitism see Juv. Sat. iii. 86-108.
248 THE FERRY-BOAT: OR, THE TYRANT.
offered you to drink from, that it was which sent you down here.
Megapenthes. That, then, was the taste of something bitter I perceived. But with what intention did he do this ?
Klotho. You ask me a good many questions, when you ought to have embarked at once.
Megapenthes. One thing chokes me most of all, Klotho, on account of which I did long just to have but one peep again into daylight, if but for a moment.
Klotho. And what is it ? It looks like something exceed- ingly important.
Megapenthes. Karion, my domestic, as soon as ever he perceived me to be dead, late at night went up into my chamber, where I was lying — there being plenty of oppor- tunity, for there was no one even to watch over me — and, fastening the door, enjoyed himself with my mistress Grly- cerium 1 (and it was not, I suppose, the first time he had made free with her 2 ) , for all the world as though nobody- was there ; then, when he had satisfied his desire, fixing his looks upon me, "You, however, you little paltry scoundrel of a fellow," exclaims he, "many a time you inflicted blows upon me for nothing," and, suiting his actions to his words, he began to pull my beard, and strike me on the chaps ; and, finally, making a deep expectoration, he spat on me, with the valediction of "Go to the devil," and took himself off. I was all on fire with rage, and yet could not do anything to him, for I was already as dry as a bone and cold as death ; and the abominable girl, when she heard the noise of some persons approaching, rubbed her eyes with spittle, as though she had been crying over me; and with loud lamentations, and adjuring me by
1 A favourite name of the iraipai or 7ra\\a.Kidec, and the heroine of the well-known Andria of Menander and Terence : lit. " the sweet creature." The neuter form, and frequently the diminutive, was common to the class — as Erotium, Philocomasium, Philenium, Phrone- sium, Leontion.
2 Or reading (with Jacobitz) KSKon'ojvijKecrav, " they had enjoyed each others society."
3 Etf tov tuiv acFEJ3wv x^P ov am9t. Lit. " Go to the place of the wicked." The more usual Greek equivalent of our expletive is, eg Kopcucag — " to the crows," tantamount to " may you be unburied."
THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT. 249
\
name, she slipped away. And if I could but get hold of them
Klotho. Have done with your threats. — Nay, come on board this instant ; it is high time you appeared at the judgment-seat.
Megapenthes. And who will claim the right to cast a vote against a royal person?
Klotho. Against a "royal person " no one, indeed; but against a dead man Rhadamanthys himself, whom you will presently see — a just judge, and who pronounces sentence equitably in every case. But, just now, don't waste time.
Megapenthes. Even make me, if you would, a private person, Fate, one of the crowd of paupers, even a slave, 1 from the king that I was before — only suffer me to live just once again.
Klotho. Where is he of the club ? And you, Hermes, help haul him within by the foot ; for he would never come on board of his own accord.
Hermes. Follow me, now, runaway slave. (Seizing him by the neck) Take him, you Ferryman, and the other, what's his name, and see that they are safely-
Gharon. Don't be afraid — he shall be bound to the mast.
Megapenthes. Surely I ought to sit in the front seat.
Klotho. For why?
Megapenthes. By heaven, because I was a prince, and had ten thousand body-guards.
Kynishus. So, then, did not your Karion yonder, 2 pro- perly enough, pull your beard, for a dolt that you are ? A bitter sort of princedom will you have, anyway, when you have had a taste of the club.
Megapenthes. What, will Kyniskus dare to threaten me with his stick ? (To the philosopher) Did I not, but the day before yesterday, all but have you nailed up for being over free, and rude, and fault-finding ?
1 See the well-known confession of Achilleus to Odysseus in Hades, 'OS. xi. 488-490; and cf. Eurip. '\<piy. iv Av\. 1250; Mn. vi. 456; Seneca, Ep. 26. Plato (IToX. iii.) finds fault with the poet of the Odyssey for putting such sentiment in his hei'o's mouth.
2 A propei* name formed from Kap, a Carian — the slaves from Caria and from Paphlagonia having a pre-eminently bad character. See Eurip. Ki-k\. 647 ; Plato, Ev9. 285; Cicero, Pro Veil. Flacco, 27, 65.
250 THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT.
Kynishus {laughing). Accordingly, you will remain, you too, nailed up to the mast.
Mikyllus (pushing to the front). Tell me, Klotho, and am I of no account with you ? Or, because I am a poor man, must I for that reason be the last to embark ?
Klotho. And you — who are you ?
Mikyllus. The cobbler Mikyllus. 1
Klotho. And so you are annoyed at waiting about? Don't you see how much this prince promises to give, to be respited for but a brief time ? I am all amazement, to be sure, that this delay is not liked by you as well.
Mikyllus. Just lend me your ear, most excellent Fate. The kind gift of the Kyklops does not altogether delight me — the promise, I mean, of " Outis I will last devour." 2 Whether first or last, the same teeth, I suppose, await me. Besides, my circumstances are not like those of the rich — for our lives, as the saying is, are " as opposite as the two poles." 3 The prince, indeed, seeing he had the reputation of being happy in life, an object of dread to all, and looked up to with awe by everyone, and has left behind such a vast amount of gold and silver, and fine clothes, and horses, and dinners, and handsome boys, and beautiful women, was with good reason angry, and vexed at being torn away from them all. For, somehow or other, the mind clings to such things as to a sort of bird-lime, and is not willing with any good grace to let itself go, inasmuch as it has long been fast glued to them ; or, rather, it is as if it were some unseverable chain, by which it is their fate to be bound. Of course, should one drag them off by force, they will howl and fall to prayers ; and, while audacious enough in other respects, they are found out to be arrant cowards as respects this road that leads to Hades. They turn themselves round, forsooth, to regard what they are leaving behind ; and, like unfortunate lovers, would like to gaze even from a distance upon the concerns of the upper world, just as that fool did,
1 Mikyllus, " the dwarf/' is the hero of the Dialogue entitled 'Ovsipog ■fj 'AXticrpinov, who had been instructed by his philosophic feathered friend to entertain that contempt for plutocrats which he now displays.
2 Ovtiv lyoj Triifiarov 'icopai piTa ulg iTapounv. — "Oc. ix. 369.
3 'Ek dianhpov. Lit. " diametrically opposite.'*' See Erasmus, Adagio.
THE FERRY-BOAT; OR, THE TYRANT. 251
who ran away on the road, and fell to frantic entreaties to you even here.
Whereas I, seeing I had no pledge to hold me to life, no estate, no house-property, 1 no gold, no furniture, no fame, no portraits, naturally I was quite equipped for the journey, and when Atropos simply beckoned to me, gladly I threw away my brad-awl, and shoe-sole — for I had a last in my hands — and jumping up at once I followed barefooted, and without even washing off the black dirt ; rather I led the way, with my face to the front : for there was nothing behind to cause me to turn, and to call me back. And heaven be my witness, now I see everything with you to be fair ; for the fact of perfect equality in honour for all, and of nobody being superior to his neighbour, to me, at all events, appears to be uncommonly pleasant. And I guess that debts are not demanded of debtors hereabouts, and that there are no taxes to pay. But what is best of all, is that there is no shivering from winter's cold, nor sickness, nor being beaten by one's superiors. All is perfect peace here, and things are entirely reversed : for it's we poor devils now who laugh, while the rich plague themselves and make loud lamentations. 2
Klotho. I have been watching you laughing a long time, Mikyllus. What is it that particularly moved you to laughter ?
MihyUus. Just hear me, a moment, my most honoured of all divinities. Up above there I used to live near the palace of a prince, and very narrowly observed all his actions, and he seemed to me then to be even, in a manner, a rival of the gods. For when I saw his embroidered purple, and the number of his attendants, and his gold, and his bejewelled beakers, and his silver- footed couches, I thought him happy ; and, moreover, the rich steam from the dishes prepared for his feasts tantalized me to death — so that he appeared quite plainly to me to be some man far above ordinary human clay and thrice-blessed, and almost I was going to say the handsomest man alive, and to tower
1 Jlvvoikiciv. Properly lodging-houses, in which a number of families lived together, in separate floors — a common sort of investment of the rich at Athens. See Bbckh, Public Economy of Athens, 114.
2 Cf. 'ictKibpov 'Ettktt. v. 1-6 :—
'Aye vvv ol irXovaioi, tcXavaars oXoXv^ov-ec, k.t.X.
252 THE ferry-boat; or, the tyrant.
above the rest of the world by a whole royal cubit ; exalted by fortune as he was, with his magnificent strides, with his backward tosses of his head, and inspiring terror in all who accosted him. But as soon as ever he was dead, the great man 1 was seen to be altogether an object for ridicule — when he had stripped himself of his luxuries. And I derided myself the more, such a miserable wretch had I been stupidly gazing open-mouthed at ; measuring his good fortune by the steam from his kitchens, and thinking him happy on account of the blood-red liquid obtained from shell-fish in the seas of Lakonia. And, when I saw not only him, but also the money-lender Gniphon, groaning and repenting of his folly, because he had had no enjoyment of his riches, but had died without tasting them, leaving his wealth to the spendthrift Rhodocharis 2 (for he was his nearest relative, and by law had the first claim to the property), I did not know how to stifle my laughter ; most especially, when I remembered how pallid he always was, and dirty, with his face fall of care, and rich only for his fingers, with which he used to count over his talents and myriads of drachmas, scraping together little by little what in a brief time will be squandered by the happy Rhodo- charis. 3 — But why don't we set off now ? For, faith, while on our voyage we shall be able to have our laugh out, and watch them howling.
Klotho (to Mikyllus) . Come on board, that the Ferryman may hoist up his anchor.
Charon (pushing hack Mikyllus). Holloa ! you there, where are you rushing to ? Our craft is full enough already. Stay here till to-morrow : the first thing in the morning, we will take you across.
Mikyllus (struggling to get on hoard), It is unfair of you, Charon, to leave me behind, an already stale dead man of yesterday. 4 Never mind, I will bring an action against you
1 A vtoq, Lat. ipse. Cf. Juv. Sat. passim..
2 Evidently, with the poet Anakreon, " a lover of roses " only when con- joined with the wine-cup. Gniphon, or, rather, Gnyphon, the " miser," appears also in the Hpa<ng Biu)v, 23 ; Tiftiov, 58 ; and 'AXficrp. 30.
3 See the Aidularia and Euclio of Plautus, and Moliere's imitation, L'Avare. Fielding has treated the same subject in his Miser. Cf. the fine satire of Juv. Sat. xiv. 107-254; Hor. Sat. 1, i. ; Cicero, Ep. xvi. 26.
4 "EuAoj; i"i$t] vskoov. Cf. Plut. Uepi Trjg Hapiecxpayiag, ii. 1.
THE FERRY BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT. 253
before Khadamanthys for unconstitutional procedure. 1 — Out upon my ill-fate ! They are already off ; and I shall have to be left here all alone. 2 However, why don't I swim across after them ? For, as I am already dead, I have no fear of being done up and drowned. Besides, I have not even the penny to pay down for the fare (jumps into the Styx).
Klotho. What's this ? Stop a moment, Mikyllus, and wait. It's not lawful and right for you to cross so.
Mihyllus. Indeed, I shall very likely come ashore before you.
Klotho. Not for the world ! (To Charon) However, let us sail up to him and take him on board ; and you, Hermes, do you snatch him up at the right moment.
Charon (helping to drag him overboard). Where shall he sit now ? Every inch of room is occupied, as you observe.
Hermes. Upon the tyrant's shoulders, if you like.
Klotho. A good idea of Hermes's ! (To Mihyllus) Come up, then, and tread on the rascal's neck. And now a fair voyage to us !
Kyniskus (making up a face). Charon, it is well at this juncture to tell you the truth. I should not be able to pay you the penny, upon landing ; for I have nothing more than my wallet, which you see, and this club here. But, for the rest, if you would like me to scuttle out the bilge- water, I am quite ready, or to take my place at the oar. And you shall have no cause to find fault at all, only give me a strong and well-fitted oar.
Charon. Row away, then ; for to get even that from you is as much as can be expected.
Kyniskus. Shall I have to give the time to the rowers, too? 3
Charon. Do so, in heaven's name, if you really know any nautical tune of the kind.
Kyniskus. Sure enough I know several, Charon (begins to
1 Fpd\po paters TrapavSfuov, the regular formula in the Attic law-courts.
3 See Juv. Sat. iii. 265, for horret reading optat. Cf. Aristoph. Barp. 190-200. Xanthias solves the difficulty by making the ditour of the lake.
3 'T-rroKEXevcrai, u to hum the song, to keep the rowers to the time," as usual in the Greek ships 5 hence enrb ivog /ceXEwo^taroc, " with one swing," "all at once." Thucyd. ii. 92. See Aristoph. Barp. 208, and the KfXtvcTfia of Charon, on that memorable occasion.
254 THE FERRY BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT.
hum the tune). There ! do you see ? these fellows are acting as chorus with their whining. So our song will be rather interrupted.
First Dead Man. Alas ! for all my possessions !
Second Bead Man. Alas ! for my estates !
Third Bead Man. Ah ! ah ! ah ! What a mansion I left behind me !
Fourth Bead Man. How many thousands will my heir receive from me, only to squander !
Fifth Bead Man. Oh ! oh ! my tender infants. 1
Sixth Bead Man. Who, I wonder, will gather in the harvest of my vines, which I planted for myself last year ? 2
Hermes. Mikyllus, don't you lament at all ? Upon my word, it is not lawful and right for anyone to make the passage without shedding a tear.
Mikyllus. Get away with you. There's no reason why I should bewail myself for having a pleasant voyage.
Hermes. All the same, make some groaning, however little, merely for the sake of conformity.
Mikyllus. I will groan away then, since it's your wish, Hermes. — Alas for my sandal-soles ! 3 Alas for my old lasts ! Oh ! oh ! oh ! for my rotten shoes ! Never again, poor wretch that I am, shall I go from morning to evening without a morsel of food, nor in the cold winter shall I wander about unshod and half-naked, chattering with my teeth from cold. Who, I wonder, will have my knife and my awl ?
Hermes. Enough of your dirges ; here we are all but across.
Charon (to the passengers). Come, I say, first pay me up your fares. (To a defaulting passenger) Come, you pay
1 " I could wish," remarks Wieland, " for the honour of Lucian's heart, that these words had not slipped from his pen. " But Lucian may have thought them necessary to a complete picture of the lamentations, without intending any unfeelingness.
2 Holbein, in his famous series of the Todtentanz, has graphically pre- sented oculis fiddibus this and the similar scenes of the Dialogues of the Dead.
3 Ol/ioi tu>v KarTvixdru)v, Cf. Aristoph. 'It. 314, 366. Mikyllus seems to play upon the preceding KrrjfiaTiov, the object of the lamentations of his fellow-passengers. The "rotten shoes" may be capable of a double interpretation.
THE FERRY BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT. 255
too. I have now got the fares from all of them. (Observing Mikyllus slipping away) Hand me your obole as well, Mikyllus.
Mikyllus. You joke, Charon, or, as the proverb has it, you are writing on water, 1 if you expect an obole from Mikyllus. To begin with, positively I don't know whether an obole is square or round.
Charon. Ah ! a fine voyage and fine profit I've made to day. Well, get out all the same, and I will go and look after the horses, and cows, and dogs, and the other animals ; for they, too, have now to cross. 2
Klotlio. Take and lead them away, Hermes. I myself will make the return voyage to the opposite shore to bring across Indopatres and Heramithra, the Tartars ; 3 for they have died but now by one another's hands, fighting for the boundaries of their territories.
Hermes (to the Dead) . Ho ! you people there, let us go forward ; or, rather, do you all of you follow me in order.
Mikyllus. Herakles ! what a din ! Where now is the beau Megillus ? Or by what circumstance does one dis- tinguish here whether Simmiche is fairer than Phryne ? 4 For everything is on one and the same footing, and of the same complexion, and nothing is either fair or fairer. Nay, now even the old tattered cloak, which, formerly, for a while seemed to be disreputable, is equally honourable with the purple robe of the king : for both are faded out of recogni-
1 See for similar uses of the Greek adage, Plato, <&aidp. 276.
2 A singular recognition of the right of the non-human species to posthumous existence, Cf. 'Attok. 'Icjav. iv. k. t. X.
3 Tovc 'S.i'ipag, the Seres. Some slight knowledge of the outskirts of the Chinese Empire had been acquired by the western world in the second century ; and the great astronomer Ptolemy, a contemporary of Lucian, had embodied all that was known in his geographical work, Feojy. ' Y(pi]yi)oiQ, vii. MS. authority and the first king's name favour the reading generally adopted, but a conjectural emendation is HvpaQ, Syrians.
4 Phryne, the famous hetcera, who made so immense a fortune by her numerous lovers as to offer to rebuild the walls of her country's capital, destroyed by Alexander of Macedon. She is most famous as the original of the Aphrodite Anadyomene and the Knidian Aphrodite of Praxiteles, and by the well-known device of her counsel Hypereides (see Quintilian, ii., 15 ; Athenseus, xiii.). Simmiche figures in the 'Eraip. AiaX. iv. Fonte- nelle (Dialogues des Morts) represents Alexander of Macedon complaining to Plato that the modern imitator of Lucian had preferred, as con- queror, Phryne to himself.
256 THE FERRY BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT.
tion, and have sunk beneath the same obscurity. — Kyniskus, where in the world, I wonder, may you be ?
Kyniskus. Here, I tell you. Well, if you like, let us trudge on together.
MiJcyllus. A good idea ! give me your arm. Now, tell me — for certainly you were initiated, Kyniskus, into the Eleu- sinian Mysteries — does not the state of things here appear to you similar to the condition there, above ?
Kyniskus. You are right. — But look, there is some female figure approaching with a torch, and with a frightful and threatening sort of look about her. Is it, by any chance, I wonder, an Erinys ? l
Mikyllus. She looks like it from her dress, at all events.
Hermes (to the Fury). Take over these thousand and four persons, Tisiphone.
Tisiphone. Yes, indeed ; Rhadamanthys has been waiting for you this long time.
Rhadamanthys. Bring them up, Erinys, and you, Hermes, make proclamation, and summon them.
Kyniskus. Rhadamanthys, by your father, 2 I beg, have me up and examine me first. #
Rhadamanthys. Upon what grounds ?
Kyniskus. I am exceedingly desirous to bring charges against a certain person, in regard to evil deeds which I am privy to his having committed in life. I should not, how- ever, be deserving of credit in my report, unless I first myself be tested of what sort I am, and as to what kind of life I have lived.
Rhadamanthys. And ivho are you ?
Kyniskus. Kyniskus, most excellent Sir, a philosopher, as he hopes.
Rhadamanthys. Come here, and take your place first for
1 "The persecuting" or "the angry" one. The dire sisters were usually called, in Greek euphemism, Eumenides — " the kind " or " well- disposed " divinities. They were distinguished by the names Tisiphone, Alekto, and Megaera, first by Apollodorus ; the original plurality of the Homeric conception having been limited by Euripides to a trinity (see 'IX. xix. 259-260 ; Hes.'Epya. 39 ; the Evfiividsg of .^schylus, etc.).
2 This judge of the supreme Court of Hades was son of Zeus by Europa, and brother of Minos. See Apollod; Plato, Qaiduv, ii. 4; Virg. Mn. vi. Juv. Sat. xiii. 197. The especial function of Rhadamanthys was inquisitorial, of Minos judicial, of iEacus executional.
THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT. 257
judgment. (To Hermes) And do you summon the accusers.
Hermes. If any one has any charge against Kyniskus here, let him now come forward.
Kj/nishus. No one stirs.
RJiadamanthys. But that is not sufficient. Strip off your clothes, that I may examine you by your brand-marks. 1
Kyniskus. But why ? For where did I ever become a branded slave ?
RJiadamanthys. Whatever evil deeds any one of you may have done during your life, — in the case of each individual, he carries about invisible brand-marks upon his soul.
Kyniskus (stripping himself). There, I stand before you as naked as I was born. So make a thorough search for what you call " the brand-marks."
Rhadamanthys (examining). This man, for the most part, is free from them ; with the exception of these three or four very dim and scarcely recognizable ones. (Scrutinizing more closely) What is the meaning, however, of this ? There are traces and many signs of scars ; but somehow they have been obliterated, or, rather, excised. How is this, Kyniskus ? how is it you have come out pure, as though you had been born anew ?
Kyniskus. I will tell you. Whereas formerly I was corrupt for want of instruction, and, on that account, contracted many brand-marks ; as soon as ever I began to study philosophy, by degrees I cleansed my soul for myself of all its stains, by using a wholesome and most efficacious remedy. 2
Rhadamanthys. Depart, then, to the Islands of the Blessed, 3 to join the company of the Best, first alleging
1 Snyjuara, the marks branded on a runaway slave. Slaves devoted to the service of the temples, also, were branded. Cf. Herod, ii. 113 ; 'Ett. IlavX. 7Tpbg Kop. ; the stigmata of S. Francesco d'Assisi, S. Katerina di Siena, and other Saints.
3 The last words of Kyniskus here are usually assigned to Khada- manthys.
3 For a detailed description of " the place of the Blessed," see the A\t)9>)q 'Itrr. and Qaiduv. Cf. 'Od. ix. ; Aristoph. Barp. ; and Virg. Mn. vi.
S
258 THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT.
your charges against the despot whom you speak of. (To Hermes) Call up others.
Mikyllus. Surely my case is a trifling one, Rhada- manthys, and needs but a brief sort of examination. This long time, at all events, I have been quite naked at your service. So inspect me.
Rhadamanthys. And who may you be ?
Mikyllus. The cobbler, Mikyllus.
Rhadamanthys (after minute inspection). Excellent ! Mikyllus: perfectly clear, and without any noticeable mark. Go you, too, by the side of Kyniskus here. Now summon the tyrant.
Hermes. Let Megapenthes, son of Lakydas, approach. — Where are you wriggling to ? Step to the front at once. It is you, the tyrant, I am summoning. Shove him by the neck, and push him forward into full view, Tisiphone.
Rhadamanthys. Now do you, Kyniskus, produce your accusations, and convict him on the spot : for the man is at your elbow here. 1
Kyniskus. Indeed, there was no need of words at all : for you will very quickly know him, from his brand-marks, what sort of character he is. All the same, I will reveal the man's life to you by word of mouth, and will show him up still more plainly by my account. Well, all the actions of this thrice-cursed wretch, as a private individual, I intend to pass by. As soon as ever, by attaching to himself the most shameless of men, and collecting a body-guard, he had effected a coup-d'etat, and established himself as despot, he put to death more than ten thousand citizens untried ; and, seizing upon the property of each one of them, and so arriving at the highest pitch of wealth, he has omitted no shape or form of excess. He exercised every sort of cruelty, and insolence, and wrong against the miserable citizens, violating virgins, and foully disgracing youths, in every way grossly insulting his subjects 2 in his drunken debaucheries. Even on the score of his arrogance,
1 The obscurity of the atmosphere of Orcus might well blunt the vision of the unaccustomed guests. According to the poet of the Odyssey (xxiv. 6), they are as " blind as bats."
2 Lucian depicts, with more or less verisimilitude, the origin and character of the old Greek tyrants generally — in particular, of the
THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT. 259
full-blown pride, and insolence to all who addressed him, you could not possibly exact from him any adequate penalty. One, in fact, could gaze at the Sun without blinking more easily than at this man. In very truth, his ingenious in- ventions of cruel punishments, who did not keep his hands off even his nearest relatives, it would be impossible for any one adequately to expose. And these charges — that they are not some groundless calumny against him — you will soon know, by calling those who have been murdered by him ; or, rather, they are present now, as you see, un- summoned, and they surround him and are strangling him (pointing to the shrieking ghosts). These all, Rhada- manthys, have died at the hand of the wretched criminal — some by treachery, for the sake of beautiful women ; and some, because they were indignant at their sons being carried off to be insulted by his unnatural debaucheries; others, because they were rich ; some, because they were able, and prudent, and did not at all approve of his acts.
Bhadamanthys. What say you to this, you abominable wretch, you?
Megapenthes. I have, indeed, perpetrated the murders which he speaks of : but all the rest — the adulteries, and unnatural offences, and debauching virgins — in all these respects, Kyniskus has falsely accused me.
Kijniskus. Then I will bring you witnesses of these crimes, Rhadamanthys.
Bhadamanthys. Who are they you speak of ?
Kyniskus. Summon, Hermes, his lamp and his couch : for, if they appear, they will testify what sort of deeds they were privy to his perpetrating.
Hermes (making proclamation) . Let the Couch and Lamp of Megapenthes put in an appearance. (To the Court) They have been so good as to obey the summons. 1
despots of Sicily, the Dionysii and others, and of the successors to the various conquests of Alexander. But, doubtless, he had in mind the still greater enormities of atrocity and licentiousness of the Roman Caesars ; in pai'ticular, of Caligula, as described in the pages of Suetonius, perhaps the vilest despot who ever ruled the Koman world.
1 For similar bold personifications of Lucian, see his Auc/j Qiovrje vtcjv. It is deserving of notice that Lucian has been more judicious in exer- cising proper reticence, than many of his modern imitators and successors.
260 THE FERRY-BOAT: OR, THE TYRANT.
Mhadamanthys (to the new witnesses) . Tell us, pray, what you are privy to about this Megapenthes. And do you, Couch, speak first.
Couch. All the accusations of Kyniskus are true. I, how- ever, my lord, blush to speak of these things : such were the deeds which he was accustomed to perpetrate upon me.
Mhadamanthys. You certainly give your evidence against him most plainly, seeing you cannot endure even to men- tion the particulars. — And you, Lamp, now let us have your evidence.
Lamp. I do not know what happened by day, for I was not present : and as to his acts and experiences by night, I shrink from speaking of them. But I saw many inde- scribable things, and that surpassed all conceivable un- natural debauchery ; although I would willingly often have not drunk in the oil, and I longed to be extinguished. But he even would bring me up close to the very scene of his acts, and would pollute my light in every possible way.
Mhadamanthys. We have now had enough of witnesses. (To the officers of the Court) Well, now, strip off this purple dress, that we may count the number of his brandings. — Ha ! The fellow here is livid all over, and everywhere marked ; x or, rather, he is black and blue from them. In what way should he be punished ? Is he to be thrown into the flames of Pyriphlegethon, or to be given up to Kerberus ?
Kyniskus. Not so. But, if you will permit me, I will suggest to you a new and befitting kind of punishment for him.
Mhadamanthys. Speak, for I shall acknowledge my ex- treme indebtedness to you for so doing.
Kyniskus. It is a custom, I believe, for all who die to drink the water of Lethe.
Mhadamanthys. Certainly.
Kyniskus. Then let this man be the exception, and not drink.
Mhadamanthys. Why, pray ?
1 Kardypacpog. Borrowed from Plato by Lucian, from Lucian by Julian (Kaiaapeg) — Bourdelotius.
THE FERRY-BOAT : OR, THE TYRANT. 261
Kyniskus. In that way he will undergo a punishment hard to bear, recollecting, as he will, what he was, and how great was his power in the upper world, and pondering over his lost delights. 1
Rhadamanthys. You are right. Let him be sentenced accordingly, and let him be dragged away and put in chains by the side of Tantalus, and let him retain memory of all his deeds committed in his lifetime.
1 So Dante : —
- Nessun maggior dolore
Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria."
Lifer no, v.
MENIPPUS: OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD.
1
[Menippus, the Cynic philosopher, just returned from a visit of inquiry to Hades, meets his friend Philonides, who earnestly begs him to reveal the reasons, and the experi- ences, of his interesting journey. Thus adjured, with some display of reluctance, Menippus, after having been assured by his friend that human life has not at all improved during his absence, professes that he had been impelled to take so hazardous a journey by an ardent desire to learn the truths of philosophy and life — vainly sought alike in the popular Theology and in the schools of the Philo- sophers, or Sophists, who were all at variance one with the other, and contradicted themselves ; while they failed to practise their own teaching.
Thus forced to trust to his own resources, after much mental inquietude, he determines to go to Babylon, a
1 Mevnnroc; ->) ^EKvo^iavTsia. This Lucianic Dialogue (for its genuine- ness is doubtful, as shewn, among modern eritics, by Wieland and Lehmann) borrows its alternative title from the Eleventh Book of the Odyssey, of which it is, in great part, a parody. It is a sort of epitome of the Dialogues of the Dead and other writings of the great master, which satirize the popular theology respecting the Under- World, and is of high interest as a re"sum6 of this province of Hellenic superstition.
Eabelais (who is indebted, especially, to the True History) borrows one of his most instructive scenes from this Dialogue. In the battle with the Dipsodes, on behalf of the Amaurotes (the " shadowy " or "fleeting n people, a name suggested to Rabelais by the Utopia of More, himself indebted to Lucian), Pantagruel's companion, Epistemon — who loses his head, but afterwards recovers it through the skilful surgery of Panurge — upon returning from his temporary sojourn in Hades, reports the altogether reversed conditions of some of the heroes of antiquity and of later times. (Gargantua and Pantagruel, ii.) The Spanish satirist, Quevedo, also, has obligations to the Menippus, in his Sucnos.
MENIPPUS: OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD. 263
principal seat of the Magi and the Mystics, and by their occult science obtain admission to the Under- World, and, like his prototype, Odysseus, consult the soul of the Theban prophet Teiresias. Arrived at Babylon, Menippus intro- duces himself to one of these Magi, named Mithrobarzanes, and, with considerable difficulty, obtains from him promise of assistance. Under the tuition of the Magus, he enters upon a course of purificatory and mystic rites, and a strict dietetic regimen, until he is properly prepared for the dreadful descent. Embarking on the Euphrates, they sail to a certain secluded place, where they leave their boat, and begin the prescribed infernal rites and sacrifices — still faithfully following the authority of the poet of the Odyssey — invoking Hekate, the Erinyes (or Furies), and all the daemons. The Earth opens, and the various infernal sights are revealed. Descending, with much difficulty, the travellers secure places on board Charon's boat, already overladen with dead men, who, for the most part, had received their quietus in battle. The lion's skin, and mane of Herakles, with which the Cynic had provided himself, secure for them places on board, and a courteous reception from the Ferryman of the Styx. Disembarking, with the Magus for guide, Menippus makes his way, through "squealing" ghosts, to the tribunal of Minos. There they see the various punishments for crime and injustice administered, and a novel sort of witnesses in the shadows of the accused. Among those most severely punished appear the arrogant Rich ; and Menippus does not lose his opportunity for the exercise of his satirical faculty. Leaving the judgment- seat of Minos, they proceed to the scenes of punishment, and view the various instruments and infliction of torture. In the Acherusian plains, they verify the accounts of the poet of the Odyssey, as to the afiivrjva Kapyjva, and other particulars. The looTtpia is found to be complete and in- dubitable. Thersites and Nireus, Irus and Alkinous, have nothing whatever to distinguish them one from the other. Under the influence of this spectacle, Menippus compares human life to a gigantic public Procession, and to the Stage, where the several constituents play their diverse parts, for a short time, liable to extremest vicissitudes of fortune. Mausolus, and other vain-glorious princes, with
264 MENIPPUS: OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD.
their " lying trophies " and inscriptions, in particular, fall under the Cynic's satire ; and the Earthly kings and potentates who, in the Under- World, cut so abject and inglorious a figure. As for Sokrates and Diogenes, they still pursue their peculiar and favourite occupations. At this point of his narrative, Menippus is reminded that he has omitted to quote the solemn Decree against the Pluto- crats, passed by the Popular Assembly of Hades (to which he had referred at the beginning of his report), the pur- port of which is the apportionment of a severe retribution. At the point of going back to the Upper- World, Menippus approaches Teiresias, and begs him to reveal the secret, which was the object of his descent. This the prophet's ghost does with laconic brevity. The philo- sophers then return, by a short cut, to Earth, near to the Cave of Trophonius.]
Menippus and Philonides. Menippus —
11 Domestic hearth, ancestral palace, hail ! To light restored, I gladly you salute." l
Philonides (seeing the Cynic at a distance). Is not this Menippus the Dog ? Surely it is no other, unless my eyes see wrong (rubbing his eyes). Menippus every inch of him ! But what means his strangeness of dress — felt hat, and lyre, and lion's skin ? However, I must go up to him. Good-day, Menippus ! And where do you hail from ? Why, you have not shown yourself in the city 2 this long while.
Menippus —
" I come, th' infernal vault, and Hades' gates Deserted, where, apart, dark Pluto broods." 3
Philonides. Herakles ! Menippus dead without our know- ing it. And so he has come back to life again ?
1 T Q yaljoe, fiiXaOpov, TrpoTrvXa ff tffrlag, kfiijg' T Qc dcrfxevog <? kaelSov kg <pdog fxoXojv.
Eurip. 'Kpaic. Man'. 523.
2 Athens, which, like Rome, was known, par excellence, as " the city."
3 "Hkw veKpiov K£v6fiu>va, Kal ctkotov TtvXag AlTTIjJV, %v "AiSrjg x^P'G t^KKTTai Qtiov.
Eurip. 'EKa[3rj. i. The opening address of the ghost of Polydorus, the son of Hekabe and Priam, who had been murdered by his Thracian host.
MENIPPUS: OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD. 265
Menippus —
" No, but yet alive dark Hades took me." l
Philonides. What was the cause of this strange and extraordinary journey of yours ? Menippus —
" Me youth incited: self-willed more than wise." 2
Philonides. Stop your tragic style, my fine Sir, and descending from, your iambics, speak much as I am doing, in simple prose, thus. What was your equipment ? What need had you to take the journey below ? For anyhow it's not a pleasant sort of thing, nor is the road a usually welcome one.
Menippus —
" Necessity, O friend of mine, conducted me to Hades, The spirit to consult there of Teiresias the Theban." 3
Philonides. Ah ! my good fellow, but you surely are off your head : for otherwise you would not be thus declaiming to your friends in metrical strain.
Menippus. Don't be surprised, my friend, for having lately been in the company of Euripides and Homer, somehow or other I got stuffed full of their verses, and their measures come to my lips, as it were, of their own accord. But, tell me, how go things above on Earth, and what are they about in the city?
Philonides. ISTothing new, but just what they used to do before — they plunder, perjure themselves, extort interest by hook or by crook, turn " an honest penny " in the most sordid fashion. 4
Menippus. Poor wretches, and unfortunate devils ! They don't know what sort of measures have lately been deter- mined on among the Powers below, and of what sort are
1 Ovk, aXk' tr tfiTTvow 'Aidrjg ft' £de%a.TO. A verse, apparently, from one of the lost dramas of Euripides.
- N^or^c /*' tir^ps, icai Qpaoog rov vov 7r\eov. From the lost drama of the 'Avdpofxeda of Euripides.
Xpaw fis KdTijyayev tig' 'Atdao ^ V XV XP r l <T °l ievov Qqfiaiov Teipeaiaov.
'08. xi. 165. The reply of Odysseus to the inquiring ghost of his mother.
4 TuKoyXvpovm, 6j5o\ooTctTov<H. The latter verb (lit. " to weigh obols") is derived, apparently, from Aristophanes, N£0. 1139.
266 MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD.
the decrees that have been voted against the Rich, which, by Kerberus, there is no possible means of their escaping from.
Philonides. How ? Has any very new decree been passed by the Powers down below respecting those up here ?
Menippus. Yes, so help me heaven ! and many of them : but it's not lawful to publish them abroad to everyone, nor to proclaim the ineffable secrets, for fear that someone or other might bring an action against us in the Court of Rhadamanthys for impiety.
Philonides. Don't, Menippus, don't, in heaven's name, grudge a friend the narration of those events ; for you will speak to one who knows how to hold his tongue, and, moreover, to one who has been initiated.
Menippus. You impose upon me a hard task, and not at all a safe one. But, however, for your sake I must run the risk. It is decreed, I say, that these millionaires and plutocrats, and those who carefully keep their gold coin shut up like Danae
Philonides. Don't tell me the decrees before, my good Sir, you have recounted that which I would with most particular pleasure hear from you — what was your inten- tion in making the descent, and who was your guide on the journey ? Next, in regular order, what you saw, and what you heard among them : for it is reasonable to sup- pose, surely, that you as a dilettante neglected nothing of what was worth seeing or hearing.
Menippus. I must even do you this service, for what can one do, when a gentleman and a friend urges one ? Well, then, I will recount to you, first of all, my design, and whence I got the impulse to make the descent. Well, I, as long as I was in my teens, when I listened to Homer and Hesiod recounting the wars and seditions not only of the demi-gods, but actually even of the Gods themselves before now ; nay, further, even their adulteries, and violences, and rapes and feuds, their expulsions of parents, and their marriages with sisters — all this I used to consider to be good and right, and I tickled my fancy in no ordinary degree with it all. But when I began to arrive at mature age, on the contrary, I then heard the laws en- joining the opposite to the poets, — not to commit adultery, nor to engage in civil war, nor to rob with violence, I
MENIPPUS : OK, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD. 267
stood fixed in great doubt and perplexity, not knowing where I should turn myself. For, neither could I ever believe that the Gods committed adultery, and engaged in fratricidal war, unless they held about these things, that they were really honourable : nor that the legislators would encourage the opposite to these practices, unless they sup- posed their prohibitions to be advantageous. And, when I continued to be in doubt, I resolved to go to those whom they call " philosophers," and put myself in their hands, and pray them to use me as they wished, and to point out to me some sure and simple way of life. With this dispo- sition, I say, I approached them ; and I did not know that I was forcing myself, as the adage is, from the smoke into the 6re itself. 1 For plainly, upon close examination, I found among them ignorance in a very special degree, and doubt and uncertainty greater than elsewhere; so that very quickly they proved to me that the way of life of the ignorant and common sort of people was golden in comparison. One of them would exhort me, you maybe sure, to indulge my love of pleasure in everything, and that only to pursue by all means: for that that was the being u happy." Another, on the contrary, exhorted me to be laborious about everything, and to toil, and to restrain, and torture the body, dress in rags, live in squalor, and to make myself a nuisance to everybody else, and use vituperative language; 2 perpetually declaiming to me those universally known verses of Hesiod about Virtue, and toil, and sweat, and the ascent to its summit.' 3 Another would exhort me to contemn money and
1 'Eg avro to irvp Ik tov kcittvov — Anglice, " from the frying-pan into the fire;" Germanice, " aus dem Kegen unter die Tran fe."
2 KaravayKaZeiv. Cf. IS. Paul ('E7r. Trpbg YLop. i. 27.) w7TW7ria£(o fxov to aiofxa Kal covXaywyw, quoted by Origen, Upog KtXoov. v. The very opposite schools of Aristippus and Antisthenes are here pointed at. See Bicov Upacrig.
Trjv fxkv rot KaKOTi\Ta koI IXaSbv Igtiv tXkoQai 'PrjiSnag' oXiyt] p.kv bSog, fiaXa 5' iyyvQi vaiu. T/jc <T 'AjOEr/)c idpuiTCt Oeol TrpoTrcipuiQsv i9r\Kav 'ABai'ctToi' fiaKpbg dk Kal bpQiog olfiog eg avn)v Kal Tpj]%vg TOTtp&TOv' i7rt)v d' eig aKpov "j/cTjrat, 'Prj'iSiT] S>) iTrtiTa 7riXei, xaXtTrr) Trep iovaa.
"Epya Kal 'Efi. 287-292. Cf. Plato, TToX. ii. 364 ; Lucian, 'AX. 'lor. ii. 18, 'Ep/xoT. 3 (in which
268 MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD.
to consider its possession a matter of indifference. Someone else, again, was for proving riches themselves to be " a Good." As for their theories of the Universe, what need for me even to speak, who was nanseated in daily listening to their "ideas," " incorporealities," "atoms," " vacuums," and a crowd of such like names ? And what was the most absurd of all strange things was — that, while each one of them spoke of matters most opposed one to the other, he would supply exceedingly irresistible and persuasive argu- ments ; so that you could not possibly contradict either him who affirmed the same thing to be " heat," nor him who asserted it to be " cold " — and that, though you knew perfectly well that a thing could never possibly be warm and cold at the same moment. Plainly, then, I was in the same case with those who doze — one moment nodding assent, at another throwing my head back in denial. But still more unreasonable than this — by close observation, I found these same people to follow a manner of life quite contrary to their own precepts. Those, in fact, who urged me to despise money, I observed to cling to it with the firmest grasp, to be quarrelling about their usury, teaching for pay, 1 and ready to endure anything for it. And those who were for rejecting fame, I found to be employed in all their words and actions for its sole sake ; and, further, while accusing almost all the world of devotion to pleasure, to be, in private, firmly attached to that alone.
Deceived, then, in this expectation, I began to be yet more disgusted ; while I consoled myself, in some degree, with the fact that I was a fool, and wandering about still ignorant of Truth, in company with many others — learned people, and very much famed for their knowledge : and, as on one occasion, I was kept awake all night, on this account, I determined upon going to Babylon to beg the assistance of some one of their Magi, the disciples and suc- cessors of Zoroaster ; for I heard that by certain incanta- tions and mystic rites they open the gates of Hades, and
there is allusion to the Stoic metaphor of the Steep Hill of Virtue) ; Ke(3i]Tog Yi'iva% ; Xpvaa "Eirr] (" Golden Verses ") of Hierokles. Pytha- goras was the first to elaborate these maxims of Hesiod.
1 It was a chief accusation of Sokrates against the SophistcB that they taught for money.
MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD. 269
conduct down whomever they choose in safety, and bring them back again. I considered, therefore, the best thing to do was, to obtain for myself the means of descent from some of these persons, and go to Teiresias the Boeotian, and learn from him, as he is a prophet and a sage, what way of life is the best, and the one which any right-thinking man would choose for himself. And, in fact, jumping up there and then, as quickly as I could, I made straight for Babylon. Upon my arrival I take up my residence with one of the Chaldaeans, a learned man, and of preternatural excellence in his art, with white hair, who grew a very venerable beard. His name was Mithrobarzanes. After praying and earnestly supplicating him, I obtained from him with great difficulty the favour of conducting me on the route — upon his own terms. This gentleman taking me to his house, in the first place, for nine-and-twenty days, beginning immediately from the new moon, made me perform my lustrations, conducting me down, at the first dawn of day, to the Euphrates, and addressing some long speech to the rising sun, which I did not very well under- stand : for, like incompetent criers at the games, his utterance was rapid and indistinct. However, he seemed to be invoking certain daemons. After the incantation, when he had spit three times 1 in my face, I returned home, carefully avoiding the gaze of persons I met on the road. Our food was hard-shelled fruits, 2 our drink milk and honey and water, and the water of the Choaspes, 3 and our bed was under the open sky, upon the grass. When there had been sufficient dietetic preparation, about midnight he would lead me to the river Tigris and cleanse me, and wipe me dry, and
1 ' AiroTrrvoag.. Used absolutely. ' 'Attotztvoclvtoq (sub. avrov), is the grammatical construction. But the old reading hravqcc (rejected by Hemsterhuis), which obviates a grammatical solecism, is preferable.
2 'Aicpodpva (aicpoQ — dpiig), in original meaning acorns. By Plato (Kpiriag . 115) and Xenophon (Oikov. xix. 12) used for fruit-trees generally. Ct". Clemens Alex.(n«{5. ii. l),who informs us that "Matthew, the Apostle, lived upon seeds, and nut-fruits (aicpodpva), and vegetables, and did not eat flesh-meats."
3 A tributary of the Tigris : in modern geography, the Kara-Sun. It was famous for the purity of its water, which was so highly esteemed that the Persian despots were accustomed to carry it with them on their campaigns. Cf. Tibullus, El. iv. 1 ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxi. 3. 23.
270 MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD.
he purified me all round with lighted torch, and sqnill, 1 and several other rites, at the same time muttering the incanta- tion. Then, having thoroughly charmed my entire person, and made a pass with his body round me that I might not be injured by the ghosts, he brought me back to his house as I was ; making me walk backwards. For the rest of the time we were engaged in preparations for our voyage. He himself put on a certain magical robe, for the most part like the Persian, and he brought and equipped me in these things — the felt cap, 2 the lion's skin, and the lyre, to make them complete. And he warned me, if anyone asked my name, not to say Menippus, but Herakles, or Odysseus, or Orpheus. 3
Pliilonides. For what purpose that, pray, Menippus ? For I don't understand the reason either of your dress or of your names.
Menippus. Yet it is plain enough, and not at all myste- rious, for, since they descended alive, before us, to Hades, he thought, if he made me resemble them, I should easily escape the observation of .ZEakus's guard, and slip in with- out challenge, inasmuch as I should be more familiar to him in tragic costume, and be well recommended by my equipment. Day, then, was now just beginning to appear ; and going down to the river we busied ourselves about weighing anchor. There had been got ready for him a
1 SiciAXy — " sea-leek," used in purificatory rites. See Arist. Ilepi Zwwv 'lor. v. 30 ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. xix. 5. 30 ; Varro, Ber. Bus. ii. 7, 8 ; Mart. Epig. x. 4.
s T<£ 7n'\<£) (Lat. pileus), a semi-oval cap of felt, fitting close to the bead — whereas the ickrarroQ and Kavaia were broad-brimmed and served as a protection from sun or rain, and much resembled the round felt-hat of the present day. These broad-brimmed hats were of Thessalian and Macedonian origin. It was only in travelling that the Greeks wore a head-covering of any kind. Cf. Hesiod. 'Epya icai 'H/t. 545 ; Lucian, 'Avaxaprrig, 1 6 ; Herod, iii. 12; Tertullian, Be Sped. 21. Charon is usually represented with the 7ri\og, as boatman. See Miiller, Ha?idbuch der Arch'dol. ; Becker, Charicles.
3 Because these heroes were privileged, as having already made ac- quaintance with Pluto and Persephone. The son of Alkmene had ven- tured on two descents — one to drag Kerberus off, and the other to deliver Alkestis. Orpheus made the terrible journey to rescue his " half-regained Eurydice." For a humorous representation of Herakles, with his club and lion's skin, see Aristoph. Barp.
MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD. 271
boat, and victims, and honey-cake, and other offerings, as many as are serviceable for the initiation. Embarking, then, all our cargo, thus we at length also ourselves —
" Embark, in soul grief-stricken : down our cheeks coursed many a tear-drop," x
and for some time we were borne gently down on the stream ; and after that we sailed into the marshes and lake, in which the Euphrates disappears. Crossing this, we arrive at a certain deserted spot, woody, and impenetrable to the sun, •upon which we disembark, Mithrobarzanes leading the way, and dug a pit, and cut the throats of the sheep, and poured out the blood as a libation about the trench. : 2 while the Magician, meanwhile, holding a flaming torch, no longer in a subdued voice, but, crying out as loud as he could, in- voked all the daemons together, the Avenging Goddesses, 3 and the Erinyes —
" Nocturnal goddess, Hekate, and dread Persephoneia," 4
mixing up at the same time certain foreign, obscure, and many-syllabled names. At once all the neighbourhood was violently shaken, and under the force of the spell the ground was burst open, and the bark of Kerberus was heard in the distance, and the business was exceedingly desperate and gloomy : —
" Yea, in his underworld-recess Lord Aides was frighted." 5
For now the principal infernal sights were plainly revealed — the lake, and the Pyriphlegethon, and the palace of
1 BouVo/iev axw/xevoi, Qakepov (card Sdicpv ykovrtQ. — '0£. xi. 5.
2 Closely following the precedent set by the prototype, Odysseus, which, also, had been too faithfully followed by Virgil's hero : — 'Od. xi. ; Mn. vi. 243-254.
3 Holvuq. The Poena were mere personifications of avenging Justice, and were closely allied with and, indeed, were almost synony- mous with the Erinyes. — See JEsch. Evfisv. 323.
4 Ktti wxiav 'Ekclttjv icai kiraivijv llepattyoveiav. A parody, apparently, of an Homeric verse.
5 'ESShoev S'vTrsvepOev dva^ dvspwv 'AlSiovevg fl\. xx. 61), Prof. Newman's version. The allusion is to the terrific combat among the Celestials, which shook the whole frame of Nature. Cf. Par. Lost, vi. " Tantame animis ccelestibus irae ? "
272 MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OP THE DEAD.
Pluto. Descending, however, through the chasm, we found Khadamanthys all but dead with fright. Kerberus barked a little, and stirred himself ; but, when I quickly- struck my lyre, he was at once charmed to silence by the melody.
When we arrived at the lake, we all but failed to get a passage, for the ferry-boat was already full, and resounding with lamentations. All the passengers were covered with wounds — one in the leg, another in the head, a third mutilated in some other part, having just come, as it appeared to me, fresh from some w r ar. However, the excellent Charon, when he saw the lion's skin, supposing me to be Herakles, received me on board, and was de- lighted to ferry me across, and, upon our disembarcation, pointed out to us the path to be taken. As we were in darkness, Mithrobarzanes led the way, and I followed, sticking close behind him, until we come to a very spacious meadow, planted with asphodel. Here, you must know, there kept hovering about us the shadows of the dead, squeaking. 1 Gradually advancing, we arrive at the tri- bunal of Minos : he was seated upon a certain elevated throne, and about him stood the Pcenae, and Avenging Demons, and the Erinyes. On either side there were brought up, in order, a number of individuals bound with a long chain ; they were said to be adulterers, and procurers, and farmers of the public revenues, and fawning adulators, and public informers, and a similar crowd of such as dis- turb the whole harmony of human existence. And, apart, the rich, and hard exactors of usury approached, pale, and with fat paunches, 2 and full of gout, each of them being sentenced to the pillory, and a " crow " of two hundred-
1 TtrpiyvZai. So the ghosts of the wicked suitors : —
rpiZ,ovaai gVovro' 'Q.Q 8' ore WKTtpiSeg fiv^ avrpov 6e<T7recrioiov TpiZovaai Trorkovrai. — 'Od. xxiv. 5-7.
Upon which Barnes, following Eustathius, explains that the poet " rightly compares ghosts to bats, because they appear only at night, because they sleep very little, because they produce a whirring sound, because they are neither animate nor inanimate."
2 TlpoyaoTopec " Montani quoque venter adest abdomine tardus.'* Juv. Sat. iv. 107. Cf. 'Err. IlavX. 7rp6c Tir. i. 12, yacrrepeg dpyat.
MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OP THE DEAD. 273
weight. 1 Standing close by, we watched what was happen- ing, and listened to their defence of themselves : while certain strange and unexpected counsel arraigned them.
Philonides. In heaven's name, who were they ? Don't, pray, shirk telling me this, also.
Menippus. You know, I presume, those shadows that are projected from bodies against the sun ?
Philonides. Of course I do.
Menippus. They, when we die, then, become accusers and witnesses against us, and convicters of crimes perpetrated during life ; and they have the reputation of being exceedingly trustworthy, inasmuch as they are always associated with, and never separated from our bodies. 2 Minos, however, after careful examination, dismissed each of the criminals to the place of the wicked, to undergo punishment proportioned to his deeds. With especial severity did he treat those of them who were swollen with pride on account of their riches and power, and had demanded all but divine worship, 3 from de- testation of their (short-lived) arrogance and haughtiness ; and because they did not choose to remember they were mere mortals, and in chance possession of mortal goods. Well, they, stripping themselves of all these splendours — I mean their wealth, and birth, and imperial power — stood by, perfectly naked, and with downcast looks, reflecting on the happiness they had among us as on some dream. So I, observing this, was delighted beyond measure, and, if I knew any one of them, I would approach him in a quiet sort of way, and remind him "what he was in life, and what airs he then gave himself, when numbers of people stood at his
1 The Kopa%, or crow, appears to have been a sort of movable pillory, like the Latin furca, with which slaves were commonly tortured, so well known to the readers of Plautus.
2 This use of the " Shadows," more ingenious than satisfactory, of course fails for the greatest part of human life. "The transformation of the shadows into witnesses is," remarks Wieland, "sufficiently adven- turous. Their only failure is that, just where they would be most useful — viz., in respect of crimes committed in the dark — they are wholly useless." The qualifying nvtg avrtiv, of the common text, is reasonably suspected by Lehmann.
3 The qualifying " all but " (/iovovouxO we must suppose to have been dictated by prudence. The Roman princes, from Augustus, were actually deified, and after death, were entitled divi, having assigned to them altars and sacrifices. See Tacitus, An. and Hist. , passim,
T
274 MENIPPUS: OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD.
gateway, waiting patiently for his appearance, and pushed about, and shut out by his domestics ; while the great man, in some sort of purple, or gold-hemmed, or variegated robe, at length, scarcely would rise to them, and imagined he would render those who addressed him happy and blest, if he stretched out his hand or foot for them to kiss." Upon hearing this, they were greatly chagrined.
Meanwhile, one particular case was decided leniently by Minos. Aristippus, 1 the Cyrenian, came up — they hold him in honour, and he has the greatest influence with those below — and obtained the respite of Dionysius the Sikeliot from bis sentence (who had been charged by Dion with many iniquitous crimes, 2 and had been witnessed against by his own shadow), as he was within an ace of being bound to the Chimaera, by alleging that he had been ready and judicious in his pecuniary gifts to several men of learning. However, taking our leave of the tribunal, we arrive at the place of punishment. Here, my friend, many and pitiful indeed, were the things to be heard and seen ; 3 for, at the same time, was heard the sound of scourges, and the wailing of those who were being roasted in the fire, and instruments of torture, and pillories, and wheels ; and the Chimasra tore them to pieces, and Kerberus gnawed them. All were being punished together, kings, slaves, viceroys, poor, rich, beggars; and all repented them of the bad deeds they had committed. Some of them we recognized at a glance — such of them as had recently died. These began to envelop their per- sons, and turned their faces away ; but if, by chance,
1 The disciple of Sokrates, and founder of the Cyrenaic School, as it ■was termed from his birthplace. Like others of the Sokratics, but to a greater degree than any of them, he differed widely from his master. His characteristic teaching was selfish gratification. For some time he lived in high favour at the Court of Dionysius of Syracuse. See Diog. Laert. ; Horace, Ejp. i. 1, 18 ; i. 17. 23. Plato, Q>aiS., Xen. 'Ano/iv. ii, 1. Why he was so popular with the authorities of Hades, is not quite obvious.
2 See Plutarch, B/oi Hap.
3 " Quivi sospiri, pianti, ed alti guai
Kisonavan
Diverse lingue, orribili favelle," etc.
Dante, Inferno, iii. Some graphic painting of Tartarus (of a Greek Orcagna or Breughel), doubtless, was present to the satirist's mind, as well as the Pkcsdo?i and the Politeia (x. ad fin.) of Plato, in writing this highly remarkable passage.
MENIPPUS: OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD. 275
they glanced at us, it was in a very slavish and fawning way : and that, though they had been tyrannical and supercilious, to an extent you cannot conceive. To the poor, on the other hand, remission of half their sufferings was granted ; and, after they had had an interval of respite, their punishments were wont to be renewed. In fact, I saw, too, those punishments famous in story — Ixion and Sisyphus, and the Phrygian Tantalus in ill case, and the earth-born Tityus, Herakles ! of what bulk ; he covered, as he lay, you may be sure a whole field's space. 1 Passing these, we enter the Acherusian Plain ; 2 and we find there the demi- gods, and the Heroines, 3 and the rest of the crowd of the Dead living according to their nationalities and tribes — some individuals of ancient aspect and musty, and, as says Homer, a "feeble folk" ; 4 and others fresh and well- preserved, especially the Egyptians among them, on account of the durableness of their preserving, salting, and pickling. The distinguishing each individual, however, was, by no means, at all easy ; for all are as like one to another as peas, when the bones have once been stripped bare. How- ever, with difficulty, and after a long time, by narrowly inspecting them, we did recognize some of them. They were lying one upon the other, shadowy, dimly seen, and obscure, and no longer possessing anything of what are counted beauties among us. I need not assure you, as there were numerous skeletons lying in the same spot, all alike, and with a sort of horrible and vacant stare, and showing their gumless teeth, I began to be at a loss with myself how I
1 So Milton's Satan
"extended long and large, Lay floating many a rood ; in bulk as huge, As whom the fables name of monstrous size, Titanian, or Earth-born, that warred on Jove." Cf. '05. xi. 575, where the giant covers nine acres. For Ixion, see 6. A. vi.
2 With which Dante's "il primo cerchio" may be compared ; where reside those unfortunate pre-Christian heroes, or saints, who were ex- cluded from Elysium, as not having the baptismal passport : —
"perch' e' non ebber battesmo, Ch'e porta della Fede, che tu credi."
3 Demi-goddesses, daughters of the Deities who mixed with mortal women .
4 'Afievrjiovg. See Nek. AtaX., i. xx., etc.
276 MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD.
should distinguish Thersites from the handsome Nireus, or the beggar Irus 1 from the king of the Phseakians, or Pyrrhias, the cook, from Agamemnon : for nothing any- longer of their old characteristics remained to them, but their bones were all alike, indistinguishable and inscribed with no titles, and impossible any longer to be distinguished by anyone.
So, of a truth, as I looked upon those things, human life appeared to me to resemble a sort of long public pro- cession, and Fortune appeared to have the management of and to arrange every particular, while she assigned to those taking part in the Show various and variegated costumes. One she would take, if so it chanced, and equip in royal fashion, and put a tiara upon his head, and assign to him a number of body-guards, and crown his head with the diadem. Another she would clothe in the dress of a domestic. A third individual she would decorate with beauty ; a fourth she turned out ugly, deformed, and an object of ridicule ; for it is proper, I imagine, that the Show be composed of all sorts and conditions of men. And frequently, even in the midst of the procession, she would change the costumes of some of its constituents, and not permit them to go through with it to the end, as they had been first arranged ; but, changing the dress of a Krcesus, she com- pelled him to receive in exchange the dress of a domestic and a captive : while a Maeandrius, 2 who up to that time had been among the slaves in the Show, she invested with the despotic sovereignty of a Polykrates, and for some time suffered him to use the dress. But, when the time for the Show had passed, at that instant each one restoring his paraphernalia, and putting off his dress with his body,
1 See '0& xviii. for this counterpart of Thersites of the Iliad, an insatiate glutton, who,
fitrd S't7rpe7re yaartpi papyy, 'AZrjxfQ cpayentv icai 7nefj.6V ovde ol i]v jc,
- Ov8k /3iq—
Pyrrhias (Lat. Rufus), " red-headed," is, probably, some comic cha- racter. It was a common name for slaves from the North. See Tifiwv, 23; Tlefji'Opxhv. 19.
2 The Maeandrius here referred to was the secretary of Polykrates, and is noticed by Herod, iii. 123; Cf. Xapwv, 14.
MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD. 277
becomes as lie was before, in no respect different from his neighbours.
Some, from folly, as soon as Fortune stands at their side and demands back her decorations, are grieved and are indignant, as though deprived of some of their own property, and as if they were not giving up what they had had the use of for a brief space. I suppose you have often seen of such as are employed on the Stage, those tragic actors, who, according to the requirements of the dramas, become at one time Krcesus and, at another, Priam or Agamemnon ; and the same person, if chance so directs, who imitated, a little before, very grandly the dress and bear- ing of a Kekrops or an Erechtheus, at the summons of the poet, in a little while comes forward as a domestic. And now, when the drama is at an end, each divesting himself of that gold-embroidered garment, and laying aside his mask, and descending from his tragic-boots, moves about in public as a poor and humble individual, no longer Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, nor Kreon, the son of Mencekeus, but now called by his proper name, Polias, 1 the son of Charikles, of the borough of Sunion, or Satyrus, the son of Theo- geiton, of the borough of Marathon. Of such sort, in fact, are the affairs of men, as they seemed to me, as I then re- garded them.
Philonides. Tell me, Menippus, and they, who possess these costly and lofty tombs above upon the earth, and monumental slabs, 2 and pictures, and inscriptions, are they no more held in honour among them than the plebeian dead ?
Menippus. Out upon you ! Nonsense ! At all events, if you just saw Mausolus himself (the Karian I mean, who is so famous for his tomb) I know well that you would not have stopped laughing — in such humble fashion was he cast away in some remote corner, skulking among the rest of the commonalty of the Dead, getting as much enjoyment, as
1 See Zet'c Tpay. 3, Tltpl tljv IttI Mi<t0<£ 2vj>. 5. Of Satyrus, little or nothing is found elsewhere. The surnames of Sunian and Marathonian were given to them simply as members of the boroughs of Sunion and Marathon.
2 SrrjXaf (Lat. cippos), on which were inscribed the military victories, dedications, votes of thanks, &c, of the dead prince or plutocrat. Cf. Aristoph. Axap. 692 ; Herod, ii. 102 (of Sesostris), iv. 87 (of Dareius), vi. 14; Thucyd. v. 56.
278 MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD.
it seemed to me, from his tomb as he was weighed down from having such enormous weight of material pressing on him. 1 For, when iEakus, my friend, measures out for each his place — and he gives at most not more than a foot 2 — he must be content to lie contracted in a very moderate space. But you would laugh, I think, much more, if you saw those who were kings and viceroys with us acting the beggar with them, and either selling salt herrings for want, or teaching the rudiments of grammar, insulted by any common person, and smitten on the cheek as if they were the most despised of slaves. In fact, when I saw Philip the Macedonian, I could not even contain myself. He was pointed out to me in a corner, mending rotten shoes for a pittance. Many others, too, one might see begging at the cross-roads — I speak of the Xerxeses, and Dareiuses, and Polykrateses. 3
JPhilonides. The account you give me of kings is a strange one, and all but incredible. But how did Sokrates fare, and Diogenes, and whoever else there was of the philosophic tribe ?
Menippus. Sokrates perambulates there, cross- question- ing everyone ; 4 and always in his company are Palamedes, and Odysseus, and Nestor, and any other prattler of the dead. His legs, however, were still puffed and swollen out from the draught of poison. The most excellent
1 See Nf*. AiaX. xxiv.
2 " Mors sola fatetur
Quantula sint hominum corpuscula." — Juv. Sat. x. 172-3. "Ill vveaved Ambition, how much art thou shrunk ! "When that this body did contain a spirit, A kingdom for it was too small a bound, But now two paces of the vilest earth Is room enough."
Shakespeare, Henry IV., pt. i. v. 4.
3 Rabelais represents (among other distinguished residents in Hades) Dareius as a care-taker in very humble capacity (cureur de retraicts) ; Xerxes as crying mustard ; while Alexander the Great has to take up with tailoring. Sulla acts as assistant (riveran) to Charon. Pope Alexander VI. finds a livelihood as a ratcatcher. (Livre ii. 30.)
4 So he is represented in the Elysian Fields, in the 'A\i]9r)g 'laropia — Ka.i ftoi tdoKH kpav tov 'YaKivQov rd 7roXkd yovv ikeivov Cu'iXeyxtv (ii. 221). Rhadamanthys, indeed, was so much bored by this perpetual use of the tXeyxog and eipwvtia, that he had often threatened to turn him out of Elysium, unless he desisted.
MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD. 279
Diogenes resides near Sardanapalus, the Assyrian, and Midas, the Phrygian, and certain other exquisites ; and when he hears them wailing and lamenting, and remeasur- ing their ancient fortune, he laughs and is delighted, and, for the most part, he lies upon his back and sings in a very harsh and savage voice, drowning their wailings ; so that the gentlemen are much annoyed, and are seriously con- sidering about moving their quarters, as they cannot put up with Diogenes.
Philonides. Enough of this. But what was the Decree, which you told me, at first, they had carried against the Plutocrats ?
Menippus. Well remembered, for I don't know how I wandered entirely from my story, when I had purposed to speak about that. Well, while I was staying with them, the presiding magistrates proposed a meeting of the Popular Assembly in respect of the common interests. As, then, I observed a number of them running together, I at once mixed myself up with the dead men, and forthwith became myself, too, one of their members of Parliament. Other matters were duly settled, and, last of all, the case of the Rich. When, you must know, many and terrible accusations had been brought against them — violence, ar- rogance, haughtiness, and injustice — at length a certain popular leader rose, and read the Decree to this effect : —
The Decree. " Whereas the Plutocrats perpetrate a number of ini- quities in life, by plunder, by violence, and in every way utterly despising the Poor, be it enacted by the Senate and the People that, when they die, their bodies undergo punishment, just as do those of other worthless people, but that the souls be sent up above again into life, and enter into asses, 1 until they have, in such state, passed
1 As is well known, the person of the hero of the Lucianic "Ovoq (a curtailed imitation of the Be Aureo Asino of Apuleius) is bewitched into the form of an ass, and in that quadruped condition meets with a variety of unpleasant experiences, until by eating rose-leaves (the emblem of the secresy of the Mysteries), he is re- transformed into biped and human shape. Bp. Warburton (Divine Legation of Moses), with more ingenuity than success, maintains the purpose of The Golden Ass to have been a recommendation of mysticizcd Paganism as against the then progressing Christian religion.
280 MENIPPUS : OR, THE ORACLE OF THE DEAD.
through two hundred, and fifty thousand years, becoming asses from generation to generation, and carrying heavy burdens, and driven by the poor labourers ; and after that period, that it be permitted them finally to die.
"Dryskull, the son of Skeleton, of the wardship of Dead- borough, of the tribe of Corpseland, proposed this bill."
When this bill had been read, the magistrates gave their votes by ballot, and the people by show of hands ; and Brimo 1 roared, and Kerberus howled; for in this way the resolutions, that have been read, became complete and bind- ing. Such, I assure you, were the proceedings in the Popular Assembly. I — in pursuance of the object of my visit — approached Teiresias, and, after explaining everything, begged him to tell me what sort of life he considers to be about the best. Then with a laugh — he is a somewhat blind, little old man, sallow, and shrill- voiced — " My son," says he, " I know the cause of your doubt and perplexity, that it originated with the philosophers, who do not agree among themselves : but it is not permitted me to reveal it to you, for it has been forbidden by Rhadamanthys." " Oh ! pray, don't refuse, my good little father," said I, " but tell me, and don't despise me who grope about in life blinder than yourself." Thereupon, you must know, he took me aside and withdrew to a considerable distance from the rest, and, quietly stooping to my ear, he says : " The best and soundest life is that of persons in private station. So do you, leaving off the folly of inquiring into transcendental subtleties, and searching into final ends and causes, and rejecting with contempt their learned sophisms and syllogisms, and deeming such things mere trifling and nonsense, search diligently for this one thing alone — how, making wise use of what you have, you may pass by with a smile of contempt most opinions, and pursue nothing with too serious aim."
So spake he, and back he coursed through Asphodelian meadows, 2 and I — for it was now evening — "Pray, come," say I,
1 " The terrible one," an alias of Hekate or Persephone. Cf. Apollonius, 'Apyov. iii. 861.
2 "Qc sittcov ttoXlv wpro icar' 'AatyoFeXov \si/j,u)va. The latter half of this parody is quoted from 'Od. xi. 538, 572.
MENIPPUS: OR, THE ORA.CLE OF THE DEAD. 281
u Mithrobarzanes, why do we longer linger, and not return again to life ? " And to this rejoined he : " Courage, Menippus ; for I will show you a short and easy path." And, in fact, he led me to a certain spot, darker and murkier than the rest, pointing to a certain dim and faint light in the distance flowing, as it were, through a chink. " That," said he, " is the shrine of Trophonius, and from that place the people of Boeotia make their descent. Ascend, then, by this road, and immediately you will be upon Hellenic soil." Delighted at what he told me was I, and, after taking leave of the Magus, with very much difficulty I crept through the narrow mouth, and here I am, somehow or other, in Lebadeia. 1
1 Now Livadhia, a town in Boeotia. The Oracle of Trophonius was situated in a cavern not far distant from the town. See Nek. AiaX. iii.
INDEX.
Academy, the New, the scepticism of, 144 note.
Acheron, an Infernal River, 139 note.
Acherusian lake, the pagan Purga- torio, 139 note.
Acherusian plains, 279, 291.
Achilleus, alluded to, 76, 77, 80, 117, 128, 129, 135, 140, 163, 197, 249.
Adagia, of Erasmus, referred to, 98, 100, 101, 103 notes.
Adam, the English equivalent for the Greek proverbial Iapetus, 3 note.
Admetus, Apollo servant to, 217.
Adonis, the Syrian favourite of Aphrodite, subject of an Elegy of Bion, 23, 28 notes.
Adrastus, accidentally slays the son of Kroesus, 220.
iEakus, one of the Infernal Judges, alluded to, 94, 122, 137, 144, 241, 270, 278.
jEgina, a nymph beloved by Zeus, 3 note.
iEgyptus, uncle of the nymph Amy- mone, 70.
/Elian (an Italian of the third cen- tury, a.d., published in Greek, two compilations, the Various His- tory and History of Animals), refe- rences to, 36, 72,85, 103, 120, 142, 145.
/Eneas, warned by Poseidon to absent himself from battle, 213 note.
AZneis, see Virgil.
-Eschylus, referred to, 1, 5, 58, 69, 85, 106, 140, 156, 173, 217.
-Etna Mt., Polyphemus at, 62 ;
Hephapstus at the forge of, 76; fabled scene of the suicide of Empedokles, 142 and note.
Agamemnon, in Hades, 140, 163-4; deceived by Zeus, 199 ; referred to, 276, 277.
'Aya.Br] Tvx\h a solemn Greek for- mula, 234 note.
Agathokles, a ph}-sician, 244.
Agenor, the father of Europa, 55 note, 83.
Aglaia, Nereus boasts to be the son of, 153.
Agra, famous for the Taj Mahal, 159 note.
Agrigentum, a colony of Gela, 106 note.
Aias (Telamonian), his speech to Odysseus, 112 and note ; in Hades, 110, 163.
Aidoneus, paragogic form of Aides or Hades, 271.
Akrisius, the father of Danae, 77.
Ahrodrua, nut - fruits, 269 and note.
Akropolis (of Athens), an abode of Pan, 52.
Aktaeon, the hunter, cause of his death, 32 ; referred to, 231 and note.
Alekto, one of the Eumenides, 256 note.
Alexander (or Paris), the judg- ment of, 38-48
Alexander (of Macedon), in Hades, 114-118, 120-127; his portraits by Lysippus, 177 note ; Thebes destroyed by, 255 note ; his occu- pation in Hades, 278 note.
Alexander (Alessandro) VI., Pope,
284
INDEX.
his occupation in Hades, 278 note.
Alexis, Comic poet, referred to, 92 note ; Menander borrows from, 154 note.
Alkamenes, Greek sculptor, referred to, 176 note.
Alkestis, of Euripides, referred to, 97 note.
Alkestis, wife of Admetus, brought from Hades by Herakles, 286 note.
Alkibiades, his life saved by Sokra- tes, 108 note ; a principal figure in the Symporion of Plato, 144 note ; referred to, 221.
Alkinous, in Hades, 276.
Alkiphron, epistolary writer, re- ferred to, 182 note.
Alkmene, wife of Amphitryon, be- loved by Zeus, 3 note, 21, 55, 132.
Alpheius, a River-God, questioned fay Poseidon respecting his rape of the nymph Arethusa, 75.
Amaurotes, the allies of Pantagruel, 262 note.
Ambrosia, how regarded by the Py- thagoreans, 9 note ; its enhanced price noticed by Momus, 226, 235.
Amenena harena, Homeric synonym for the Dead, 89 note.
Ammianus Marcellinus (Italian his- torian in Greek of the fourth cen- tury, a.d.), referred to, 156, 232.
Ammon (Zeus), claimed by Alex- ander of Macedon as his father, 116, 120, 124, 127; ram's horns an appendage of, 232.
Amphiaraus, his oracle near Thebes, 92 note.
Amphilochus, a hero of Thebes and Ilium, in Hades, 92; notice of his oracular repute, 92 note.
Amphitrite, the Sea-Goddess, at the nuptials of Thetis and Peleus, 68 ; disputes with Poseidon as to the burial of Helle, 74; at the nuptials of Europa, 84.
Amphitrvon, husband of Alkmene, 21, 132.
Amphitryon, of Plautus, Moliere, and Dryden, 21 note.
Amyklse, in Lakonia, the burial- place of Hyakinthus, 28.
Amykus, tbe royal Bithynian pugi- list, antagonist of Polydeukes, 58, and note.
Amymone, Poseidon's rape of, 69- 71.
Amyntas, father of Philip of Mace- don, 124.
Anakreon, his (spurious) Odes, referred to, 252 note.
Anchises, beloved by Aphrodite, 23 ; his good fortune sneered at by Hera, 41, and note ; noticed by Momus, 231.
Andokides, an Attic orator, referred to, 235 note.
Andria, the, of Terence, quoted, 29 note ; referrred to, 248 note.
Andromeda, her rescue by Perseus narrated, 83-82.
Andrapodistes (kidnapper), exten- sive trade of the, 70 note.
Aneskolepismenos ("crucified" or " impaled "), 244, and note.
Antandros ("vicarious substitute "), a word peculiar to Lucian, 131, and note.
Anthologia Gr<zca, epigrams in, quoted, 3, 49, 165, 240 notes.
Antikyras (the two), famous for hellebore, 123 note.
Antilochus, son of Nestor, remon- strates with Acbilleus m Hades, 128-130.
Antinous, the favourite of Hadrian the Roman Emperor, 7 note; numerous temples and statues raised in his honour, 11 note ; re- ferred to, 231 note.
Antioch, Christian, a witty satire of the Emperor Julian against, 108 note.
Antiope, a nymph beloved by Zeus, 3 note, 172, 174.
Antipater, Alexander of Macedon writes a letter to, 122 note.
Antisthenes, founder of the Cynic School, referred to, 88, 112 notes ; 113 ; his indifference to the rites of sepulture, 152 note ; in Hades, 155-158 ; referred to, 267 note.
Aiitux, a part of the Greek chariot, 57 note.
Anubis, the deified Egyptian dog, 72, and note, 122, 145 note ; his
INDEX.
285
rank in Heaven, 177; Zeus ridi- culed by Momus as. 232.
Anytus, a principal informer against Sokrates, 222 note.
Aornus, a hill-fort on the Indus, stormed by the Macedonians, 127 note.
Apelles, the laureate-painter of Alexander of Macedon, 116, 117, 177 notes.
Aphrodite (Venus), referred to, 16 ; charges Selene with her amour with Endymion, 22-24 ; upbraids Eros, 24-26 ; referred to, 29, 30 ; her liaison with Ares, 33- 3-1 ; interrogates Eros, 36-38 ; before Paris, 38-48 ; her children criticized by Apollo, 52-53; a competitor tor the golden apple, 60-69 ; at the bridal-procession of Zeus and Europa, 84 ; referred to, 103, 104 ; wounded in battle, 185.
Aphrodite, Anaduomene ("rising from the sea "), the original of, 127 note ; referred to, 178, 255.
Aphrodite, " the Golden," 104, 178.
Aphrodite, "the Knidian," 10 note, 178, and note, 255 note.
Aphrodite, Cestus of, stolen by Hermes, 16 ; Athena demands of Paris its removal, 44 ; described, 44 note.
Apis, the sacred Egyptian Bull, criticized by Momus, 232, and note.
Apokulupsis ( Apocalypse of St. John ), the, referred to, 222 note, 255 note.
Apollo, the lover of Daphne and Hyakinthus, 4 ; discourses with Hephaestus on the infant Hermes, 15-16 ; recounts to Hermes the manner of the death of Hya- kinthus, 27-28; envies Hephaestus his beautiful wives, 29-30 ; Hera ridicules his pretensions to uni- versal knowledge, and his oracu- lar jugglery, 31; informed by Hermes of the revenge of He- phaestus on Aphrodite and Ares, 33-34; criticizes Aphrodite's pro- geny, 53; discourses with Bac- chus on Priapus, 51; identified with Helios, in later Hellenic theology, 56 note ; criticizes the
divine pretensions of the Dios- kuri, 58-60 ; his altercation with Thanatos, 97 note ; his prophetic pretensions ridiculed in Zeus the Tragedian, 168-178 ; his gigantic statue at Rhodes, 178, and note ; his servitude with Admetus ridi- culed by Cyniskus, 217; his numerous prophet rivals, 233, and note ; takes the chair at an Olym- pian Convention, 235 ; his plu- ralities abolished by Act of the Olympian Parliament, 2.36.
Apollodorus (Bibliotheca), referred to, 5, 19, 22, 32, 3r>, 50, 55, 59, 69, 72, 74, 80, 136, 145, 154, 160, 165, 186, 231, 256 notes.
Apollonius (of Rhodes), Argonautica cited, 58, 69, 81, 129, 2tf0 notes.
Apollonius (of Tyana), his birth miraculously announced, 66 note.
Appian(a Greek historian of Rome), referred to, 119 note.
Apuleius (De Aureo Asino), relates the immortalization of Psyche, 9 note ; describes the representation in sculpture of Diana and her Dogs, 32 note ; describes a theatri- cal representation of the Judgment of Paris, 48 note ; narrates a rabies panic, 134 note ; on the descent of Psyche to Hades, quoted, 146 note ; his De Magid referred to, 232 ; his De Aureo Asino referred to, 242 note.
Aquarius (Constellation of), Zeus promises Ganymedes to place him in the Heavens as, 47 note.
Aratus (author of the Phenomena, a poem), referred to, 80 note.
Araxes, a river of Armenia, referred to, 157.
Arbela, the scene of one of the great victories of Alexander of M ace- don, noticed by Hannibal, 116; by Alexander, 118.
Archimedes, the great mechanician, referred to, 109 note.
Areiopagus (Court of) at Athens, referred to, 222 note.
Ares (Mars), robbed by Hermes, 15 ; the lover of Aphrodite, 25, 30 ; caught in adultery with Aphrodite, 33-34 ; conquered by
286
INDEX.
Eros, 37 ; referred to, 39 : ridi- cules the threat of Zeus and his golden chain, 49-59; wounded by Diomedes, and conquered by Athena, 199.
Arethusa, a Xereid nymph, beloved by Alpheius, the story of, 65-66.
Argonauts, the, instructed by the prophet Phineus, 160 note.
Argus, the guardian of Io, 5, and note ; referred to, 42.
Argyraspidt, a body-guard of the Persian kings, 122 note.
Ariadne, the mistress of Dionysus, ber introduction into Heaven ridi- culed by Momus, 229, and note.
Arion, the story of, related by the Dolphins, 72-73.
Aristeas, a legacy-hunter, bis man- ner of death related, 112-113.
Aristeides, eulogized by Plutarcb at the expense of the military beroes of history, 121 note ; in- stanced by the philosopher Damis, 205; by Cyniskus, 221.
Aristippus, the founder of the Cy- renaic school, his manner of arri- val in Hades, and bis selfish prin- ciples, 143, and note.
Aristodemus, a famous tragic actor, 20'J, and note.
Aristophanes, referred to, 14, 20, 37, 41, 87, 90, 92, 94, 106, 123, 140, 115, 162, 166, 170, 171, 172, 175, 179, 180, 183, 194, 196, 200, 203, 207, 217, 230, 232, 234, 239, 242, 253, 254, 257, 265, 270, 277 notes.
Arkadia, the especial abode of Pan, 52, and note.
Arnold, Th., Theophrastus quoted by, 208 note.
Arrian (Anabasis), Alexander of Macedon's visit to the Oracle of Zeus Amnion, related by, 116 note ; referred to, 122; rejects the story of Alexander's exploits at Oxydraka?, 126 note.
Arsakes, a Persian Satrap, the manner of his death described, and his indignation at his forced march to Hades on foot, 156-157.
Artaxerxes (Mnemon), King of Persia, referred to, 150 note.
Artemis (Diana), satirized by Hera, 32 ; obstetrical duties transferred to her, in later Hellenic theology, 32 note ; why unassailed by Eros, 38 ; ber office as midwife, 59 ; metamorphoses the nymph Arethusa, 65 note; her actions ridiculed by the philosopher Damis, 200 ; her sanguinary altar in Tauris noticed by him, 203.
Artemisia, the sister and wife of Mausolus, builds the famous tomb to bis memory, 150 note, 152.
Asia, gradual extension of the name, 45 note.
Asklepius (jEsculapius), quarrels with Herakles in Heaven, 25-27 ; deals in medicine, 59 ; protected by Zeus from the criticism of Momus, 230 ; prohibited from the trade in prophecy by Act of the Celestial Parliament, 235.
Aspasia, mistress of Perikles, of the class of hetcerce, 44 note.
Asphodel, a plant abundant in the Elysian Fields, 210, and note.
"Asphodelian Meadows," quoted by Menippus in a parody of the Odyssey, 280, and note.
Ass, the Golden, of Apuleius, noticed, 32, 48, 134, 146, 242, 279 notes.
Assyrians, the, sacrifice to the Dove, 201, and note.
Asteria, beloved by Zeus, 3 note.
Atalanta, the Kalydonian heroine, surpasses all the heroes of Hellas in neetness, 129 note.
Atalanta in Cakfdon (Swinburne's), referred to, 200 note.
Athamas, the father of Helle, 74, 231.
Athena (Minerva), Hephaestus as- sists at her birth, 17-18 ; why spared by Eros, 36, 37; competitor for the golden apple, 38-45, 68 ; conspires with other divinities against Zeus, 50 ; purifies the daughters of Danaus, 71 note; supplies Perseus with wings, 81 ; punishes Teiresias, the prophet, with blindness, 160 note ; favours Telamonian Aias, 164 note ; ad- vises her father, Zeus, 168, 171,
INDEX.
287
172, 174; her part in the (Ho- meric) battle of the Gods ridi- culed by Damis, 199 ; prohibited by Act of the Olympian Parlia- ment from the practice of medi- cine, 235.
Athena Parthenos and Promacfios (of Pheidias), on the Akropolis of Athens, referred to, 10 note.
Athenians, the, reward bravery in battle with suits of armour, 108 note.
Athens, distinguished par excellence as "the city," 26inote.
Athos, Mt., the canal of Xerxes across the peninsula of, ridiculed by Menippus, 140 ; allusion by Juvenal to, 140 note.
Atreus, father of Agamemnon, re- ferred to, 277.
Atropus (one of the three Sister- Fates), the irreversible one, 219 note.
Attis or Atys, Aphrodite accuses Eros of inflaming the Goddess Rhea "with love for, 24, and note ; Hermes reproaches Zeus w T ith his admission to Heaven, 177 ; ridi- culed by Momus, 232.
Augustin, St., maintains the reality of the diabolic inspiration of the Oracles, 233 note.
Aulularia, the, of Plautus, referred to, 252 note.
Aurelius, Antoninus, alludes to Menippus the Satirist, 86 note.
Aurora (Greek Eos), omits to re- quire from Zeus for her favourite everlasting youth with ever- lasting life, 100 note.
Avare, L', of Moliere, an imitation of the Aululciria of Plautus, 252 note.
B.
Babylon, Alexander of Macedon in- forms Diogenes, in Hades, that he is lying unburied at, 121 ; Stateira, second wife of Alexan- der, murdered at, 126 note ; Me- nippus, the Cynic, goes to consult the Magi at, 262, 269.
Bacchus, see Dionysus.
Baccfue, of Euripides, referred to,
35 note, 231. Baktra, the capital of Baktria, the
scene of the murder of Kleitus by
Alexander of Macedon, 116 ; re- ferred to, 122. Balbus, his syllogism in the Be Nat.
Deorum of Cicero quoted by
Wieland, 207 note. Barbaras, its proper signification,
82 note. Barnes, an Homeric commentator,
his quotation of Eustathius, 272
note. Bartoli, Pietro, his Recueil des Pein-
tures Antiques Trouvtes a Rome,
referred to, 69 note. Beard, the, a distinguishing mark of
the Cynic and btoic sects; one
of the wittiest productions of
Greek Satire, an apology for, 108
note. Becker, W.A. ( Ch a rikles), referred
to, 8, 44, 122 notes. Bellerophon, the Korinthian hero, • slays the monster Chimera, 165
note. Bendis, a Thracian divinity, his
admission to Heaven criticized by
Hermes, 177, and note. Bentley, Richard, his Critique on
the Letters of Phalaris referred to,
203 note. Bion {Idylls), on the death of
Adonis, referred to, 23, 28 notes. Bion, of Priene, one of the " Seven
Sages," 142 note. Blepsias, a usurer and miser, a
fellow-traveller of Diogenes to
Hades, 158. Bockh (Public Economy of Athens),
referred to, 251 note. Boule, the Greek " Senate," noticed,
225, 235, and notes. Boulutos, meaning of the term, 239
note. Bouphonia, an old Athenian reli- gious ceremony at their sacrificial
slaughter, explained, 166 note. Branchida;, descendants of Bran-
chus, noticed, 4 note. Branchus, a son (or favourite) of
Apollo, noticed by Zeus, 4, and
note.
288
INDEX.
Briareus, the Giant, saves Zeus from defeat and fetters (as quoted by Ares from Homer), 50.
Brimo, a name of Hekate, 280 and note.
Briseis, the slave-girl, cause of the quarrel of Agamemnon and Achil- leus, 164.
C.
Caligula, Caius, the Roman Caesar, his Life by Suetonius quoted, 215; the vilest despot recorded in History, 259 note.
Cannae (the field of) famous for the vast number of gold rings cap- tured by Hannibal, 115 note.
Capua, Alexander of Macedon (in Hades) retorts upon Hannibal his luxurious life at, 118.
Carthage, Scipio (in Hades) boasts of having razed, 119.
Castellanus, on Hellenic Festivals, referred to by Jensenius (a com- ' mentator on Lucian), 166 note.
Cat, the, an object of Egyptian worship, 201.
Catullus, Valerius, his poem De Atyde referred to, 24 note ; his Peleus et Thetis, 69 note ; Ad Manlium quoted, 137 note.
Celsus, Aoyo? 'A\n8h<;, referred to, 92 note.
Chain, the Golden, and the threat of Zeus, ridiculed by Ares, 40-50.
Chaldaeans, the, diviners by dreams, 113.
Chares, the sculptor of the Kolossus of Rhodes, 178 note.
Charikles, the father of Polias, noticed, 277.
Charikles (of Becker), the, referred to, 8, 44, 122 notes.
Charinus, a legacy-hunter, 95.
Charis, a wife of Hephaestus, her possession by that God excites the envy of Hermes and Apollo, 29-30.
Charites (Gratiae), unite with the Horn (Hours) iu adorning Pan. dora, 21 note.
Charmides, a principal companion
of Sokrates in Hades, 144, and note. Charmolaus, a handsome youth, one of the passengers in * Charon's boat, 106.
Charceades, a legacy-hunter, his expected descent to Hades, 99.
Charon, the ferryman of the Styx, requested by Hermes to pay up his arrears of debt to him, 93-95 ; desires Hermes to strip the rich and powerful of their various weighty encumbrances, 105 ; de- mands of Menippus his accus- tomed fee, 146-148; a principal dramatis persona in the Ferry-Boat, 237-261 ; Menippus and Mithro- barzanes embark in his boat, 263 ; represented in Art with the pilus, 270 note ; receives Menippus on board, 272.
Charops, the husband of Aglaia and father of Nireus, 1 53 ; of /Egina, a man of infamous debauchery, adduced by Cyniskus as an in- stance of successful wickedness, 222.
Cheiron, one of the Kentaurs, tutor of Achilleus, 128, and note ; im- parts to Menippus his reasons for preferring Hades to Heaven and immortality, 154-155.
Cheirotonia, voting by show of hands, 236 note.
Cheyiiskus, name for the figure-head of a Greek ship, 205, and note.
Chilon, one of the " Seven Sages," author of the proverb, " Know thyself," 91 note, 142.
Chimaera, the, a monster of Tar- tarus, to whom Minos delivers the wicked for torture, 164, and note; seen by Menippus in Tartarus, 274.
Chinese Empire, its outskirts known slightly to the Roman world of the second century, 255 note.
Chlamys, originally a Macedoniau dress, worn by Athenians, 125 and note.
Choaspes, a tributary of the river Tigris, 269, and note.
Christian Fathers, the, refer Hel- lenic theology and mythology to
INDEX.
289
the Jewish Sacred Scriptures, 58 note ; the Oracles to diabolic in- spiration, Voo note.
Chryseis, daughter ofChryses, cause Of the feud between Agamemnon and Achilleus, 164 note.
Chrysippus, second founder of the School of the Porch, the absurd Syllogisms of his School ridiculed by Diogenes in Hades, 88, and note.
Chrysostom, St., a Christian Father of the fourth century, his expla- nation of the Hellenic myth of Phaethon and the chariot of Helios, 58 note ; on the tomb of Zeus in Krete, 230 note.
Cicero, M. Tullius, his refusal to listen to Homer on the rape of Ganymede*, 6 note; on the statues of the Gods, 44 note ; on the Sa- tires of Menippus, 86 note ; on the death of Kodrus, 105 note ; on the Summum Bonum, 122 note ; on the death of Sokrates, 145 note ; references to, 186, 187, 207, 218, 223, 249.
Clemens, Titus Flavius, of Alexan- dria, on the island of Mykonus, 89 note ; on Sacrifice, 215 note ; his statement of the vegetarian diet of St. Matthew quoted, 269 note.
Corpseland, a w ember of that bo- rough proposes the solemn decree of the Dead, 280.
Cow, the, a famous statue by Myron, of ; thirty-six epigrams in the Anthologia celebrate her praise, 176 note; an object of divine worship with the Egyp- tians, 201, 232.
Curtius Rufus (Roman biographer of Alexander of Macedon), his explanation of the story of Lysi- machus and the lion, 1 26 note.
Cybele (or Rhea), the tricks of Eros upon, 24, and note ; 232 note.
Cyklops, see Polyphemus.
Cynic, derivation of the name, Menippus and Diogenes famous followers of that sect, 86-87 note ; CyDiskus (in the Convicted Zeus),
a distinguished member of the
sect, 209-224. Cyniskus, a Cynic, convicts Zeus of
imposture, 209-224; a dramatis
persona of the Ferru Boat, %S7 t
241, 244, 249, 250, 253, 256-
261. Cyrus, the Persian king, in Hades,
140 ; noticed by the philosopher
Damis, 202.
D.
Dagger, the, an object of worship with the Scythians, 201, and note.
Damasias, an athlete in Charon's boat, 107 and note.
Damis, a millionaire, a fellow- traveller with Diogenes to Hades, 158 ; an Epikurean philosopher antagonist of Timokles (repre- senting the Stoic Sect), 168-170; his controversial combat with Timokles described at length, 196-208.
Damnippus, a millionaire, a dramatis persona in Hades, 101-102.
Damon, a legacy-hunter, referred to, 95.
Damoxenus, a pugilist, the message of Diogenes in Hades to, 89, and note.
Danae, one of the earthly mistresses of Zeus, commemorated in the Anthologia, 3 note ; Hermes de- spatched to, 55 ; the story of her exposure related by Thetis, 77- 78; referred to, 80, 266.
Dana us, King of Argos, and father of the Danaides, his treatment of his daughters, 69; referred to, 114.
Dante Alighieri, the Lucianic Dia- logue Neki/omanteia, a sort of pro- totype of the Inferno of, 86 note ; indebted to the Phedon of Plato, 139 note ; his Inferno quoted, 261, 274, 275 7iotes.
Daphne, the river-nymph, her flight from Apollo instanced by Eros, 4; Apollo taunted by Hermes with his pursuit of, 27 ; her story related differently by
290
INDEX.
Pausanias, 27 note; Apollo alludes to his love for her, 20 ; Hera sneers at the failure of Apollo's prescience to inform him as to the result of his love for, 31 ; Teiresias instances to Menippus the undoubted miracle of her transformation, 162.
Daphiiis and Chloe, the pastoral romance of Longus, noticed, 242 note.
Dareius, king of Persia, the Mace- donian victories over him depre- ciated by Hannibal in Hades, 116; Alexander (on the same occasion) boasts of his conquestof, 118 ; Zeus quotes a saying of, 208, and note ; his occupation in Hades, 278.
Deadborough, the wardship of, named in the Decree of tbe Dead, 280.
Decuma, the name of one of the Latin Parcce, 214 not*.
Deinias, a patron of parasites, men- tioned, 100.
Delos C the island of) made stationary by Poseidon at the command of Zeus, for the convenience of Leto, 75-76.
Delphi, its oracle-shop ridiculed by Hera, 31 ; famous inscription on its temple, 91 ; preferred by Apollo as most convenient for the display of his prophetic fa- culty, 191.
Delphic Oracle, the, pronounces Sokrates to be the wisest man, 144 note ; ridiculed by Damis, 202 : by Cyniskus, 211, 220.
Delphines (Dolphins), the, at Poseidon's request, relate the story of Arion, 72-73.
Demeter (Ceres), her love for Iasion, sarcastic allusion of Momus to, 231, and note.
Demoi, Attic equivalent to the English u hundreds," 236 note.
Demokritus (of Abdera), "the laughing philosopher," a pre- decessor of Menippus in satire, 86 note ; his influence on Pyrrho, 144 note.
Demonax, a Stoic philosopher (a
friend of Lucian), his life written by Lucian, 164 note.
Demons, avenging (attendants of Minos in Hades), the, seen by Menippus, 272.
Demosthenes, the orator, his stigma on Philip ofMacedon as "a public robber," 117 note ; his speeches referred to, 125 note; an exordium of his borrowed by Zeus, 169, 181 ; quoted by Zeus, 187 ; a pupil of Satyrus, the comic actor, 200 note ; the enmity of Meidias towards him, 205 note.
Destiny (h Elfxap/xsvu), represented by the Cynic philosopher as supe- rior to the king of Gods, 211, 213, and note; 219, 221, 223, 224; her deification criticized by Mo- mus, 226, 234.
Dia, the wife of Ixion, and mother of Peirithous, 13 note.
Diabolism, Christian, borrows some of its physical characteristics of the Devil from the Greek divinity Pan, 50 note, 233 note.
Diana, and her dogs, Apuleius de- scribes a piece of sculpture repre- senting, 32 note.
Didyma, a town of Lydia, Hera ridicules Apollo's oracle at, 31.
Dii Majores (of the Latin Theo- logy), the twelve principal Deities, referred to, 121, and note ; enumerated, 189 note.
Dike, one of the Hours, 21 note.
Dikte (the cave of), in the island of Krete, the scene of the nuptials of Zeus and Europa, 85.
Dimon-ites, a Greek naval officer, 205, and note.
Diodorus (of Sicily, Greek his- torian of the first century, a.d.), his Historical Library referred to, 5, 22, 27 notes.
Diogenes (of Laerte), on the syllo- gisms of the schools of Zeno and of Chrysippus, 88 note ; referred to, 91, 111, 112, 141, 142, 191, 290 notes.
Diogenes (of Sinope), represented by Plutarch as swallowing an octopus, 67 note ; in Hades sends messages to various classes of men
INDEX.
291
by Polydeukes, 86-89 ; converses in Hades, with a fellow-disciple of Antisthenes, on the strange fate of two millionaires, 112-114; jeers at Alexander of Macedon for his pretensions to divinity, and sati- rizes his vain-glon', 120-123 ; affects astonishment at seeing Herakles in Hades, and inter- rogates that hero on his double existence, 130-133; complimented by Kerberus on his almost unique indifference to death, and the mode of it chosen by him, 146, and note ; ridicules Mausolus, a Persian viceroy, on the vain-glory of his conquests, and especially on that of his splendid tomb, 150-152; his indifference as to the manner of his burial, 152, and note ; entertains himself and fellow Cynics by comparing notes as to their experiences on the road to the infernal regions, and interrogates a poor man as to the cause of his weeping, 155- 159 ; still pursues his favourite occupation in Hades, 264 ; forces (certain former tyrants to contem- plate change of quarters in Hades, 279.
Diomedes (Tydides), his capital Argos, 70, note ; in Hades, 140 ; his wounding Ares ridiculed by the Epicurean philosopher, 199.
Dion (son-in-law of Dionysius, tyrant of Syrakuse) accuses the younger Dionysius to Minos, 274.
Dion (Chrysoetom), famous Greek rhetorician, records the feats of memorv of Alexander of Mace- don, 117.
Dionysiac mysteries, the, established licence at, 203, and note.
Dionysii, the Tyrants of Syra- cuse, courted by Plato, 143, and note.
Dionysius, the Younger, respited by Minos on the intercession of Aris- tippus, 274.
Dionysus (Bacchus), the manner of his birth related by Hermes, 19- 20 ; his character denounced by .Hera and defended by Zeus, 35-
36 ; discourses with Apollo on Aphrodite's children and on the character of Priapus, 52-54; Alexander of Macedon boasts his rivalry with, 127 ; origin of the name of, 127 note ; sarcastic allu- sion of Momus to, 247.
Diophantus, an orator, mentioned, 111.
Dioskuri (Kastor and Polydeukes), their identity of appearance and divine pretensions ridiculed by Apollo, 58-59.
Dipolia, a festival of Zeus, remark- able religious ceremony following upon the priest's sacrificial slaugh- ter of the cow or ox at the, 166 note.
Dipsodes (Drunkards), the, en- gage in battle with the Amau- roses, 262 note.
Dis (Dives), a synonym of Pluto, used by Milton, 144 note.
Diskobolos ("the Quoit-Thrower"), a celebrated work of the sculptor Myron, 176 note.
Divine Legation, the, an ingenious interpretation of the metamor- phoses of the Golden Ass given by Warburton in, 277 note.
Doris, a Nereid, taunts a sister- Nereid, Galateia, with the defor- mities of her lover, Polyphemus, 61-63 ; informed by Thetis of the exposure of Danae and. the in- fant Perseus, 77-78.
Doryphoros ("the spear-bearer"), a celebrated work of the Greek sculptor Polykleitus, 176 note.
Dove, the, said to have been an object of Assyrian divine worship, 201, and note.
Drachme, the, a Greek silver coin, mentioned, 94, and note.
Dry den, John, borrows the subject of one of his comedies from Plau- tus, 24 note.
Dryskull, mover of the resolution adopted by a Convention of the dead respecting the plutocrats, 280.
Du Soul (Solanus), a commentator on Lucian, referred to, 164, 243 notes.
292
INDEX.
E.
Echo, a nymph loved by Pan, 52, and note ; refuses to return the bellowings of Polyphemus, 63. Eileithuia, the divinity who comes to assist women in childbirth, allusion by Hephaestus to, 17, and note ; her office transferred to Artemis, 32 note. Eirene, one of the Horde, 21 note. Eironeia(" affected ignorance "),the special characteristic of the So- kratic Dialogue, 144, and note. Eimurmene (." Destiny ";, its signi- fication noticed by Wieland, 213 note. Ekbatana, the capital of Media, scene of the death of Hephaestion a favourite of Alexander of Macedon, 126 note. Ekklesia (at Athens;, the name given to the Popular Assembly, 179 note ; the usual translation of the title of Lucian's Dialogue ©i£v 'ExxX>i«na inaccurate, 225 note. Ekktesiastes, its Lucianic tone in re- gard to Hades referred to, 129 note. "exxe»v, a play on the word by
Klotho, 246, and note. Elektra, daughter of Atlas and
mother of Iasion, 231 note. Elenchos, a term used in the Logic
of the Stoics, 191, and note. Elenchomenos (Zeus), the title of a Dialogue of Lucian, Wieland's remark on, 209 note. Eleusinian Mysteries ( celebrated in honour of Demeter and Perse- phone at Eleusis), alluded to by Mikyllus, 256. Eleusis, the famous township of Attica, allusion by Krates to, 156. Eleutheria, a village at the foot of
Mount Kitha±ron, 156. Eleven, the. Officers of the Athenian Areiopagus, an allusion by Cy- niskus to, 222, and note. Elias (or Elijah), a Jewish pro- phet, his fire-chariot asserted by St. Chrysostom to be the original of the chariot of Phaethon,58 note. Elysian Fields, the, Minos dis- misses the good to, 165 ; de- scriptions in the poets of, 165
note ; their delights not valued by the Cynic, 222, and note. Elysium, Lucian's representation in
his True History of, 119 note. Empedokles, the distinguished Greek philosopher and statesman, insulted by Menippus in Hades, 142 ; possible origin of the fable of iEtna and the slippers or san- dals of, high estimate and eulogy by Lucretius of, 142 note. Empusa, a hobgoblin of the Greek
nursery, 37 note. Enagismatu, purificatory funeral ceremonies in the Greek ritual, mentioned by Charon, 240, and note. Endymion (a handsome Latmian youth ), Selene charged by Aphro- dite with her love for, 22-24. Enipeus, a Thessalian river-god, reproaches Poseidon for his seduc- tion of the nymph Tyro, 78-79. Entaphia, Greek funeral furniture, allusion by Hermes to, 107, and note. Eos (Aurora), her love and inter- cession for Tithonus, noticed, 100 note. Epigoni (the name given to the descendants of the Seven against Thebes) referred to, 92 note. Epikurus, his abstinent living noticed, 112 note ; relieved by Momus of the charge of doing mischief by denial of a divine Providence, 184; allusion by Momus to, 186. Epikurism, the arguments of, 168-
207. Ephebos, the name given to the Athenian youth at the age of 18, 125 note. Ephialtes, the incubus or night-mare of the Greek mythology, 37 note, Epistemon (a companion of Pan- tagruel on his voyage;, his tem- porary sojourn in Hades, 262 note, Erasmus, Desiderius, his interpre- tation of wnxyv, 24 note ; references- to his Adagia, 89, 98, 100 notes. Erectheus, mythic king of Athens,
277. Eridanus (the modern Pado), the
INDEX.
293
burial-place of Phaethon, 58, and note . Erigone, daughter of Ikarius, her adventures with her dog Maera, referred to, 63 note ; her trans- lation to heaven ridiculed by Momus, 229. Eris (Discordia), Goddess of Dis- cord, her introduction of the golden apple into the nuptial feast of Thetis and Peleus re- lated by the Nereid Panope, 68. Eros (Cupido), threatened with im- prisonment by Zeus, 8-4 ; pro- mised to Ganymede as a com- panion by Zeus, 8 ; his bride Psyche admitted to heaven, 9 note ; challenged by Hermes to a wrestling match, 16 ; his tricks upon his mother Aphrodite re- counted by that Goddess, 23 ; idyll of Moschus on, 23 note ; up- braided and cautioned by his mother, 24-25 ; explains to her why he spares certain divine personages, 36-38 ; his assistance promised to Paris by Aphrodite, 47 ; mentioned by Apollo, 52 ; in a picture by Philostratus releasing Andromeda from her chains, 81 note ; the blame for the war of Ilium attributed by Paris to, 138 ; exculpated by Diogenes, 158.
Erotion ( Erotium ), a favourite name for a courtesan, 248 note.
Erinyes, ("The Angry Ones"), the uneuphemistic name for the Eu- menides, 130, 256, and note.
Esoteric teaching, Alexander finds fault with Aristotle for publish- ing to the world, 123 note.
Eukleides, an Athenian archon, mentioned, 243.
Euklio, the hero of the AiiUdaria of Plautus, 252 note.
Eukrates, a plutocrat, mentioned, 95.
Eumenes, a lieutenant of the Mace- donian Perdikkas, 157 note.
Eumenides (Furiae), an instance of Greek euphemism, 49 note, 139 note, 256 note.
Eunomia, a name of one of the H or <e, 21 note.
Eunomius, the unexpecting heir of a millionaire, 113.
Euonymus, an instance of Greek euphemism, 49 note.
Euphemism, much cultivated by the Greeks, 49 note.
Euphorbus (a Trojan hero), Pytha- goras said to have asserted himself to have been, 141, and note.
Euphranor (of Korinth ), an eminent sculptor, author of the u Paris," 176 note.
Euphrates, the river, alluded to, 263,269,271.
Euphrone, an instance of Greek euphemism, 49 note.
Euripides, quoted or referred to, 20, 31, 35, 48, 53, 63, 80, 81, 84, 97, 98, 133, 138, 139, 154, 161, 171. 173, 183, 200, 201, 203, 220, 249, 256, 264, 265.
Europe (Europa), the daughter of Age nor, king of Sidon, beloved by Zeus, and recorded in Greek Anthology, 3 note ; Hermes de- spatched by Zeus to, 55 ; Zephy- rus narrates the rape of, 83-85 ; recorded by the poet Propertius, 135 note.
Eurotas, the Lakonian river, Diana on the banks of, 38 note ; receives the Alpheius, 65 note.
Eurydike, the wife of Orpheus, "half-regained" by him from Hades, 270 note.
Eurystheus(a king of Mykenae), the taskmaster of Herakles, eulogized by Momus, 186; instanced by the Olympian Censor, 231.
Eusebius (ecclesiastical historian), recounts a number of instances of diabolic deceptions, 233 note.
Eustathius, the Greek commentator on Homer, his explanation of 0ouXi/to,-, 239 note ; his explanation of the Homeric comparison of ghosts to bats, 272 note. Euxeinos (" the Hospitable Sea "), instance of Greek euphemism, 49 note. Exposing infants (among the Greeks and Latins), prevalency of the practice of, 242 note.
294
INDEX.
F.
Faerie Queen, the (of Spenser), beauty of the heroine Una how eulogized, 62 note ; the names of the fifty Nereids enumerated in, 80 note.
Fate and Fates (Moirai), their supreme power asserted by the Cynic philosopher Cyniskus, 210-224 ; their usurpation of the credit of the Olympian divinities lamented by Momus, 234.
Fielding, Henry, his comedy of the Miser referred to, 252 note.
Fire, the object of the worship of the Persians, allusion by the phi- losopher Damis to, 201.
Fontenelle, Bernard le Bovier de, Hist, des Oracles referred to, 31 note; most famous modern imi- tator of Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead, 120 note ; his dialogue, Alexandre et Phrine, quoted, 127 note ; represents Alexander of Macedon complaining of his pre- ference of Phryne, 255 note.
Francesco d'Assisi, St., the stigmata of, 257 note.
Fritzscbe, German editor of Lucian, referred to, 145 note.
Furca, an instrument of slave-tor- ture among the Romans, 273 note.
Furiae, the, Latin equivalent of the Greek Erinyes, 139 note.
G.
Gadara, a town in Coele-Syria, the birthplace of Menippus, 86 note.
Gades (the modern Cadiz preference of Alexander of Macedon to, 119.
Galateia, a Nereid, her lover Poly- phemus ridiculed by the nymph Doris, 61-63.
Galene (a Nereid), the Nereid Panope relates the introduction of the Golden Apple by Eris into the wedding-feast of Thetis and Peleus to, 68-69.
Gamos, the special significance of the word, 82 note.
Ganymedes (a handsome Ilian prince) instructed by Zeus in the
nature of his duties in heaven, 5- 9; Hera upbraids Zeus for his love for, 9-12; Hera hands the wine-cup to, 13 ; related to Paris, 39 ; Hermes recounts his commis- sion from Zeus to, 41 ; his exalta- tion to heaven noticed by Hermes, 55, and note ; the scandal of his relations with Zeus passed over by Momus, 226, 231 and note, 232.
Gargantua and Pantagruel, of Rabe- lais, quoted, 262 note, 278 note.
Gargarus, Mt. (one of the summits of Ida, in the Troad), the scene of the Judgment of Paris, 38 and note, 40.
Gastrolatry, Greek, the Deipnoso- phists, a repertory of, 67 note.
Gaugamela, a small town in the province of Adiabene (Baghdad pachalik), the actus] scene of the great battle commonly called that of Arbela, 116 note.
Ge, or Gaea, the personified Earth- Deity, mother of Iapetus, 3 note.
Gela (a Greek city of Sicily) the parent of Agrigentum, 106 note.
Gerrhon, a kind of shield used chiefly in the Persian army, 124 note.
Gellius, Aulus (Nodes Attica.), a Latin compiler of the second century a.d., relates the story of Apollo and Marsyas with entire faith, 32 note ; referred to, 213, 214. and notes.
Genesis (the book of), Le Clerc ap- peals to the authority of, 69 note.
Geraastus (a port in the island of Euboea), sarcastic allusion of Momus to the loss of Poseidon at, 188, and note.
Gesner, Johann Matthias, a com- mentator on Lucian, his proposed transposition of a passage in the Dialogues of the Dead, 115 note ; his proposed reading of a proper name in Zeus the Tragedian, 201 note.
Gerusalernme Liberata, La, of Tasso, referred to, 44 note.
Glauke, the second wife of Iason, Medeia's fatal gift to, 84 note.
Glaukopis, the Homeric epithet of
INDEX.
295
Athena, 18, and note, 44, and note.
Glycenum, the heroine of the Andria of Terence, referred to, 20 note ; the mistress of the tyrant Mega- penthes, 248 ; ;i favourite name for a Greek courtesan, 248 note.
Gnothi Seauton ("■ Know Thyself"), the famous Greek apophthegm, attributed to various Greek cele- brities, 91, and note.
Gnyphon, or Gniphon, a usurer and miser, instanced by Mikyllus, 252, and note,
Gobares, one of the passengers on Charon's Ferry Boat supplied from a battle, 243.
Golden Apple (of Eris), the, com- mitted by Zeus through Hermes to the care of Paris ; competi- tion of the three Goddesses for, its assignment to Aphrodite, 38, 42-48 ; its first appearance de- scribed by the nvmph Panope, 68.
Golden Fleece, the, dragon of, re- ferred to, 81 note.
Golden Chain (of Zeus), the, Ares ridicules, with Hermes, the threat of Zeus respecting 49-50 and note ; the cynic Cyniskus quotes to Zeus the Homeric account of, 210, 214-215.
Goldsmith, Oliver, his satire on panics caused by u mad-dogs " in the Citizen of the World, 134 note.
Gorgo, a bugbear of the Greek nursery, the infant Hermes so termed by Hephaestus 16 ; noticed by Strabo, 37 note.
Gorgons (sea-monsters, daughters of Phorkys and Keto), the, allu- sion by Aphrodite to, 37 ; the hero Perseus sent by Polydektes against, 81.
Gbtbe, Johann Wolfgang von, his Iphigeneia in Tuuris referred to, 31, 53 notes.
Graces, the, see Charites.
Granikus (a river in N.W. Asia .Minor), the, scene of a great battle between the Macedonians and Persians, Alexander's life saved by Kleitus at, 116 note ; the
victory boasted by Alexander in Hades, 118. Greek Romances, the, prevalence of kidnapping by Greek pirates a constant theme of, 70 note ; violations of tombs frequently noticed in, 207 note.
H.
Hades (or Pluto), the ruling power of the Infernal Regions, reference by Euripides to, 264 note.
Hades (the Infernal Regions), Apollo declares the infant Hermes, to gratify his kleptomunia, ready to descend to, 16 ; Hermes com- plains of his duties in, 55 and note ; interview of Odysseus with Tyro in, 79 note ; Diogenes com- missions Polydeukes to announce on Earth the entire equality in, 86-89 ; no need of military weapons or trophies in, 108 ; Alexander playing the fool in, 122; Menippus descends to, 263- 266, 270, 271-281.
Hadrian (the Roman emperor), his extraordinary affection for Anti- nous, 7, 11 notes ; the " deified Ganymede" of, 231 note.
Halikarnassus (a city of S.W. Asia Minor), the splendid tomb of Mausolus at, 150, and note ; 150- 152.
Halys, the river (flowing through central Asia Minor), the famous oracle relating to, 115, 202, 220.
Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, his dialogue with Alexander of Macedon on the question of pre- cedence, 114-119.
Harmonia, the wife of Kadmus and mother of I no, 74 note.
Hebe, the divinity of youth, sup- planted by Ganymedes as cup- bearer in heaven, 10, 11 ; renews the youth of lolaus, 96 note ; given to Herakles in heaven, 131, and note.
Hekate, the divinity of the infernal world, patroness of witches and spectres, her M supper," 87, and note, 147; invoked, 263, 271, 280 note.
296
INDEX.
Hekatomb, its etymological number of victims often exceeded, 215,
rand note. Helene, the daughter of Priam, offered by Aphrodite to Paris, 46-48 ; sister of the Dioscuri, 59 note ; under the protection of Proteus, 66 note ; in Hades, 136, v and note.
Heliades, the, sisters of Phaethon, 58 note ; the title of a lost drama of ^schylus, 58 note.
Heliodorus ( /Ethiopian or Thea- genes and Charikleia), referred to, 70 note, 88 note, 192 note.
Helios (the Sun-God), the commands of Zeus, to retrain from driving his chariot, conveyed by Hermes to, 21-22; stops his chariot to visit Klvmene, 24; informs He- phaestus of the amour of Aphrodite and Ares, 33; arraigned by Zeus for giving over his chariot to his son, 56-58.
Hellespontus, the straits of that name, why so called, 74.
Helle, the sister of Phrixus, the place for her sepulture disputed by Poseidon and Amphitrite, 74- 75.
Hemerodromus, the Greek courier, 54 and note.
Hemsterhuis, Tiberius, the principal editor of Lucian, quoted or re- ferred to, 7, 11, 24, 34, 55, 75, 79, 98, 101, 115, 117, 120, 132, 151, 156.
Hephaestus (Vulcanus), Hera sar- castically suggests that he is cast off in favour of Ganymedes, 10, 11 ; reports to Apollo the actions of the young Hermes, 15-16 ; assists at the birth of Athena, 17- 18 ; envied by Apollo and Hermes the possession of his beau- tiful wives, 29-30; his revenge on Ares and Aphrodite related by Hermes, 33-34; the artificer of the golden boat of Helios, 56 note ; burns up the river Xanthus, 76- 77 ; his deformities and occu- pation criticized bv Cyniskus, 217.
Hephaestion (a special favourite of
Alexander of Macedon), Philip reproaches his son with his ex- cessive affection for, 126 and note.
Hera (Juno), metamorphoses Io, 5 and note ; upbraids Zeus with his love for Ganymedes, 9-12 ; complains to Zeus of the im- portunities of Ixion, 12-14 ; lays a trap for Semele, 20; incites Herakles to murder his wife, 96 ; disputes with Leto about their respective children, 30-32 ; denounces Bacchus to Zeus, 34- 36', a competitor for the golden apple, 38-45 ; conspires to put Zeus in fetters, 50; her quarrel with her two rivals narrated by Panope, 48; her enmity to Leto, 75 ; inflicts blindness on Teiresias, 160; takes part in a council of the Gods, reproaches Zeus with his infidelities, and taunts him with his fears, 168- 174; incites Athamas to madness, 231 note; her temple-honours to be restored, 236.
Herakles (Hercules), quarrels with Asklepius in heaven, 25-27; his easy life in heaven, 55; sends Iolaus to Sardinia, 96 note ; rivalled by Alexander of Mace- don, 127 ; accidentally slays the Kentaur Cheiron, 128 note ; in Hades, 129; ironically inter- rogated in Hades by Diogenes, 130-133 ; in the general Council of the Gods counsels vigorous measures, 169, 193-194 ; excepted from the criticism of Momus by express wish of Zeus, 230; his posthumous fate compared with that of his master Kurystheus by Momus, 231 ; drags Kerberus from Orcus, 242 note ; his lion's skin adopted by Menippus, 263, 270, 272.
Heramithra, a Tartar prince, 255.
Hermae, busts of Hermes, 202 and note.
Hermagoras, a statuary, 170, 194, 195/
Hermaphrodite, Zeus conjectured by Poseidon to be an, 19 and note.
INDEX.
297
Hermaphroditus (son of Aphrodite and Hermes), the mythical ori- ginal of the foregoing, 19 note, 30, 58, 53.
Hermes (Mercurius), sent by Zeus to deliver lo, 4-5; Ganymedes entrusted to the care of, 9; ex- plains to Poseidon the critical condition of Zeus, 18-20 ; conveys to Helios the orders of Zeus, 21- 22; reports to Apollo the capture of Aphrodite and Ares, 33-31; chaperons the three goddesses to Ida, 38-43 ; cautions A res against too free speech in regard to those in "high places," 49-50; com- plains to his mother of the mul tiplicity of his employments, 54- 66 ; points out to Apollo the two Dioscuri, 58-59 ; reads the in- scription on the golden apple, 68 ; the guardian of lo, 71-72 ; his quarrel with Charon, 93-95; directed by Pluto to bring him certain legacy-hunters, &c, 95- 96 ; strips a number of dead men of their insignia of rank, power, and wealth, 105-111 ; acts as ■cicerone to Menippus in Hades, 135-136 ; metamorphoses Pro- tesilaus, 150 ; urges on the dead, 156; carries off on his shoulders a struggling potentate, 158 ; pro- poses a Council of the Gods, ad- vises Zeus to take Demosthenes for his model, consoles Zeus upon the defeat of their champion, 168-174 ; makes proclamation upon the Homeric model, 175 ; acts as master of the ceremonies, 176-180 ; recommends Demos- thenes' style to Zeus, 181 ; per- forms his duties as herald, 184 ; consoles Zeus upon the defeat of their champion, 208; makes pro- clamation again at a Convention of the Olympian divinities, 227 ; keeps Charon waiting, hands over the way-bill to Klotho, assists to drag the reluctant dead people on board Charon's boat, conducts them to Tisi phone and Rhada- munthys, 237-261.
Hermolaus, a millionaire, 101 ; a
page of Alexander of Macedon, 116.
Hero, a, denned, 93.
Herodotus, of Halikarnassus, the historian, quoted or referred to, 31, 35, 36, 72, 83, 85, 91, 124, 156, 170, 173, 175, 183, 185, 190, 191, 192, 193, 202, 208, 232, 242, 244, 257, 270, 276, 277 notes.
Hesiod ( Theogony and Works and Di/i/.s), quoted or referred to, 1,3, 6, 17, 21, 22, 37, 39, 47, 50, 52, 56, 80, 138, 165, 210, 212, 231, 240, 211, 256, 267, 270.
Hesychius, a Greek lexicographer, referred to, 48, 177, 240 notes.
Hetaera, the, distinguished from the Pome, 44 note.
Hiero, tyrant of Syrakuse, his mag- nificent ship described in Athe- naeus, 109 note.
Hierosubs, temple-robber, frequent mention in Greek literature of, 185 and note.
Hiketides ("Suppliants "), of iEs- chylus, referred to, 5 note.
Himeros (" Desire " personified), an attendant of Aphrodite, 47 and note, 48.
Hipparchia, the wife of Krates, the Cynic, 112 note.
Hippokrates, the Greek physician, recommends hellebore, 123 note.
Holbein, Hans, German painter of the sixteenth century , his Todten- tanz referred to, 254 note.
Homer, Hannibal asserts his igno- rance of, 117 ; his authority dis- regarded by Menippus, 152, 153 ; his authority cited by Aphrodite, 178 ; Zeus proposes to recite, 181 ; Timokles, the Stoic, appeals to, 198 ; his theology ridiculed by Damis, the Epikurean, 199- 200; quoted by Wieland, 209 note ; ironical allusions by Cy- niskus the Cynic to, 212-213 ; inspires Menippus, 265 ; his character of the Olympian deities influences the youthful Cynic, 266 ; his characterization of the Dead, 275.
Homeric Hymns (to Hermes), 37 note ; (to Helios), 56 note.
298
INDEX.
Horatius Flaccus, referred to, 3, 35, 55, 59, 77, 95, 100, 103, 105, 111, 113, 123, 125, 134, 141, 142, 143, 185, 193, 239, 274.
Horae, the, their names according to Hesiod, 21 note.
Horkos (the personified divinity who punishes perjury), 247 and note.
Horns, a syllogistic term in the phraseology of the Stoics, sati- rized by Diogenes, 88 ; illus- trated, 88 note.
Hyakinthus, a handsome Spartan prince, beloved by Apollo, 4; Apollo recounts to Hermes the manner of the death of, 27-28 ; in Hades, 135.
Hydra, the hundred-headed dragon or serpent, its existence objected to Zeus by Momus, 186.
Hj'ginus, the Fabulist, referred to, 1, 32, 51, 74, 78, 80, 154, 231.
Hymenals, the Marriage-divinity, an attendant of Aphrodite, 48.
Hypaspist<e, the body-guard of Alex- ander of Macedon, 112, and note.
Hypereides, an Athenian orator, Counsel for the courtesan Phryne, 255 note.
Hyperion ( " the Sublime Divinity," father of Helios), 56 note.
Hypermnestra, one of the Danaides, 71 note.
Hypnos, the divinity of Slumber, the visit of Hermes to, 22 ; takes part in the Convention of the Gods, 235.
Iamblichus, a neo-Platonist of the third cent, a.d., 6 note ; referred
to, 50. lapetus, a Titan, 3, and note. lapyx, name for W.N.W. wind,
113, and note. Iasion,a hero, beloved by Demeter,
231, and note. Ibis, the, an object of worship,
201. Ichor (the divine blood), flows from
Aphrodite's wound, 185 and
note.
like the English " Fish unscientifically, 73 and
Ichthus, used note.
Ida, Mt., the scene of the rape of Ganymedes, 6, 7, 9, 10; fre- quented by Cybele and her Kory- bantic priests, 24 ; the scene of the Judgment of Paris, 38-48.
Idomeneus, one of the Achaean princes at Ilium, in Hades, 140.
Ideas, a metaphysical term in the Platonic philosophy, contemptu- ously noticed by Menippus, 268.
lkarius, introduces wine-drinking into Attica, his fate instanced by Hera, 36 and note ; the father of Penelope, 51.
Iliad (of Homer), the, quoted, or referred to, 6, 17, 29, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 70, 76, 80, 84, 104, 105, 112, 136, 138, 149, 152, 153, 164, 171, 181, 184, 185, 196, 199, 204, 212, 213, 215, 223, 230, 239, 256, 271 notes.
Ilium (Troja), Odysseus on his re- turn from, 63.
" Immortals," the, a division of the Persian arnay, 122 note.
lnachus, the first king of Argos, father of Io, 4.
" Incorporealities," a philosophic term, 255.
Indians, the, expedition of Dionysus against, 35.
Indopatres, a bellicose Tartar prince, on the point of crossing the Styx, 255.
Ino, wife of Athamas, 231 note.
Io, the Argive princess, conducted by Hermes to Egypt, 4-5 ; her metamorphosis and adventures related by Zephyrus, 71-72.
Iolaus, the nephew and squire of Herakles, 96, and note.
Iole, beloved by Herakles, men- tioned by Propertius, 135 note.
Iphianassa, a Nereid, 80-82.
Iphikrates, an Athenian comman- der, 124 note.
Iris, the Messenger of the Gods, conveys to Poseidon the commands of Zeus respecting the island of Delos, 75-76.
Irus, a Phrygian king, father of
'•;
INDEX.
299
Ganymedes, 55 note ; the name of the beggar of the Odpssev, 276 and note.
Isis, the name of lo as an Egyptian divinity, 5 and note ; customary offerings to, 88 note.
Islands of the Blessed, the, the Good despatched by Minos to, 165 and note ; by Rhadamanthys to, 257, and note.
lsmenodorus, a millionaire, on his way to Orcus, 156.
lsokaltos, equality of beauty in Hades, 152.
lsotimia, equality of honour in Hades, 86, 152.
Issus, the, battle of, between the Persians and Macedonians, 116 and note, 118.
ltaliotes, meaning of, 119 not*.
Ithaka, the island of Odysseus, 43.
Ixion, a king of the Lapithae, Hera complains to Zeus of the im- proper conduct towards her of, 12-14, 111, and note ; his fate in Tartarus witnessed by Menippus, 275. .
J.
Jacobitz, Karl, an editor of Lu- cian, quoted, or referred to, 17, 41, 50, 87, 88, 89, 90, 145, 147, 157, 175, 177, 194, 196, 199, 216, 218, 239, 248.
James, St.. first head of the Christian Church, quoted, 251 note.
Jensius, a commentator on Lucian, quoted, 166, note.
Jewish Scriptures, the, according to the Christian Fathers contain the sources of the pagan Hellenic theology or myth, 58 note.
Jews, the, "scape-goats" of, 90 note.
Joppa (a town on the coast of S.E. Palestine), the bones of the sea- monster killed by Perseus found at, 82 note.
Julian, the Roman Emperor, his satire upon the Christians of An- tioch, 108 ; his Kaisares referred to, 115, 120 notes.
Juno, her vengeance on lo repre- sented by Ovid, 5 not* ; repre-
sented by Seneca upbraiding her husband's infidelities, 13 note.
Jupiter, Wieland's character of, 14 note.
Justin, a Latin historian, referred to, 126 note.
Justinian, the Roman Emperor, re- ferred to, 178 note.
Juvenal, Decimus Junius, the Latin satirist, quoted, or referred to, 5, 11, 72, 95, 115, 120, 123, 140, 141, 146, 175, 177. 180, 182, 201 r 202, 215, 247, 252', 253, 272, 278.
K.
Kadmus, King of Thebes, father of Semele, 20.
Kaisares (" Caesars"), the, a satire of the Emperor Julian, 115, 120 notes.
Kallias, a stepson of Perikles, in- stanced by Damis, 205, and note.
Kallidemides, a parasite, his lamen- tations in Hades, 99-101.
Kallimachus, the Greek poet, re- ferred to, 32, 61, 75.
Kallinikos, an epithet of Herakles, 130, and note.
Kallisto, a nymph beloved by Zeus, 3 note ; mother of Pan, 50, 162 notes.
Kalydonian Hunt, the, 29 note.
Kandus, a Persian dress, 125 note.
Kanephoros, " the basket-carrier," 48 note.
Kanon, the, a piece of sculpture of Polykleitus, 176 note.
Kaphareus, a headland of Euboea, 181, and note.
Kara-Sun, a tributary of the Tigris, 269 note.
Karion, a slave of Megapenthes, 248.
Kassander, a lieutenant of Alexan- der of Macedon, 122 note.
Kastalia, the sacred fountain of the Delphic Parnassus, regretted by Apollo, 191.
Kastor, one of the twin Dioscuri, 58 and note, 59.
Katagraphos ("variegated "), a term used by Plato, 260 note.
Kataplous, the, title of a Dialogue off Lucian, its meaning, 237 note.
-•300
INDEX.
'Katerina di Siena, St., the stigmata of, 257 note.
■Katharmata ("the refuse of a sacri- fice"), special meaning at Athens of, used by St. Paul, 90 note.
Kaukasus, Mt., the scene of the suffering of Prometheus, 1-2.
Kekrops, (mythical) founder of Athens and Athenian legislator, mentioned by Menippus, 277.
Kelensma ("the boat-song"), 253 note.
Keltiberians (of Hispania), sub- dued by Hannibal, 115.
•Kentaurs ("bull-killers"), a half- savage Thessalian people, famous in Greek myth, 128 note, 154 note ; their insolence and violence noticed by Momus, 186.
Kepheus, King of /Ethiopia, father of Andromeda, 80-82.
-Kerameikus {"Potters' Quarter"), a part of the city of Athens, Zeus takes a walk in, 182.
Kerberus, three-headed canine jani- tor of Orcus, his vigilance re- marked by Diogenes, 122 ; one of the " lions " of Hades ; his in- terview with Menippus, 115-146, and notes, 165 ; drugged from his post by Herakles, 242 note ; 260, 270 note, 271 ; the criminals in Tartarus gnawed by, 274, 280.
Kerkyon, a robber-chief, alluded to by Momus, 186, and note.
Kest os (magic girdle of Aphrodite), the, Athena requires her to lay aside, 44 ; description in the Iliad of, 44 note.
Keton, a king, identified by Palae- phatus with the Ketos, 82 note.
Ketos, the, a sea-monster, x\ndro- meda exposed to, 80-82.
Kings, The (Jewish book of), the sacrifices of Solomon narrated in, 215 note.
Kirrha, a port of Phokis, 113 and note.
Kitheeron, Mt., the promontory of, 74; infested with robbers, 156.
Klarus, a town in Lydia, with an oracle of A polio, 31 .
■Kleisthenes, a pupil of Aristotle, put to death by Alexander of
Macedon, 116 note; an Athenian legislator, 236 note.
Kleitus, an intimate friend of Alex- ander, put to death by that king, 116 note ; Alexander taunted by Diogenes with the murder of, 123 ; also, by his father Philip, 125.
Kleomenes, a Spartan king, how made mad, 56 note.
Klisia, the Greek reclining-couch, 54 and note.
Klotho, one of the three Fates, 166 and note, 167, 215, 216, 237-255.
Klymene, beloved by Helios, 24 ; the mother of Phaethon, 57.
Klytoria, beloved by Zeus, com- memorated in the Anthologia, 3 note.
Knemon, a legacy-hunter, relates his disappointment, 101-102.
Kodrus, the last king of Athens, the representative of high birth, 104 and note.
Kokytus, a river of Hades, 139 note.
Kolophon, a town in S.W. Asia Minor, famous for the neighbour- hood of an oracle-temple of Apollo, 191 and note.
Kolossos (of Rhodes), the, puts in a claim for precedence at the Coun- cil of the Gods, 178 ; notice of, 178 note.
Korax ("Crow "), the, a torture for slaves, 273 and note.
Kort, " a young woman," how used, 77 note.
Korybus, an outlandish divinity, ob- jected to by Momus, 232 and note.
Kraneion, a suburb of Korinth, fre- quented by Diogenes, 87 and note.
Krateres (Greek mixing » bowls), 246 and note.
Kraterus, a Macedonian youth, a principal favourite of Alexander, 126.
Krates, the Cynic, 112 and note ; with Diogenes in Hades laughs at the fates of two millionaires, 112-114; philosophizes with An- tisthenes and Diogenes in Hades, 155-159.
INDEX.
301
Kratinus, the Comic poet, and the oracle of Trophonius, 92 note.
Kraton, a rich Sybarite, on board ( haron's boat, 107.
kreon, king of Thebes, father of Megara, 26 note.
Kreophagist trainer, the first, 107 note.
Krete, the island of, scandalous story quoted by Momus respect- ing burial of Zeus in, 226, 230 and note.
Kritias (a pupil of Sokrates, and one of the " Thirty "), orator and author of (lost) dramas, referred to, 101 note.
Kroesus, king ofLydia, complains to Pluto of the jeers of Memppus, 90-91 ; pointed out to the Cynic by /Eakus, 140 ; consults the Del- phic Oracle, 185 note, 202, 214 note ; the fated death of his son, 220.
Kronos (Saturnus), 2 note ; the " good old times " of, 122 ; his Senate, 235.
Kuon ( u the Dog "), frequently used by Lucian for the adjective, 86 and note.
Kydimachus, a prince slain and robbed by Megapenthes, 245
Kynaegeirus, a Marathonian hero, 193 and note.
L.
Labrax ("glutton "), in the Greek Comic poets, 102 and note.
Lacedaemonians, protected by Poly- deukes, 89.
Lachesis, one of the three Fates, 241 note.
Lactantius (Christian rhetorician', triumphs in the mortality of Zeus, 203 note.
Laertes, father of Odysseus, 79 note, 163.
Laius, father of GZdipus, his pro- phetic warning ridiculed by Cy- niskus, 220 and note.
Lakydas, father of the tyrant Mega- penthes, 244.
Lamia, a sort of vampire or spectre of Greek Folklore, mentioned by Strabo, 37 note.
Lampetio, one of the Heliades, 58
note. Lampichus, a tyrant, on Charon's
boat, 106, 107, 111. Lampis, a captain of mercenaries, a
fellow-traveller of Diogenes to
Hades, 158. Lampsakus, a town on the coast of
Mysia, a chief seat of the worship
of Priapus, 53. Lapithae, a people of Thessaly, 12
note. Larvae and Lemures, the Greek
ghosts, 88 note. Latmius, an epithet of Endymion,
derived from Mt. Latmos, 23
note. Learchus, a cousin of Dionysus,
allusion by Momus to, 231 and
note. Lebadeia, a town in Boeotia, famous
for the Oracle of Trophonius, 92
note, 93, 281 and note. Le Clerc, Jean, a commentator on
Lucian, referred to, 41, 69, 154
notes. Leda, wife of Tyndareus king of
Sparta, beloved by Zeus, 3 note ;
the mother of Helene, 46 ; the
mother of the Dioscuri, 55, 59 ;
one of the "lions " of Hades, 135
and note. Legacy-hunters, their servile adu- lation and disappointments, 95-
105, 112-114. Lehmann, Johann Theoph., editor
and commentator of Lucian,
quoted or referred to, 28, 50, 62,
69, 139, 154, 201, 239, 246, 262. Lemnos, an island of the .-Egean,.
the home of Charis, one of the
wives of Hephaestus, 30. Lemures, see Larva;. Leontion, a name of the Greek- courtesan, 248 note. Lerna (a place near Argos), the
scene of the rape of Amymone,
69-71. Lethe (the river of forgetfulness in
the infernal world ),120; Diogenes
advises Alexander of Macedon to
drink from, 123; suggested to
Protesilaus by Pluto, 149 ; the-
(typical) tyrant Megapenthes is=
302
INDEX.
prohibited by Rhadamanthys from drinking of, 238, 261.
Leto (Latona), a mistress of Zeus, disputes with Hera as to the merits of their respective children, 30-32 ; " lies in " on the island of Delos, 75-76 ; an attempted out- rage by Tityus on, 165 note ; Hermes fights with, 199 and note.
Letters of Phalaris, in one of which the tyrant of Agrigentum ex- culpates himself to the Athenians, 167 note.
Livadhia, the modern Lebadeia, 281 vote.
Livius, 1., Latin historian, Annals of Rome, quoted or referred to, 55, 59, 115, 116, 119, 120, 242.
Long hair (worn by men), how variously regarded by the Greeks, 106 note.
Loup de mer, the French name for a species of cormorant, 102 note.
Loves, the, attend the nuptial pomp of Zeus and Europa, 84.
Lucan, Annaeus, Latin poet, his Pharsalia referred to, 232.
Lucretius, T. Carus, Latin poet, his De Rerum Naturd quoted or re- ferred to, 111, 133, 139, 142, 165, 203, 223.
Lupines, a leguminous plant used in the diet of the Cynics, 87, 147.
Lycanthropy (the metamorphosis of men into wolves), opinion of Pausanias upon, 31 note.
Lykaon, a king of Arkadia, father of Kallisto, 162 and note.
Lyceum (gymnasium of the Peripate- tics), the, frequented by Menip- pus, 87 and note.
Lydia, a district of S. W. Asia Minor, one of the conquests of Dionysus, 35.
Lynkeus, one of the Argonauts, famous for his keen sight, allusion by Menippus in Hades to, 160.
Lysimachus, a Macedonian com- mander, the story of Alexander's treatment of, 125-126 note.
Lysippus, laureate sculptor of Alex- auder,177 and note ; his sculpture of Dionysus and Herakles quoted by Hermes, 179.
Lyttelton, Lord, a modern imitator of Lucian, his Dialogue Alexan- der the Great and Charles XII. referred to, 127 note.
M.
Macrobius, Ambrosius (a gram- marian of the Roman Empire), his Saturnalian Feasts referred to, 103, 199, 201, 232.
Mad dogs, reference of Menippus to, 1:34 and note.
Mad donkey, story of a, related by Apuleius, 134 note.
Maeandrius, the secretary of Poly- krates, in the Show, 276 and note.
Maecenas, C. Cilnius, an art-dis- covery in the gardens of, at Rome, 69 note.
Maenads (" Frantic Women "), the attendants of Bacchus, 4.
Maeonides, a name of Homer used by Milton, 160 note.
Maera. a dog attendant on Eri- gone, 36 note ; her introduction into heaven criticised by Momus, 229.
Magi, of Babylon, the, 263, 268.
Maia, one of the Pleiades, mother of Hermes, 15 ; her account of that infant prodigy, 16, 51 ; listens to the complaints of her son and consoles him, 54-56.
Mallus, a town in Cilicia, with an oracle-shrine of Antilochus, 92 note.
Marathon, the battle of, Pan re- warded for his aid to the Athe- nians at, 52 ; pictured on the Stoa Poikile at Athens, 193 and note.
Margherita, St., of Raffaelle, 80 note.
Marsyas (competitor of Apollo on the pipe), defeated and flayed alive by the God, 32.
Martial is, M. Valerius, the Epi- grammatic poet, referred to, 95.
Matthew, St., quoted by Clement of Alexandria as vegetarian in his diet, 269 note.
Mausolus, Persian satrap of Karia, questioned by Diogenes in Hades as to his magnificent tomb, 150- 152, 277.
INDEX.
303
Maximus Tyrius, a Greek rhetori- cian (Dissertations), referred to, 92 note.
Medeia, the Kolchian wife oflason, expresses the unhappy condition of her sex, 161 note.
Mediterranean (Greek Sea par ex- cellence), the, under the guardian- ship of the Nereids, 80 note.
Medusa (the Gorgon), Da Vinci's head of, 37 note ; beheaded by Perseus, 81-82.
Megakles, an aristocratic name at Athens, 217 note.
Megapenthes, a tyrant, a dramatis persona of the Ferry-Boat, 131 note, 2.37, 244-261.
Megara, a wife of Herakles, killed by her husband, 26 note.
Megillus, a bean of Korinth, a mes- sage of Diogenes to, 89.
Meidias, a plutocrat, an enemy of Demosthenes, 205, 221, 222 note.
Melanthus, a parasite, 99.
Meleager, a famous Kalydonian and Argonautic hero, in Hades, 129.
Meletus (or Melitus), the public accuser of Sokrates, 222 and note.
Melite, a beautiful girl commemo- rated in the Anthology, 49.
Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt, worship of the sacred bull at, 232, and note.
Menander (the most famous name in the New Comedv) quoted or referred to, 91, 15<208, 248.
Menelaus (king of Sparta, and hus- handof Helen), preferred as suitor by Helen, 47 and note ; sceptical as to the miracles of Proteus,66- 67; in Hades casts the respon- sibility of the Trojan War on Paris, 137, 244 note.
Menippean Satires (of Varro), the, referred to, 86 note.
Menippus, the Cynic (a frequent dramatis persona in Lucian's Dia- logues), 86 and note; described by Diogenes, 87; jeers in Hades at certain typical princes, 90-91 ; ridicules the Oracles of Tropho- nius, 92-93; on Charon's boat, 105-111 ; derides the fable of Tantalus, 133-134; requests Her-
mes to point out to him the "lions" of the Lower World, 135-136; has ^Eakus as his cicerone in Hades, 139-144; inquires of Kerberus the demeanour of So- krates upon his descent to Hades, 145-146 ; his altercation with Charon, 146-148; umpire between Nireus and Thersites, 152-153; his interview with Cheiron, the Kentaur, 154-155; ridicules the story of Teiresias, 160-162; his descent, in the flesh, to Hades, 266-281.
Menoekeus, King of Thebes, father of Kreon, 277.
Methymna, a city of Lesbos, the birthplace of Arion, 73 and note.
Methuselah, proverbial use of the name of, 109 note.
Metrodorus, the successor of Epi- kurus in the " Garden," his vegetarian diet, 186 and note.
Metoeci, resident-aliens, their posi- tion, 227 and note.
Meursius, Jan, a Dutch archaeolo- gist, referred to, 166 note.
Mezentius, an Etruscan king, father of Lausus, in the JEneis, 153 note.
Micromegas, a romance of Voltaire, referred to, 243 note.
Midas, a wealthy king of Phrygia, in Hades, 90-91, 140; has Diogenes for his neighbour in Hades, 279.
Miltiades, the hero of Marathon, 193.
Milton, John, quoted, 82, 90, 160, 185.
Minos (king of Krete, and Judge in the Infernal Regions), arbiter in the quarrel between Alexander of Macedon and Hannibal in Hades, 114-119 ; reprieves certain brigands from the tortures of Tartarus, 164-167; 211; 223; his special duties, 256 note ; 263 ; 272, 273.
Miser, the, of Fielding, referred to, 252 note.
Misopogon (of the Emperor Julian), the, referred to, 108 note.
Mithras, the Persian Solar divinity,
304
INDEX.
the place of his golden statue among the Olympians puzzles Hermes, 177 ; Momus objects to, 232.
Mithrobarzanes, a Babylonian Magus, 263, 269, 271, 281.
M'uobarbaros, its meaning, 189.
Mnemosyne (the divinity of Memory), beloved by Zeus, 3 note.
Mnesitheus, a sea-captain, his nig- gardly sacrifice, 181-182.
Moerae (the Fates), their superiority to Zeus insinuated by Cymskus, 213-224.
Moerichus, a millionaire, his un- expected death, 112-113.
Moliere, Jean Baptiste Poquelin, an imitator of Plautus, 21, 252 note.
Momus, the public censor of the Olympian Court, his criticism defied by Aphrodite, 39 ; exposes the various causes for the growing contempt for the Celestials, 169, 170, 184-194, 225-234; reads the Decree of the Convention, 234-236.
Month, the Attic, its divisions, 234 note.
More, Sir T., his Utopia indebted to Lucian, 262 note.
Mormo, a spectre of the Greek nursery, noticed by Strabo, 37 note.
Mormolyka, a fuller form of the above, 37 note.
Morta, the Latin name of one of the Parcse, 214 note.
Moschus (pastoral poet of Syra- kuse), his Idylls referred to, 23, 28, 83, 84, 140.
Muller, his Handbuch der Arch'do- logie, referred to, 270.
Musae, the, why unassailed by Eros, 37 ; sing at the nuptials of Thetis and Peleus, 68.
Mykillus, a cobbler, the hero of the Alektryon of Lucian, 250 note ; a candidate for a place in Charon's boat, 250-258.
Mykonos, an island of the ^Egean, 89 note.
Myron, a distinguished Greek
sculptor, his statue preferred by Zeus, 176; his most famous works, 176 note.
Myrtium (a courtesan), a lover cuts his throat from love of, 158.
Mysteries (Eleusinian) the, initia- tion into, desiderated by Momus, 233.
Mytilene, a town of Lesbos, the home of Phaon, 103 note.
N.
Narkissus, a handsome youth be- loved by the nymph Echo, in Hades, 135.
Naulos, ship-passenger-fare, 147 and note.
Nauplia, the Gulf of, a Pelopon- nesian sea, 78 note.
Naxos, an island of the J^gean, the scene of the desertion of Ariadne, 229 note.
Nekropompos, a name or title of Hermes, 55 and note.
Nektar, the drink of the Olympian deities, how symbolized by the Pythagoreans, 5 ; its advancing price noticed by Momus, 226, 235.
Nemea, a town in Argolis, Hermes sent to, 5.
Nephele, the mother of Helle, 74 note, 75.
Nereids, daughters of Nereus, nymphs of the Mediterannean Sea, 65, 68, 80 ; attend the nup- tials of Europa and Zeus, 84.
Nepos, Cornelius (a Latin His- torian), Lives of the Military Com- manders referred to, 115 note.
Nestor, king of Pylos, father of Antilochus, 128; Sokrates in Hades associates with, 278.
New Comedy, the, referred to, 95, 99, 108, 198, 242.
Newman, F. \Y\, Prof., his Iliad of Homer quoted, 112 ; his metre adopted, 171; quoted, 204, 230 note.
Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, in- stanced by Hera, 31 ; her miracu- lous change into stone believed by Pausanias, 31 note.
Nireus, next to Achilleus the hand- somest Achaean at Ilium, 104,
INDEX.
305
105 note; one of the "lions" in Hades, 135 ; disputes with Thersites in Hades, 152-153.
Noce Aldobrandine,& painting of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis so named, 69 note.
Nona, the Latin name of one of the Pares, 214 note.
Notus, the divinity of the S.W. Wind, interrogates Zephyrus as to the fate of Io, 71-72 ; respecting the rape of Europa, 83-85.
Numphagogos, "the bride -con- ductor," 48 note.
Nux, the divinity of Night, father of Momus, acts as registrar to the Convention of the Gods, T35.
Nysa, Bit., in Thrace (or in India), Hermes carries off the infant Bacchus to, 20 and note, 127 note.
O.
Obolus, a Greek coin, 88 and note, 94, 114, 265 and note.
Octopus, or polypus, described by Proteus, 67 and note.
Odysseia, the, quoted or referred to, 33, 34, 35, 63, 66, 67, 78, 79, 89, 112, 117, 131, 135, 160, 163, 165, 171, 223, 231, 240, 244, 258, 262, 263, 265, 271, 272, 276 notes.
Odysseus (Ulysses), the hero of the Odyssey, calls up the ghost of Alkmene in Hades, 22 note ; his trick upon Polyphemus, 63- 64; his visions in Hades, 89 note ; his prudence, 104 ; the speech of Aias to, 112 and note ; the famous speech of Achilleus, in Hades, to, 128, 129; his inter- view with Herakles, in Hades, 131 and note ; evokes the spectres of the Dead, 160 note; his cool reception by Aias in Hades, 163- 164, 249 note ; his reply to his mother's ghost, 265 note ; his credit in the Lower World, 270; his company sought by Sokrates in Hades, 278.
OZbalus, king of Sparta, father of Hyakinthus, 27.
OZta, Mt., in Thessaly, the scene of the self-immolation of Herakles, 26.
Olympia, in Elis, 10 ; a statue of Hermes discovered at, 20, 65, 107 notes.
Olympias, the mother of Alexander of Macedon, her decease, 116 and note.
Olympus, Mt., in Thessaly, the seat of the third dynasty of the Hel- lenic deities, 121 note.
Omphale (a queen of Lydia, mis- tress of Herakles), her treatment of that hero, 26.
Oneiros (or Alektryon), a Dialogue of Lucian, referred to, 250 note.
Onion, the, an object of veneration to the Pelusians, 201.
Oppian, a Greek poet, his Halieutiha referred to, 72 note.
Oracles, Greek temples or shrines for delivery of, 92, 105 notes; those of Apollo criticized by Momus, 169, 190-192 ; ridiculed by the Epikurean Damis, 202 ; by the Cynic Cyniskus, 211, 220, 235.
Orca Marina, the, of Ariosto, 10 note.
Orcus (the Lat. poetic name for Hades), 165,242, 258 notes.
Orestes (of Euripides;, the, paro- died, 172 and note.
Oreum, a town, a temple of Poseidon at, 188.
Orcagna, Andrea, an Italian painter of the fourteenth century, alluded to, 274 note.
Origen, the Christian Father, his es- say Against Celsus referred to, 92 note ; quotes St. Paul, 267 note.
Orlando Furioso, of Ariosto, referred to, 80.
Orcetes, a Persian satrap, a fellow- traveller of Krates to Hades, his reluctance to travel on foot, 156- 158.
Oropus. a town on the borders of Attica, an oracular shrine at, 92 note.
Orpheus, the (legendary) Greek poet, his credit in Hades, 270 and note.
306
INDEX.
Osiris (in the Isis and Osiris of Plu- tarch), referred to, 5 note.
Outis (the pseudonym of Odysseus). Polyphemus complains to Po- seidon of its use by that hero, 6:5-64, 250.
Ovidius Naso, P., referred to, 2, 4, 5, 6, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24,27,28,31,32, 33, 35, 40, 52, 56, 59, 61, 63, 65, 66, 67, 72, 77, 80, 82, 83, 96, 98, 103, 105, 133, 138, 141, 149, 154, 160, 162, 163, 165, 186, 223, 229, 231.
Ox, the, an object of worship at Memphis, 201.
" Ox-murder" ( Bouphtmia), the fes- tival of, a vicarious ceremony at, 166 note.
Oxydrakae (a town and people of the Punjaub ), Alexander of Macedon boasts of his exploit at, 126 and note.
P.
Padus (Pado), the, a river in N. Italy , identified with theEridanus, 58 note ; Hannibal boasts of hav- ing overrun the plains of, 115.
Paeon (or Paean), physician to the Olympian Court, 27 and note.
Palaephatus ( On Incredible Tales), a Greek grammarian, quoted or re- ferred to, 28, 32, 71, 74, 82,83.
Palcestra, the, Helen trained in, 46 and note ; Hermes presides in, 55, 239.
Palamedes, an Achaean hero of the Trojan war, in Hades, 278.
Pallas (Athena), " The Bath of," poem of Kallimachuson, 32 note.
Pamphilus, the hero of the Andria, 29 note.
Pan, the shepherd-divinity, Zeus mistaken by Ganymedes for, 6 ; claims Hermes as his father, 50- 52.
Panathenaic Festival, the, Pyrrhic dance at, 18, 48 notes.
Pandora (the Hellenic Eve, wife of Epimetheus), adorned by the Graces and the rest of the divini- ties, 21 note.
Panhellenic Games, the, training of athletes for, 107 note.
Pannuchides (Lat Pei°vigilia), "vi- gils," 183 and note.
Panope, a Nereid, relates the ri- valry of the Goddesses for the prize of beauty, 68-69.
Panurge a principal character in the Gargantua and Pantagruel, •262 note.
Parcae, the, their names, 214.
Paris, son of Priam, king of Ilium, arbiter of the heauty of the three Goddesses, 38-18 ; allusion in the Anthology to, 49 note ; appointed judge by Zeus, 68; Quintilian's allusion to, 136 note ; deprecates, in Hades, responsibility for the war of Ilium, 138.
Parmenion, a Macedonian com- mander, a victim of the jealousy of Alexander, 116 note.
Parthenius, a mountain on the bor- ders of Arkadia, 51 and note.
Parthenon ("temple of the Vir- gin "), the, on the Athenian Akropolis, the sculptures of, 18 note.
Paul, St., his Epistles quoted or re- ferred to, 90, 257, 272.
Pausanias, the Greek traveller and archaeologist (Itinerurp of Hellas), quoted or referred to, 6, 18, 20, 23, 27, 31, 32, 35, 47, 52, 59, 72, 74, 77, 82, 89, 92, 107, 176, 194, 201, 214, 233, 243.
Peirithous, king of the Lapithae, 2, 13; with Iheseus carries off Helen to Athens, 46-47.
Peisistratus, tyrant (tprannus) of Athens, a rival of Megakles, 245, 261 note.
Peleus, king of the (Thessalian) Myrmidones, his marriage with Thetis, 68, 80 note, 128.
Pella, the capital of Macedon, the birthplace of Alexander, 126 note.
Pelta, a kind of shield, 124.
Penelope, wife of Odysseus, said to have been the mother of Pan, 50 note, 51.
Pentele, an Attic deme, the marble of, 178.
Pentelikus, Mt, its derivation from the above, 178 note.
Pentheus, king of Thebes, hisoppo-
INDEX.
307
sition to the worship of Bacchus, 35-36 notes.
Pentekonteros, a Greek "man-of- war," 199 and note.
Pentekosiomedimnoi, a class of Athe- nian citizens, 178 note.
Pevlos, the, a dress of Greek ladies, 8-1 and note.
Perdikkas, a Macedonian general, receives a ring from Alexander, 191 and note ; 157 note.
Periander, tyrannus of Korinth, a patron of Arion, 73; one of the Seven Sages, 142 note.
Perikles, the distinguished Athenian statesman, his funeral oration quoted, 174, 221 notes.
Persephone, queen of Hades, inter- cedes for Protesilaus, 148, 150.
Perseus, the son of Danae, his ex- posure related by Thetis, 77-78 ; his rescue of Andromeda related by a Triton, 80-82.
Persius Flaccus, Latin Stoic satirist, referred to, 88, 123 notes.
Pervigilium Veneris ("the Vigil of Venus "), an anonymous Latin poem, 184 note.
Petronius Arbiter, his Satyricon re- ferred to, 87.
Phaedrus, a pupil of Sokrates (who gives his name to a Dialogue of Plato), attends Sokrates in Hades, 144 and nott.
Phaon, of Mytilene, carries Aphro- dite in his boat, 103; loved by Sappho, 103 note.
Phcedon, the, of Plato, one source of the Christian Inferno, 139 note ; referred to, 258.
Phaethon ("the Brilliant One"), son of Helios, precipitated from his father's chariot, 56-58.
Phaethusa, one of three sisters of Phaethon, 58 note.
Phalaris (Prince of Agrigentum), allusion to the forged Letters of j 167 note.
Phataris, Bentley's, referred to, 203 note.
Phales (unknown object of worship among the people of Cyllene), noticed by Damis, 201 and note.
Pheidias (the most distinguished
name in Hellenic Art), the Zeus of, 10 ; his use of enamel, &c, 44 note ; instanced by Hermes, 176.
Pheidon, a legacy-hunter, 99.
Phersephatte (or Persephone), Queen of the Under- World, in love with Adonis, 23 and note.
Philenium, the name of a Greek courtesan, 248 note.
Philip (of Macedon), father of Alex- ander, 115, 120; in Hades ridi- cules his son for his absurd pre- tensions, and questions the great- ness of his achievements, 124, 127, 181, 221 note, 278.
Philocomasium, the name of a Greek courtesan, 248 note.
Philomela (an Athenian princess, outraged by Tereus), the miracle of her metamorphosis instanced by Teiresias, 162 and note.
Philonides, an interlocutor of Me- nippus, 262, 264-281.
Philostrate I'Ancien, a French ver- sion of the Eikones of Hhilostratus, referred to, 19 note.
Philotas, son of Parmenion, put to death by Alexander of Macedon, 116 note.
Phineus, a Thracian king and pro- phet, 160 and note.
Philostratus, Flavius, a Greek writer, his Eikones " Pictures " re- ferred to, 19, 21, 27, 61, 69, 72, 76, 81; his Life ofApollonius,85, 92.
Phoebe, the name of one of the sisters of Phaethon, 58 note.
Phcenix, a tutor of Achilleus, 128 and note.
Phokion, an Athenian statesman, his fate instanced by Damis the Epikurean, 205 and note ; by Cyniskus the Cynic, 221.
Phratria, an Athenian municipal term, 236 and note.
Phrixus, the brother of Helle, 74 and note.
Phronesium, a name of Greek cour- tesans, 248 note.
Phryne, a celebrated hettera or cour- tesan, the original of the " Aphro- dite rising from the sea,' her dialogue with Alexander, 127
308
INDEX-
note ; the original of the Knidian Aphrodite, 178 note.
Pindar, the lyric poet, quoted or referred to, 17, 80, 165, 193.
Pilos (Lat. Pileus), a Greek hat, 270 and note.
Pittakus, tyrannus of Mytilene, one of the u Seven Sages," in Hades, 142.
Pityokamptes, a Greek brigand, 186, and note.
Pitys, a nymph loved by Pan, 52 and note.
Plato, referred to, 3, 17, 19, 33, 35, 36, 49, 91, 103, 122, 139, ( quoted ) 145, 153, 183, 199, 218, 249, 255, 256, 260, 267, 269, 274.
Plautus, T. Maccius, the Latin comic dramatist, referred to, 6, 21, 123, 252, 273.
Plinius (the elder), his Natural His- tory referred to, 47, 69, 72, 82, 85, 89^ 123, 150,176,178,193, 232, 269.
Plinius (the younger), on dolphins, 72.
Plutarch, the Greek Biographer and Moralist, quoted or referred to, 5, 18, 36, 67, 87, 89, 92, 108, 115, 116, 117, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125, 126, 140, 143, 185, 186, 200, 205, 221, 222, 274.
Pluto, the monarch of the Under- World, cheated by Asklepius, 26 note ; employs Hermes, 55 ; Kroesus, in Hades, appeals to, 90- 91 ; gives a commission to Her- mes, 95-96 ; accused by a parasite in Hades, 97-99 ; petitioned by Protesilaus, 148-150 ; Hermes ex- pects a scolding from, 239, 270 mate, 271.
Pnyx, the, a famous hill in Athens, 179 and note.
Poinie, (in Hellenic theology the " avenging" divinities), 271, 272 note.
Politeuesthai, the meaning of the verb, 187 note.
Pollux, a Greek grammarian, his Onomastikon referred to, 235 note.
Polus, a Greek tragedian, 173 and note; 200.
Polydamas, a Greek . athlete, 233 and note.
Polydektes, king of Seriphos, pro- tector of Danae and Perseus, 81 and note.
Polydeukes, one of the twin Dios- curi, rescues his sister Helen, 47 note, 55 ; Apollo is unable to dis- tinguish him from Kastor, 59 and note ; commissioned by Diogenes in Hades, 86-89.
Polydipsia*, Homeric epithet of the city Argos, 70 and note.
Polydorus, a millionaire, 100 ; in Euripides, 264.
Polygnotus, a Greek painter, adorns the Painted Stoa, 182 note.
Polykleitus, Greek sculptor, his works, 176 and note.
Polykrates, tyrannus of Samos, crucified by Oruetes, 156 note, 276 and note,
Polyphemus, one of the Cyklopes, the lover of Galateia, ridiculed by the nymph Doris, 61-63 ; com- plains to Poseidon of his treat- ment by Odysseus, 63-65.
Polypus, see Octopus.
Polystratus, a centenarian plutocrat, relates in Hades the adulation en- joyed by him on earth, and how he had tricked his flatterers, 102-104.
Pompeii, ihe buried city of Cam- pania, a mosaic of the battle of Issus found at, 116 note.
Popana, sacrificial offering to the dead, 240 and note.
Porphyry, the great Xeo-Platonist, his life of Pythagoras referred to, 141 note ; On Abstinence from Flesh-Meats, 166, 215 notes.
Porson, Richard, Prof, of Greek at Cambridge, his Adversaria re- ferred to, 139 note.
Portraits of Greek and Roman princes, their abundance, 247 and note.
Porus, a Hindu Prince, Alexander boasts his defeat of, 118.
Poseidon, the ruler of the sea, 15 ; Hermes refused admission to Zeus by, 18-20; conspires against Zeus, 50 ; deputes his functions to the Dioscuri, 60 ; father of Polyphe- mus, 61 ; hears from him his ac- count of the loss of his eye, and
INDEX.
309
the stratagem of Odysseus, 63-65; commanded by Zeus to keep the island of Uelos stationary, 75-76 ; reproached by Enipeus with the seduction of the nymph Tyro, 78- 79; at the nuptials ot Europaand Zeus, 84; claims precedence of Anubis in the Council of the Gods, 177 ; gives his advice in the Council, 187-188 ; acts as vice- president in the Convention, 235.
Pothos (as a divinity), the attendant of Aphrodite, 47-48.
Potidaea, a town in JVIacedon, So- krates saves the life of Alkibiades at, 108 note.
Praxinoa,an Alexandrian lady,in the Adoniazus<e of Theokritus,37 note.
Praxiteles, Greek sculptor, a famous statue of Hermes by, 24 note ; the Knidian Aphrodite of, 178 and note.
Priam, king- of Ilium, the father of Paris, .'38 ; admires the beauty of Helen from the walls of Ilium, 136 note, 277.
Priapus (the personification of Na- tural Fertility), son of Aphrodite and Dionysus, his character ex- posed by Dionysus, 53-54.
Probouleuma, a resolution of the Athenian Boule (Senate),236 note.
Probus, /Emilius, a Latin writer, divides with Nepos the credit of the authorship of the Lives of Eminent Commanders, 115 note.
Proetus, the uncle of Danae, 77 note.
Progastores, "fat paunches," 272 and note.
Prokrustes, a Greek brigand of pro- verbial fame, 164 note.
Prokyon, the dog Maera transferred to the skies, 229 note.
Prometheus, the Titan, petitions Zeus to free him from his tortures, 1-3 ; his crucifixion reproached to Zeus by the cynic Cyniskus, 21?.
Pronoia, term in the Stoic termi- nology for" Providence," 218 and note.
Propertius, Aurelius, Latin elegiac poet, referred to, 105 note ; quoted, 135 note.
Prote, a young girl, an epigram in the Anthology on, 165 note.
Protesilaus (a fhessalian prince, the first of the Greeks killed by the Trojans), assaults Helen and Paris in Hades, 137-138; peti- tions Pluto for leave to visit his newly-married wife, 148-158.
Proteus, the Sea-divinity, his inter- view with Menelaus, 66, 67.
Protonos, the, part of the rigging of a Greek ship, 205 and note.
Providence, the Epikurean and Stoic representatives dispute ths question of, 196-208 ; Cyniskus cross-examines Zeus upon, 211, 221-224.
Prusias, king of Bithynia, Hannibal dies in exile at the court of, 118.
Psephisma, the English " Act," 236 note.
Psephophoria, "balloting," 236 note.
Psyche (of Apuleius), the, referred to, 9 note ; her descent to the In- fernal regions, 146 note, 229, 242.
Psychagogos, a title of Hermes, 55 and note.
Ptolemseus, Philopator, (Greek) king of Egypt, his extraordinary ship, 109 note.
Ptolemaeus, Soter, at war with Per- dikkas, 121 note.
Ptolemaeus, the celebrated Greek astronomer and geographer, his Geographical Description referred to, 255 note.
Punica Fides, a Roman proverb, 118 note.
Pyriphlegethon, an infernal river or lake, 139 and note ; Minos con- demns a criminal to be cast into, 164, 238, 260; 271.
Pyrrhias (Lat. Rufus), the name of a slave, 276 note.
Pyrrhic dance, Athena at her birth dances the, 18 and note.
Pyrrho, of Elis, the founder of Pyrrhonism or Scepticism, 144 note.
Pyrrhus, king of Epeirus, pro- nounced by Hannibal to be second in the military art, 119 note.
i2
310
INDEX.
Pythagoras (of Samos), the apoph- thegm" Kno wThy self ' ' attributed to, 91 note ; an interview of Me- nippus in Hades with, 141 and note ; 232 note.
Pythagoreans, the, allegorize the ambrosia and nektar ol the Celes- tials, 9 note.
Queen of Heaven, the, Homeric epithets of, 43 note.
Quevedo Villegas, Francisco da, a Spanish satirist, his indebtedness to the Menippus in his Visions of the Inferno, 262.
Quintilian, M. Fabius, the distin- guished Latin rhetorician and grammarian, his Oratorical Insti- tutions quoted, on the ambiguities of "horns " and " crocodiles," 88 note, on the singular beauty of Helen, 136 note ; his allusion to the device of Hypereides in re- gard to Phryne referred to, 255 note.
R.
Rabelais, Francois, his Gargantua and Pantagruel referred to, 262 ; quoted, 278.
Raffaelle, Sanzio da Urbino, his Santa Margherita referred to, 80 note.
Recueil des Peintures Antiques, par Pietro Bartoli, referred to, 69 note.
Regal titles, Plutarch's animadver- sion upon, 121 note.
Reitz, Friedrich Wolfgang, a Ger- man philologist and commentator on Lucian, referred to, 182 note.
Rhadamanthys (son of Zeus and Europa, and brother of Minos, one of the Judges in the Under- World ),determines the respective military merits of Alexander of Macedon and Hannibal in the Islands of the Blessed, 119 note ; Thfrsites brings an action for slander against Homer in the same Elysium, 152 note ; judges a number of ghosts brought by Hermes, 238,256-261 ; Menippus
finds him in a state of panic, 272, 280.
Rhodanus (Rhone), the river, identified by -Eschylus with the Eridanus, 58 note.
Rhea (or Cybele), wife of Kronos, the fidelity of her husband con- trasted with the conduct of Zeus, 22 ; her love in old age for Atys instanced by Aphrodite, 24-25; the victim of Eros, 36.
Rhodokleia, a beauty commemorated in the Anthology, 49 note.
Rhodope, another beauty in the Anthology, 49.
Richard 1. of England, the combat of Lysimachus with a lion com- pared to the similar fable respect- ing, 125 note.
Roxana, a Baktriau princess, Alex- ander's marriage with her criti- cized by his father, Philip of Macedon, 126 and note.
Rufia, the modern name of the river Alpheius, 65 note.
S.
Sabazius, a Phrygian divinity, de- nounced by Momus, 232 and note.
Salamis (the Attic island), the famous oracle respecting, 185 and note.
Salmacis (a Naiad) and Herma- phroditus, the story of, 19 note.
Sappho (the Lesbian poetess) in love with Phaon, the Ovidian letter of, 103 note.
Saracens, the, break up the pros- trate Kolossus of Rhodes, 178 note.
Sardanapalus, king of Assyria, in Hades joins with other kings in a complaint to Pluto, 90-91 ; one of the " lions "of the infernal regions, 140; instanced by Da- mis, 205 ; by Cyniskus, 222.
Satan, Milton's, his huge size, 275 note.
Satyrs, the, attendants of Pan, their figure criticized by Momus, 229.
Satyrus, a Comic actor, 200 and note ; a plebeian mentioned by Menippus, 277.
INDEX.
311
Scape-goat, the, vicarious use among the Jews of, 90 note.
Scipio Africanus, P. Cornelius, the Roman conqueror of Hannibal, claims precedence of the Cartha- ginian, but acknowledges his in- feriority to Alexander of Mace- don, 114, 119, and note; claims a serpentine origin, 120 note.
Seirius, in the constellation ofCanis Major, a canine deification, 145 note.
Selene (Luna), the Moon-Di- vinity, charged by Aphrodite with her love for Endymion, 22- 23.
Semele, aTheban princess, daughter of Kadmus, loved by Zeus, 3 note ; Zeus charges himself with the concealment of her infant, Bacchus, 19 and note ; her terri- ble fate, 20 ; Hera's jealousy of, 36, 55, 172.
Semiramis (the warrior queen of Assyria, wife of Ninus), the dove sacred to, 201 note.
Seneca, M. Annaeus (the most dis- tinguished of the Latin moralists), his tragedy Hercules Furens, quoted, 13; referred to, 22, 27; his character of Alexander of Macedon, 117 note ; on human insignificance, 129 note ; on the frugal diet of the successor of Epikurus, 187 note, 218.
Seres, the Greek and Latin name for the Chinese and neighbouring peoples, 255 note.
Serpent, the, a prodigious one in the Thebais, 81 note ; Olympias, and the mother of Scipio, visited by, 120 and note.
" Seven Sages," the, 142 note.
u Seven Wonders of the World," the, Apollo's statue at Rhodes one of the, 178 note.
Shadows (of the Dead), the, ac- cusers to Minos of the cruel and wicked, 273 and note.
Shakespere, William, the Titus indronicus referred to, 162 note ; his Heriry IV. quoted, 278 note.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, his descrip-
tion of the Niobe(in Letters from I ta /y) referred to, 31 ; his version of the Hymn to Mercury referred to, 36.
Ships, the huge, built by Hiero of Syrakuse, and by the Ptolemies of Egypt, noticed, 109 note.
Sidon, on the Syrian coast, a com- mission of Hermes to, 55.
Sikyon, a city near Korinth, a ship- wreck near to, 113.
Silenus (a Satyr, and companion of Bacchus ),the divinity of drunken- ness, criticized by Momus, 229 and note.
Simmiche, a Greek courtesan, 255 and note.
Simylus, an interlocutor with Poly- stratus (a plutocrat), in Hades, 102-104.
Sisyphus, a king of Korinth, his punishment in Tartarus, 223 and note.
Skeironian Rocks (in the Gulf of iEgina), the scene of lno's marine deification, 72.
Skopas, a distinguished Greek sculptor, his representation of Eros, Himeros, and Pothos, at- tendants of Aphrodite, 47 note.
Slaves (with the Greeks), their treatment, 56, 104.
Sogdiana (Bokhara), a province of the Persian Empire, Roxana cap- tured in, 126 note.
Sokrates (the philosopher), saves the life of Alkibiades, 108 note ; interrogated in Hades by Menip- pus,143-144 ; Menippus questions Kerberus as to his behaviour upon his first arrival in Hades, 145-146 ; his rationalistic expla- nation of thunder, 203 note ; his death instanced by Damis, 205 and note ; reproached to Zeus by Cyniskus, 222 ; accuses the So- phists, 268 note ; perambulates Hades, cross-examining, &c, 278 and note.
Solinus, a Greek compiler of Geo- graphy anil History, his Poluhistor referred to, 82 note.
Solon (the Athenian legislator), in Hades pointed out to Menippus,
312
INDEX.
141 ; one of the " Seven Sages," 142 note.
Sophokles, his lost drama Rizotomos a satire on the Medical world, 26 note; referred to, 142, 163, 173.
Sostratus, a brigand, obtains reprieve from the sentence of Minos by alleging Predestination and Ne- cessity, 164-167.
Spannheim, Ezekiel, his Use of Medaii referred to, 177 note.
Spenser, Edmund, see Faerie Queen.
Stateira (a Persian princess, daugh- ter of Dareius), married by Alex- ander, murdered by Roxana, 126 note.
Statius, Papinius, a Latin poet, his Thebais referred to, 4, 18, 81, 165 notes.
Stackelberg, his Die Gr'uber der Hellenen referred to, 146 note.
Stele (Lat. Cippus), 277 and note.
Stigmata, u brand-marks," 257 and note.
Stoa Pcekile ("Painted Porch"), the, a philosophical combat at- tended by Zeus at, 182 and note ; Herakles offers to pull down, 193, 194 note, 196.
Stoics, the, their idea of " Provi- dence," 218 note.
Strabo (the Greek geographer), his Geographical Facts referred to, 5, 37, 38, 56, 69, 70, 78, 89, 123, 142, 177, 201.
Struldbrugs, the, of Luggnagg, allu- ded to, 100 note.
Styx ("the Hateful River"), the, an infernal stream, the passage- fare of, fc9 note ; 93,105, 139; the most solemn oath of thelmmortals, 235, 272.
Suetonius Tranquillus, the Roman Historian, his Lives of the Twelve Cctsars referred to, 215, 234, 259.
Suidas, a Greek lexicographer, re- ferred to, 7, 88, 156, 206, 228, 240.
Sulla, L. Cornelius (the Roman Dic- tator), his occupation in Hades, 278.
SummumBonum ("Highest Good"), the, of Aristotle, that philoso-
pher reproached by Alexander of Macedon for his idea of, 123 ; Plato's and Cicero's, 122 note.
Sunoikia, a batch of lodging-house*;, 251 and note.
Swift, Jonathan, his Voyage to Lilliput referred to, 243.
Swinburne, Algernon, his Atalanta in Kalpdon referred to, 200 note.
Stymphalian birds (of the Ar- kadian lake Stymphalis), killed or expelled by Herakles, the exploit instanced by Momus, 186.
T.
Tacitus, Cornelius, historian of the early Roman Empire (Hist. and Annals), referred to, 247, 273 notes.
Taenia, the Persian and Greek, 122 and note.
Taj-Mahal ( " Crown of Empires "), at Agra, the splendid tomb built by Shah Jehan, 150 note.
Taenarum (C. Matapan), promon- tory of S. E. Peloponnese, a dol- phin carries Arion to, 23.
Tantalus (king of Lydia, father of Pelops and Niobe), the story of his punishment in Tartarus de- rided by Menippus, 133-134 ; by Cyniskus, 222.
Tartarus (the "Hell" of the Helle- nic theology), Eros threatened by Athena with, 37 ; Tityus in, 165 note ; Kronos, the father of Zeus, confined in, 217 ; Sisyphus in, 223 note ; rebel divinities threatened with, 227 ; the tyrant Megapen- thes in, 238, 260,' 261 ; the sights of, 271-280.
Taurus ( a certain king), supposed by Palzephatus to have been the ac- tual ravisher of Europa, 83 note.
Taygetus, Mt., in Lakonia, 28.
Tegea,atown of Arkadia, frequented by Pan, 51 .
Teiresias, the blind Theban prophet, his alleged double life (of either sex) ridiculed by Menippus, 160- 162, 163.
Teleioi, the, term used of the Gods, 184; of Athenian citizens,184 note.
INDEX.
313
Tennyson, Lord, his (Enone referred to, 40 note.
Terentius Afer, P. (the Latin Comic poet), his Andria quoted, 20 note ; referred to, 44, 70, 89, 242.
Terpsion, a legacv-hunter, his com- plaint to Pluto", 97-99.
Tertullian, Q. Septimius Flavius (a Christian Father), his remark on the Pagan oracles ( Apologia), quo- ted, 233 note.
Tetriguiai (of ghosts), "squeaking" or *• squealing," 272 and note.
Thalassa (the divinity of the Sea), appeal by the river Xanthus to, 76-77.
Thales ( of Miletus, originator of the Nebular Hypothesis), the proverb " Know thyself "attributed to, 91 note ; one of the "lions" of Hades, 142.
Thamyris (a Thracian poet), one of the blind prophets enumerated by Milton, 160 note.
Thanatos, death personified in the Alkestis of Euripides, 97 note.
Thasos (an island of the ^Egean), a statue of a famous athlete in, 233 and note.
Theagenes, a famous athlete in- stanced by Momus, 233.
Theagenes and Charicleia (or the JEthiopiea), the romance of Helio- dorus, referred to, 6, 192 notes.
Thebes, chief city of Boeotia, its total destruction boasted by Alexander of Macedon, 118.
Themis (the divinity of Law or Custom), the mother of the Horae, 21 note.
Themistokles (Athenian statesman and commander), his divining faculty, 193 and note.
Theognis, the Greek Gnomic poet, referred to, 173, 212 note.
Theokritus (pastoral or "buco- lic " poet of Syrakuse and Alex- andveia), his Idylls referred to, 6, 23, 32, 37, 58, 61.
Theophrastus ( successor of Aristotle in the Lyceum), his Characteres referred to, 208, 2o2 notes.
Thersites (the deformed "dema- gogue " of the Iliad), disputes
in Hades with Nereus, 152-153, J76.
Theseus (Athenian king and legis- lator), carries off Helen, 46 ; his useful intervention noticed by Momus, 186.
Thetes, a class of Athenian citizens, 178 note.
Thetis, a Nereid (wife of Peleus and mother of Achilleus), picture of the nuptials of, 69 note ; relates the story of Danae's exposure, 77- 78 ; blamed by Agamemnon, 163 ; the obligations of Zeus to, 199.
Thirty Tyrants, the, 243.
Thracian horses (of Diomedes),the, tamed by Herakles, 186.
Thucydides (Greek historian), quoted or referred to, 174 note, 175, 194, 208, 234?
Thukritus, amillionaire, disappoints the legacy-hunters, 97-99.
Tiara, a Persian head-dress, affected by Alexander, 125.
Tibullus, Albius, Latin Elegiac poet, referred to, 269 note.
Tigris, the river, Menippus bathes in, 269.
Timokles, a Stoic champion of the Gods, his contest with Damis the Epikurean, 168, 170, 196- 208.
Tisiphone (one of the Erinyes), 256 note ; charged by Hermes to urge on the tyrant Megapenthes, 258.
Tithonus (brother of Priam, ob- tains immortality without the gift of perpetual youth), prover- bial for age, 100 and note.
Titus Andronicus, a Shakesperian drama, referred to, 162 note.
Tityus (a Titan) offers violence tc the Goddess Leto, his tortures in Tartarus, 111 note, 165, 275.
Timolus, Mt., in Lydia, its inhabi- tants led captive by Bacchus, 35.
Toicharchus, an officer of the Greek ship, 206, and note.
Tristram Shandu, of Sterne, referred to, 143 note.
Triton (son of Poseidon), assists his father in carrying off the nymph Amymone, 69-71.
314
INDEX.
Tritons (Sea-divinities), the, Pau- sanias hesitates to believe in their shell-trumpets, 31 note; attend the nuptial -procession of Europa, 84.
Troad, the, Helle buried by the Nereids in, 74-75.
Trophonius, his Cave-Oracle (in Boeotia) derided by Menippus, 92-9.') and note.
Tumboruchos ("a tomb digger"), a plunderer of rich tombs, 207 and note.
Tyro ( a virgin loved by the river-god Enipeus), Enipeus reproaches Poseidon with the violation of, 78-79.
Tyre (chief Phoenician city and port of Syria), Alexander of Ma- cedon boasts his exploits at, 118.
u.
Una, the heroine of the Faerie Queen,
allusion to, 62 note. Uranus (the sky or heaven), father
of Iapetus, 3. Utopia, the, of Sir Thomas More,
indebted to Lucian, 262.
Vacuums, a scientific term used in the philosophical schools, 268.
Valerius Maximus (a Latin histori- cal compiler), in his Memorable Actions and Sauings allows some virtue to Hannibal, 117 note.
Varro, Terentius (Latin Anti- quarian), his Menippean Satires referred to, 86 note.
Venus Aurea, the " Golden Venus " of the JEneid, 104 note.
Veronese, Paolo (of the School of Venice), his Rape of Europa (a sketch of the Vienna picture in the British National Gallery) re- ferred to, 85 note.
Vinci, Leonardo da (of the Schools of Florence and Milan), his Head of Medusa referred to, 37 note.
Virgilius Maro, P., his Eclogues re- ferred to, 6 ; JEneis, 35, 38, 43, 50, 55, 61, 66, 72, 104, 113, 139, 153, 165, 239, 256, 258, 271.
Virtue, the Hill of, in the metaphor
of the Stoics, 262; represented in
the Picture ofKebes,%66,267 note. Visions of Hell, Quevedo's, indebted
to Lucian, 262 note. Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouetde,
his Micromegas and other romans
referred to, 243 note. Votive tablets, in the temples of
I sis, 88 note. Voyage to Lilliput, the, of Swift,
referred to, 243 note.
W.
War, its ridiculousness exposed in particular by Voltaire and by Swift, 243 note.
Warburton, Bp., his Divine Legation of Moses referred to, 279 note.
Water, an object of veneration to the Egyptians, 201.
Wieland, Christopher Martin (Ger- man Poet and Essayist), transla- tor and editor of Lucian, quoted or referred to, 1, 7, 15, 38, 43, 44, 46, 94, 110, 171, 172, 175, 176, 181. 184, 187, 190, 192, 194, 195, 20b, 20i}, 213, 218, 220, 231, 240, 254, ^66, 273 notes.
X.
Xanthias (a slave attendant on Bacchus on his descent to the Under- World), his name for the river of Oblivion, 239 note ; his independence of Charon's boat, 253 note.
Xanthus (in the Troad), the river, supplicates the aid of Thalassa after his treatment by Hephaestus, 76-77.
Xenophon (Greek historian and essayist), referred to, 84, 122, 124, 145, 205, 221, 274.
Xerxes, king of Persia, one of the "lions" of Hades, insulted by Menippus, 141 and note ; his oc- cupation in Hades, according to Lucian and to Rabelais, 276 and note.
Xunegoros, u an associate-advocate," suggested by Apollo as an aid to Timokles, 190 and note.
INDEX.
- i;>
z.
Zaraa (a city of North Africa), the scene of the great victory over the Carthaginians by the Romans, 117 note.
Zamolxis (a manumitted Thracian slave of Pythagoras), held in high honour as a prophet in Thrace, 201 and note.
Zeno, the founder of the Stoic sect, the syllogisms of his School ridi- culed, 88 and note.
Zenophantes, a parasite, laments with his friend the sudden ter- mination of his scheme, 99-101.
Zephyrus (the divinity of the West Wind), punished by Apollo for his part in the death of Hya- kinthus, 28 ; relates the metamor- phosis and adventures of Io, 71- 72 ; describes the nuptial pro- cession of Europa and Zeus, 83-85.
Zethus, son of Antiope, and brother of Amphion, 172 note.
Zeugeitae, a class of Athenian citi- zens, 178 note.
Zeus (Jupiter ), his interview with Prometheus, 1-3; his objurga- tion of Eros, 5-6 ; his commis- sion to Hermes respecting Io, 6- 7 ; instructs Ganymedes as to his duties as cup-bearer, 7-12; re- proached by Hera for his prefe- rence for his new favourite, 12-16 ; listens to the complaints of Hera of the insolence of Ixion, 16-22 ; calls in the aid of Hephasstus at the birth of Athena, 17-18; his
delicate situation as reported | )V Hermes, 18-20; his 0OUUBM Helios, fl-SS; defends the cha- racter of Bacchus from thed of Hern, 54-JJ9 ; subdued by Eros, S6 ; despatches Hermes with the
three rival Qoddesssi to Paris,
38; his mestSffei to Ida, 11 ; his threat about the Golden Chain ridiculed by Ares, 49-50; his ex- acting disposition complained of by Hermes, 54-55; accuses Helios of rashness, 56-58; interposes be- tween the three rival Goddi 68 : sends Iris to command Posei- don to fix the island of Delos,76- 75 ; his rape of Europa narrated by Zephyrus, 83-8.i ; grants to Eos immortality for Tithonus, 160 note ; claimed by Alexander of Macedon as his father, 127; appoints Teiresias arbiter, 160; summons a Council to consider the critical state of celestial affairs, 168-208 ; his alleged tomb in Krete, 203 ; cross-examined by the Cynic Cyniskus, 209-2 1 1 : summons a Convention of the Gods to pacify the growing dis- content of the Celestials, 225- 236.
Zoological Collection, the, of Aris- totie, 122 note.
Zopyrus, a Persian noble, the story of, 208 note.
Zoroaster (the Persian Zerdusht, founder of the Magian religion ), his followers consulted by Me- nippus, 268.
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