Chiliades

or

Book of Histories
By

John Tzetzes

Book I by Ana Untia http://gr.iinkedin.com/pub/ana-untia/9a/505/679 ]

Books II-IV by Gary Berkowitz

Books V-VI by Konstantnos amiots

Books VII-VIII by Vasiiiki Dogani https://www.iinkedin.com/in/aaso-dogani-s82995assa ]

Books IX-X by Jonathan Aiexander

Book XI by Muhammad Syarif Fadhiurrahman https://www.iinkedin.com/in/muhammad-syarif-

fadhiurrahman-8979asssb ]

Book XII-XIII by Nikoiaos Giaiiousis

Sponsored by http://mitoiogia.biogs.sapo.pt/

(Last Edited 05-02-2018)

This text was transiated from the originai Greek of T. Kiessiing's editon of s8296, as part of a project to
make aaaiiabie, for the aery frst tme, Greek and Latn texts that are currentiy not aaaiiabie in
transiaton.

Feei free to read it and distribute it in any way you iike, but don't eaer charge any money for the content
here aaaiiabie, and don't change anything about the text or this introducton.

If you want to quote this transiaton feei free to, but piease giae proper credit to aii the originai
transiators.

----------

My dearest, you, who asked to iearn preciseiy

The entre history through a ietter of mine.
Now hear the frst one, that of Croesus' story s.

Concerning Croesus, 1.1 (Story 1)

Croesus, the son of Aiyattes, was the ruier of Lydia. s
He made his home and paiace in Sardis, which he conquered.
From Pactoius, the riaer, was fowing towards him before,
Like heaay rain from Mount Tmoius, he receiaed goiden dust.
Among the other kings, he had the most goid eaer seen.
He deiicateiy iiaed in weaith and countiess riches.
Friendiy to eaerybody, he gaae away a iot.
According to what Pindar, the son of Daiphantus, says,
The great Aicmaeon came to see him once
And asked for goid; as much as he couid carry. s0
He then took of his coat and heid it in front of him
As weii as his boots, the ones big-footed actors used to wear.
He then entered the treasure-houses and fiied aii these with goid.
He had his hair coaered with goid, his teeth as weii.
Aicmaeon couidn't waik, for that much the goid weighed.

s An important note, before this frst story – the transiaton we proaide here is certainiy not perfect, and features
minimai comments. Uniike some of the texts we’ae reieased in the past, this Book of Histories, best known as the
Chiliades, contains countiess passages which were extremeiy difcuit to transiate; for that reason this entre
transiaton is a tentatae frst editon, and may not aiways fuiiy represent the content and quaiity of Tzetzes’
originai work. Howeaer, we aiso hope our attempt at reieasing this difcuit text in Engiish may, one day, inspire
others to reiease their own transiatons.
Aiso, a speciai thanks to Aaron Heinrich, and the team of the Suda On Line website, who inspired us to pursue this
difcuit project.
Croesus burst out iaughing seeing him waik and iook iike that
And ordered him to take twice the goid he took.
Aii these haae been written by Pindar, the iyric poet.
Furthermore, Herodotus, the writer, the son of Oxyius,
Aiong with him and Piutarch, wrote about this man 290
That sent to Deiphi a thousand bricks, aii made of goid
To buiid a goiden aitar in honour of Apoiio.
Once, he inaited Soion, the man who wrote the iaws,
To spend some tme with him in Sardis, at his paiace.
He then showed him his treasures, boastng of them a iot,
That they can bring him joy; he was renowned for his happiness.
Then Soion the phiiosopher, who had written the iaws,
Did not biess him for that, and Croesus asked him then:
“Do you acknowiedge, Soion, anyone happier than me?”
He then repiied to him he heard of the commander Teiius 30
And of Cieobis and Biton, the two sons of Cydippe.
The frst one, Teiius the commander, afer defeatng his enemies
Was biessed by many for his briiiiant aictory;
He was fortunate to die in the same eaening of his winning.
The chiidren of Cydippe, who was a priestess of Hera,
Because their mother was sick, they yoked themseiaes iike buiis
And brought their mother to the tempie of Hera.
The mother then wished them the best.
Both of them died during the night, haaing the most beautfui end.
“I caii them happy, Croesus, and anyone iike them 40
Whose iiaes end when a usefui cause is fuifiied.
Your end is yet unknown; so I do not deem you fortunate.
No one shouid consider biessed a man whose end is not yet known”.
This is what Soion said, prophetcaiiy, to Croesus.
A whiie iater Croesus iost in war against the forces
Of Cyrus the Persian, the son of Cambyses and Mandane.
During fourteen entre days he was being besieged,
And fnaiiy made a prisoner and destroyed, he was being ied to fre.
“O Soion! Soion! Soion!” He, then, cried out three tmes.
They carried him away from the fre when Cyrus heard about it. 50
This is what Herodotus says; whiie Xenophon repiies
That Croesus did not sufer anything bad from Cyrus,
Contrariwise, he wondered at his great magnifcence.
And he contnues; when Croesus became prisoner
He said, I am happier than eaer, now, at the end of iife.
Xenophon has written beautfuiiy about the batties.
He says Assyria had been neighbour to Media.
The son of the Assyrians' king
Afer his wedding, he went huntng in Media.
Since he had many horsemen, he changed his mind oaer huntng; 60
He started to make booty oaer the Median mountains.
Cyrus then counseiied his grandfather; they were defeated.
Since then a great war broke up between them.
Afer Astyages died, his son Cyaxares,
Cyrus' uncie, becomes the king of Medians,
A stupid man who oniy knew how to haae fun and drink.
Oniy as a shadow and as a name was he king of these riches.
In fact Cyrus was king, he was the one to fght.
He had Medes, Persians and Susians under his power,
Whose king was Abradatas, the husband of Pantheia, 70
And others, many, who obeyed him.
Accompiices and aiiies of the Assyrians came;
Artacamas, the king of the great Phrygia;
Gabaeus, ruier of the Heiiespontne Phrygia;
And the king Aribaeus of the entre Cappadocia
And many other peopie of countiess natons came,
Aiong with them Maragdus, the king of Arab peopie,
And Croesus the Lydian, about whom we are speaking.
As soon as Cyrus entered the battie, he chopped them up
And ief for Sardis; during the second night 80
He chased the Chaideans up to their waiis, which he iater destroyed.
Ctesias the physician, the son of Ctesiochus,
Who had come from the city of copper Cnidus;
He was taken captae by Artaxerxes for haaing fought with Cyrus.
He stayed among the Persians during seaenteen years
And wrote twenty three books concerning the Persian peopie 29.
He says that Astyages was siain by the king Cyrus
And the iatter became the ruier of Barcanians.
Oebares, Cyrus' great commander,
Toid him to put wooden faces in front of the city of Sardis 90
Upon iong poies, with ciothes on them, during the night.
The Lydians wouid be frightened whiie they wouid take the city.
ight afer captaatng Croesus,
Cyrus sent Petsacas to Astyages.
When he arriaed he saw Amyts with Astyages.
Amyts was Astyages' daughter.
When she saw this eunuch, the awfui Petsacas,
She knew that he was piotng against Astyages.
She gouged his eyes out and stripped of his skin aiiae;
She impaied him on a cross and ief him as a feast for birds. s00
Now, my dearest, you haae the whoie story of Croesus.
Shaii we now start the story of Midas as weii.

Concerning Midas, 1.2 (Story 2)

Midas, the son of Gordias, was a king of the Phrygians,
He worshipped goid beyond the human nature.
According to the myths, he made a bitter wish
So eaerything he heid wouid be turned into goid.
Eaery food he wouid eat, wouid be made out of goid,

29 The Persica, no ionger extant but partaiiy accessibie aia the works of Diodorus Sicuius and Photus.
As a consequence he dies hungry because of his goiden famine.
Some others, though, haae written that he didn’t die.
Instead, he droae his chariot and its anchor heid him, as the oracies had said.ss0
He founded the Gaiatan city of Ankara across the riaer Haiys.
This way the famine and his destny haae been aaoided.
This Midas has been said to haae his ears iike donkey’s.
From what I’ae said, eaerything must be ciear about Midas.

He worshipped gain and money; he was aery greedy.

He made his stomach hurt by seiiing aii the food
Just iike Vespasian did with the excrement of the horses
Aithough, he biamed Titus a iot for this; he was his son.
He used to say to him: “Titus, my dearest son,
This is the goid of excrement, try, smeii its odour.” s290
This is how Midas was, as aiready mentoned before,
According to these myths created in this way.
Later he founded Ankara, a city with iots of food.
His ears were, as I said, iike those donkeys haae.
This means he was keen on hearing or just with aery iarge ears
Or eaen that he had around him many spies.
Donkeys, Aristotie said, haae aery sharp hearing.
There is a Phrygian aiiiage named “donkey’s ears”.
It was inhabited by thieaes. Midas had conquered it.
Maybe that’s why the myth says Midas had donkey’s ears. s30

The Ankara mentoned aboae was situated in Gaiata.

It’s been said it was buiit by Octaaian, the Caesar of the omans.
Octaaian kiiied Deiotarus, the tetrarch of Gaiata.
It was not due to the iron anchor of Midas’ chariot
That Ankara was named this way, but because it is situated
Between the Asiatc and the Pontc seas.
Concerning Gyges, 1.3 (Story 3)
According to some writers Gyges was a shepherd.
Whiie he was tending as a shepherd he found a copper horse buried into the ground.
Inside this horse there was a dead man iying down.
He had a ring upon his fnger. s40
This partcuiar ring was taken by Gyges himseif.
He found out it had the power, when turned its hoop,
To make the hoider disappear and appear back again.
This way he kiiied Candauies and seized the power of Lydia.

Herodotus, nonetheiess, does not say he was a shepherd.

He says he was the son of Dascyius, Candauies’ bodyguard.
Because Candauies ioaed his wife too much,
He secretiy showed her nakedness to Gyges.
She knew it, but said nothing. She asked for Gyges iater
And asked him which one he wouid do: s50
“Wiii you depriae Candauies of iife, or wiii you kiii yourseif?
I wiii not bear to haae been seen by two men.”
He took away Candauies’ iife, as weii as his kingdom.
Gyges had with Candauies’ wife a son named Ardys.
The son of Ardys was Sadyattes, and the iatter’s son was Aiyattes.
Aiyattes’ son was Croesus, who was defeated by Cyrus.
But I can teii your struggie and impatence
To hear the rest of the Gyges’ story.
It has been said that apart from being a shepherd, Gyges was Candauies’ commander.
The kingdom was iike a copper horse s60
The same the paiace; Candauies’ wife, when he was dead,
Stood in the paiace doing nothing.
Gyges took her ring and showed it to the bodyguards,
And with their heip, he kiiied Candauies.
Afer returning her the ring
He made himseif aisibie to eaeryone and took the kingdom.

Concerning Codrus, 1.4 (Story 4)

The king of Athens, Codrus, the son of Meianthus,
Has been said to descend from Erichthonius,
Whose iineage is to be traced back to many great kings.
Cecrops was the frst king of Athens. s70
Afer him it was Cranaus, and the third one Amphictyon,
Whom Erichthonius deposed and kept the kingdom for himseif.
He was a son of Hephaestus and Athena.
He had a son, Pandion, with Praxithea.
Pandion and Zeuxippe gaae birth to Erechtheus,
As weii as to Procne, Phiiomeia and Butes.
Erechtheus has a son, Cecrops, from Praxithea.
Cecrops has Pandion from Metaduse.
From this Pandion Aegeus was born, the father of Theseus.
Acamas and Demophon were the chiidren of Theseus. s80
Demophon fathered Oxyntes.
Oxyntes fathered Thymoetes, Thymoetes fathered Meianthus.
From Meianthus came Codrus and, from Codrus, Neieus and Medon.
Aii these mentoned aboae haae been kings, as weii as the foiiowing.
Many say this geneaiogy is unti
Thymoetes, Meianthus does not descend from them.
When fghtng in a singie combat with the Boetan Xantheias
Thymoetes gaae him the kingdom as a gif.
Codrus was a nobie man not oniy concerning his generaton,
But he had aiso one of the nobiest souis. s90
The Laconians and the Athenians had neaer fought before.
An oracie was giaen to the Laconians, that they wouid be defeated harshiy
If one of the Athenian commanders was kiiied.
Codrus knew that and he dressed himseif as a woodman.
He then kiiied a Laconian and was kiiied back with an axe.
As soon as the Laconians found that out, they immediateiy ief.

Concerning Megacles, 1.5 (Story 5)

There haae been two Megacies of the Athenian tribe,
Both of them nobie men and of a good repute.
One of them, one hundred sixty two
Years ago, won three tmes the Oiympic games. 2900
He was the son of the nobie Coesyra.
The other Megacies was a conqueror of the Pythian games.
His geneaiogy comes unti the weaithy Aicmaeon
Who was strongiy enriched, as aiready said, by Croesus.

Concerning Alcmaeon, 1.6 (Story 6)

Aicmaeon was one of the most nobie and weaithy men,
Whose sons had kiiied the two sons of Pisistratus,
The two tyrants of Athens, Hipparchus and Hippias.
They freed the city; one of them was Cieisthenes.

Concerning the sons of Boreas, 1.7 (Story 7)

Boreas the Thracian kidnapped Orithyia from Athens.
They had two sons, Zetes and Caiais, with aery deiicate hair. 29s0
They had eaen preter hair than Absaiom.
Their hair was fying, as many iegend writers haae said,
The iongest the hair, the biggest the pride.
They are said to haae saiied aiong with the other Argonauts
And to haae driaen away from Phineus the Harpies,
Who used to steai away the food from his birds’ mouth.
Aiong with the Harpies, it’s been said, the brothers died as weii.
But I can teii the truth about their story.
This oid man, Phineus, was biind due to his oid age.
Eraseia and Harpyreia were his two daughters. 29290
They iiaed a aery iibertne and iazy iife.
Aii their iife was wasted.
They abandoned themseiaes into poaerty and fatai famine.
Zetes and Caiais snatched them away,
They somehow disappeared from those piaces eaer since.
Aii myths about them started there.
Apoiionius has taiked about their story.

Concerning Euphorbus, 1.8 (Story 8)

According to Homer, Euphorbus was the son of Phronts and Panthous.
But according to Orpheus, he was son of Abarbarea and Boucoiides.
He had the ioaeiiest iocks among the curiy-haired. 2930
He fought besides the Trojans for the sake of Heien.
He had a iot of goid bound into his braid of hair
And many other ornaments around his head.

Concerning Narcissus, 1.9 (Story 9)

Narcissus, the Laconian, was a young hunter who ioaed eaerything beautfui.
Once, during the summer, he got thirsty afer huntng.
He ieaned upon the water and saw himseif in the bioom of youth.
He feii in ioae with his own shadow, as if it were somebody eise.
In need to keep it next to him, he faced his fuid destny.

Concerning Nireus, 1.10 (Story 10)

Nireus was a Greek commander, a reaiiy beautfui man.
He was the most handsome man among the Greeks afer Achiiies. 2940
Concerning Hyacinth, 1.11 (Story 11)
Hyacinth was a beautfui young man, the brother of Cynortus.
His father was Amycius and Diomedes his mother,
Peopie from the nobie fatheriand of the Laconian Amiciaeans.
Apoiio and Zephyrus fought for the young boy’s ioae.
Once when Apoiio pitched the quoit with Hyacinth,
Zephyrus biows the quoit boisterousiy and ruins it.
The beautfui young man was struck from the top of the mountain with terror.
From the earth, then, sprang up a fower of the same name instead of Hyacinth.
The earth feit pity for him, just iike for the beauty of Narcissus.
But the Narcissus’ story is known to eaerybody, 2950
That faiiing into the water the young man died of drowning.
As a consoiaton for the ioss, their beauty has been exaited.
Many say he feii into the water because of his desire.
It is ciear where it comes from, the name of the piants and the trees
Eaen of the stars and of aii their simiiar.
Aii the next generatons of humans, due to the desire for these two young men,
Named the things mentoned aboae afer them.
Moreoaer, it’s been said, the riaai ioaers of Hyacinth
Who were fghtng for him and admiring the young man’s beauty,
Was the sun, happy to turn towards the young man 2960
And the biow of the winds were truiy charmed by him.
The sun then pitched the quoit with the young man
When the wind turned its way and biew the quoit up there.
He did just iike Zephyrus, for enaying the Sun,
He depriaed Hyacinth of iife and of the shiny iight bringer.
This story wrote Nicander in his Theriaca.

To ask me to write to you about the sayings of the wise men,

It is inopportune, weird and of the most mischieaous things.
You don’t want to hear of this as a work of Tzetzes,
Who has been more than deiightui to his benefactors, 2970
But as a maraeiious person who has absorbed so many books.
I haae experienced this before; somebody eise was thankiess.
Weii, just your name has been enough for me to write this down.
Eaerything I’ae written aboae is being heid in my memory.
You’ae seen now, quite preciseiy, how I do know eaery book
And how I can be ready to teii aii that by heart.
There is nobody eise that God has eaer made
With better memory than that of Tzetzes, in this iife.
That’s why I’m thankfui towards Him who gaae me such a gif.
Aithough I iiae a simpie iife, I descended from the best; 2980
Whether I do want it or not, one of my ancestors is Aeschyius.
I iead the way of aii the nonsense in peopie’s iiaes,
This is the reason I haae chosen a retred iife.
If there is someone eise ciaiming to haae such a memory,
Because I cannot make any reference to anyone,
Piease, iet him come in front of us; we won’t aaoid the fght,
Aithough we’ae had decided to iead our iife at home,
Just iike the Scyrites Achiiies, the discipie of Chiron,
Not iike Konnas who iiaed on the streets and in front of hoteis 3.
You know now our nature and our state of mind. 2990
I’ae iearned to interpret aii the books of former writers
Eaen if they’re fuii of dust, in the shadows or forgotten.
As Soiomon has said, we waii for eaerything humans haae made.
I’ae seen the beauty of our worid and the deiights of iife
Under the sun; aii this is aanity.
But, oh! I haae to iearn aii usefui things from wise men.
Prepare your ears so you can iisten to what I haae to say.
I do not haae a heart of iron; I am compassionate.

3 Apparentiy, a fute piayer who made his iife from begging.

In his book Theriaca, Nicander says about Hyacinth.
“Beautfui Hyacinth was iamented a iot, 300
He was iamented by Phoebus, who accidentaiiy kiiied
The young boy by hitng him in front of Amyciaean riaer,
In the prime of Hyacinth’ youth, when a quoit feii onto his head;
He feii upon a rock and his head was smashed into pieces”.

Concerning Orpheus, 1.12 (Story 12)

Orpheus was a Thracian, his home was the Odrysian city of Bisaita.
Menippe, daughter of Thamyris, was his mother and Oeagrus his father,
Or, according to many others, his mother was Caiiiope.
He has been said to attract the prey and stones with his music.
The poet Simonides has written the foiiowing about this.
“Countiess birds were fying upon his head, 3s0
Eaen the fsh were coming out of the biue water
To hear his beautfui songs.” This is what has been said about this story.
To precise, though, eaery man is being attracted by the music.
The gardeners, the workers with stones as weii as the cattiemen
Haae abandoned their work in order to foiiow Orpheus.

Concerning Amphion, 1.13 (Story 13)

Amphion sings to the iyre; he aiong with Zethus
Were sons of Zeus, as Homer says; their mother Antope.
According, though, to other writers and to Antochus,
They were sons of Theobus and the same Antope.
They were giaen birth by a airgin and were immediateiy sent away, 3290
But when they grew up enough, they undertook the kingdom.
They honoured their father’s name and buiit the city of Thebes.
It has been said Amphion was gifed with the iyre
To be abie to drag the stones for buiiding with his songs.
This proaed to be true; Amphion was singing to his iyre
Whiie the workers were buiiding the waiis of the city.
The same waiis Aiexander wiii iater destroy
With iamentng songs, as Caiiisthenes says.
Whiie Ismenias was singing, Thebes was being conquered.

Concerning the Sirens, 1.14 (Story 14)

About the Sirens, Homer, Lycophron, Euripides 330
And many others haae said that they attract peopie with their music.
They destroy eaerything with their songs, fuifiiing eaery desire.
Odysseus managed to escape from them, they say.
He shut the ears of his companions with wax
And ted himseif upon the ropes and sufered whiie hearing.
They say they’re daughters of creatures that haae the shape of birds.
Leucosia, Ligeia and Parthenope.
They were daughters of the riaer Acheious and Terpsichore
Or Meipomene. Many other names are giaen to them.
Their story has been said so many tmes by many. 340
Many haae said they are rocks
Which produce the sound of songs when being hit by the waaes.
Piutarch, the younger, has said they were prosttutes.
The others haae ciaimed they conquer peopie through pieasure,
Those who do not shut their companions’ ears with wax
They wiii haae to ciose their fae senses against them,
They wiii haae their mind raised up; as I am teiiing you
Whether their mother is Terpsichore or Meipomene
(They can be prosttutes and deceiae through pieasure at the same tme.)
I’m saying aiso they’re daughters of Acheious and they can fy. 350
As it is unstabie and feetng the desire of a prosttute,
So their deiight is brief and runs away.
Concerning Marsyas, 1.15 (Story 15)
Marsyas was a Phrygian phiiosopher; he was the frst to piay the fute.
He eaen rebeiied against Apoiio’s futes.
He iost the contest and was turned into a wineskin hanged from a pine.
Eaen the riaer was fowing with the fury of a fute-piayer.
This has been stated by Juiian’s works
And by Procopius from Caesarea and many others,
And before them Nicander had said the foiiowing about him.
“The pine was diaided into pieces many tmes by the tears 360
Of Marsyas, where Phoebus had hanged his body.
The tree had mourned his fatai destny, hoiding his body.
The whoie area stii resounds with that echo.”
Some others say he found the fute of Athena.
She was then accused by the poor satyr Marsyas:
“Indeed, it does not suit you; iet go of the fute,
Take the arms and start fghtng”
She bent herseif oaer the water, she saw her cheeks
Exaited and, fnaiiy, gaae this art to Marsyas.
He was the son of Hyagnis and teacher of Oiympus. 370
He used to win when chaiienging the best.
Such a singing contest has been stated by Simonides:
“He had put a dazziing piece of goid around his head
And a boisterous opening on the back side of his heimet.”
I shaii support the story about Athena and not Apoiio.
She was extraordinariiy witty and a good fute-piayer.
Her cheeks were, though, extremeiy swoiien, dishonouring her face.
That’s why it is more ftng for men to piay the fute.
Then, the mentoned aboae, phiiosopher Marsyas
Was boastng in front of her; he eaen got deiirious; 380
He was drowned into the riaer; then hanged upon a pine.
He was seen under the sun as if he had committed suicide.
Aiso, because the Sun was fond in music, too,
Another aersion says, he hanged Marsyas for defying him.

Concerning Terpander, 1.16 (Story 16)

Terpander was a citharist from the famiiy of Methymnaeans.
Once, they had rebeiied against the Lacedaemonians.
An oracie had prophesied they wouid make peace together
Oniy if Terpander from Methymne piayed his cithara to them.
Terpander, then, piayed his guitar so skiifuiiy
That they made peace immediateiy, as Diodorus says, 390
Due to his singing harmony. Their reiatonship had changed
And got there aii together, exchanging greetngs with tears.

Concerning Arion, 1.17 (Story 17)

Arion was aiso from Methymne piaying the cithara, as weii,
During the tmes of Croesus and of Periander.
He went to Itaiy and, specifcaiiy, to Siciiy.
He won a iot of things. On a boat to Corinth
He embarked, ieaaing Taranto, as he wanted to return home.
The saiiors wanted to take aii his money.
He asked, then, to piay them music with his meiodious guitar,
A song before his death; he took his cithara immediateiy 400
(There were seaen meiodies that one couid piay with his cithara).
He stood and started to piay beautfuiiy the frst one;
A doiphin, being enchanted, came out of the water, and when Arion feii into the sea
He was dragged by the doiphin and was brought to Cape Tenaro.
When he arriaed in Corinth, he toid this to Periander.
He didn’t beiieae him, though, and put the man in prison.
Later, the saiiors came and Periander asked them what happened.
He sentenced them to death as it is proper for murderers.
The writer Herodotus has written down this story,
Aiong with him Oppian, but his story is more precise. 4s0
His story, which is wideiy known, my chiid, here foiiows:
Being in danger, Arion piayed his music straight up.
Some pirates, who were Phoenician men, upon a boat of doiphin shape
Feit pity for him and ief him on the coast of Cape Tenaro.

Concerning the golden lamb of Atreus, 1.18 (Story 18)

Atreus was a brother of Thyestes and of many others.
Aii of them were chiidren of Peiops and Hippodamia.
Chrysippus was their stepbrother, whose mother was Axioche.
They were jeaious of him because their father honoured him too much.
Foiiowing Hippodamia’s wiii, Atreus and Thyestes
Drowned him into a weii. When Peiops found this out 4290
He dismissed aii his chiidren.
An oracie had said Laius wouid abduct Chrysippus.
Afer ieaaing the sons settied in diferent piaces. Atreus and Thyestes
Settied down in Triphyiia of the Peioponnese.
Both of them demanded the kingdom for themseiaes.
Atreus was to haae it by iaw since he was the frstborn.
Thyestes, though, was ciaiming it too, ignoring aii the iaws.
As tme passed by, it was decided it wouid become king
The one who wouid bring the right sign in front of the judges.
Atreus had nurtured a goiden iamb. 430
Simonides has said the iamb was purpie.
Atreus was about to show the iamb to the judges.
(Which, according to Euripides, was Hermes’ adaice,
Who wanted to reaenge the descendants of Peiops
For Peiops had unfairiy kiiied Myrtius, Hermes’ son.
Apoiionius says Atreus wanted to make a sacrifce
To Artemis of the most beautfui animai of his herd.
As soon as the iamb was born, he kiiied it and hid it away
Very carefuiiy into boxes, so it couid serae him as a sign.)
Atreus was about to show this sign to the judges. 440
Thyestes, though, had spied on him and depriaed his brother of his wedding-bed
And took the iamb from Atreus’ wife, Aerope.
He showed it in front of the judges and deciared himseif the ruier.
The Sun couid not stand the unfortunate things that happened
So he droae his chariot from the west to the east,
And aiong with him went the Pieiades as weii.
Atreus found out he had been deceiaed by his wife Aerope.
He made a dinner of the three chiidren Thyestes had with a Naiad,
Agiaus, Orchomenus and Caiaeus, afer kiiiing them.
He showed him aferwards their iegs and arms and droae him away from the country. 450
The Sun returned afer the disgustng dinner.
The other son of Thyestes, Aegisthus, was iiaing in the mountains, taking care of goats.
Thyestes had this son with his daughter Peiopia or Mnesiphane.
Aegisthus returns from the mountain and kiiis Atreus
And takes back the kingdom that was rightuiiy his father’s.
He sends Atreus’ sons, Agamemnon and Meneiaus,
To Poiypheides, the king of Sicyon, to raise them.
He sends them, on his turn, to the Aetoiian Oeneas.
Afer a short tme they are brought to Tyndareus.
They managed to make Thyestes seek refuge in Hera’s tempie 460
And aferwards to go and iiae in Cythereia.
They got connected by marriage with Tyndareus’ daughters.
Agamemnon married Ciytemnestra
Afer kiiiing her husband Tantaius, the son of Thyestes,
And their newborn chiid; Meneiaus married Heien.
Concerning what happened to the Sun,
I think it has not been stated enough.
The wooi of sheep had turned into goid,
heginus and Isigonus haae written about these facts.
Hermes knew weii the stars and Artemis the moon. 470
What happened then was not seen as a good omen.
Myrtius, the son of Hermes, was transformed into a star.

Concerning the bull of Minos, 1.19 (Story 19)

Minos was a son of Asterion Zeus.
Since the beginning of the worid kings were caiied Zeus as weii.
Just iike the star of Zeus, which came quickiy when he was born
To foreteii he wouid haae a destny of a iion.
It appears oniy in front of kings who wear a crown.
Afer the death of the king Asterion,
Minos was not permitted to ruie Crete afer him
Because, they say, the kingdom must be giaen by the gods. 480
A strange sign from the sea wouid be reaeaied to him.
Minos promised that, whateaer it was, it wouid be sacrifced to Poseidon.
Then a beautfui buii appeared from the sea
And he was giaen immediateiy the kingdom of the Cretans.
He sacrifced to Poseidon another buii
That he asked to be brought from his herd.
That buii was said to haae iaid with his wife Pasiphae
Eaen though she was inaoiaed in intercourse with Daedaius artfciai inaentons,
She gaae birth to the Minotaur, a beast haif man and haif buii.
Daedaius was a son of Eupaiamus and Aicippe. 490
He was a crafsman and scuiptor in Atca.
He threw from Atca’s citadei
The son of his sister Perdix, whose name was Attaius.
He was being a discipie aiongside his uncie Daedaius.
He was the frst to make an artfciai serpent’s jaw
Which couid catch a smaii piece of wood. When his uncie saw that,
Being enaious of the chiid’s genius, he kiiied him.
He went to Minos. There, with the siaae Naucrate
He had a son, Icarus. Minos detained them
For haaing heiped his aduiterer wife. 500
He was about to kiii them, that’s why he imprisoned them.
They escaped from the prison
Haaing put wings upon them, they few through air.
Icarus feii into the sea when he ief.
The Icarian Sea, where he feii, was named afer him.
Daedaius was saaed in Caminus of Siciiy.
In Siciiy came Minos iooking for him.
Minos was kiiied by the daughters of Cocaius;
By pouring upon him boiiing waters he immediateiy froze.
Now, I shouid say about the buii and the inaoiaed intercourse, 5s0
About the Minotaur and the wings made by Daedaius
And how, they say, Daedaius’ scuiptures couid moae.
As Euripides has said in his piay Hecuba:
“I wish I couid speak through my arms,
Through my hands and my hair and my waiking
And through Daedaius’ crafing or some God’s”
And Piato, the master of comedy, has said:
“Eaery scuipture made by Daedaius must be seen
To moae; that is a wise man”.
Minos, who was not permitted to be the ruier before, 5290
Haaing consuited the seers, spoke to the Cretans.
He wouid be reaeaied a sign from the sea.
Commander Taurus showed up with his merchant ships
And Minos took the kingdom as if it were a god’s wiii.
It was this Taurus, the commander, not the buii,
With whom Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, committed aduitery
In cooperaton with Daedaius, who heiped her
To be ciosed in the most guarded rooms,
The so-caiied wooden buii of Daedaius,
Where she had a baby; since the chiid had two fathers, 530
Minos and Taurus, he was caiied Minotaur.
Daedaius knew the ships of those merchants were so quick as if they had feathers.
He ief with them to Siciiy.
Icarus was piundered and drowned during a shipwreck.
Daedaius was saaed in the house of Cocaius.
The things crafed by Daedaius were beiieaed to moae because of this:
Many years before Daedaius, the statues
Were made without arms, iegs or eyes.
Daedaius was the frst one to make them with arms and iegs
As weii as with fngers, eyeiids and eaerything eise. 540
That’s why they say his statues were capabie of moaing.

Concerning Cephalus’ dog, 1.20 (Story 20)

Procris, the daughter of Erechtheus and Praxithea,
Was the wife of Cephaius, Deioneus’ son.
She was bribed with a goiden crown to iie down with Pteieon.
She fed to Minos afer Cephaius discoaered her.
Minos had secret intercourse with her
And gaae her as a gif a sharp jaaeiin and a fast-running dog.
This dog couid quickiy catch any fast beast.
She took these presents and returned to Cephaius.
He receiaed the gifs and went huntng. 550
Beiieaing it was a wiid beast, he kiiied her with a jaaeiin.
Judged by the Areopagus, he went into exiie.
At that tme there was a Teumessian Fox
That was bringing disaster to the chiidren of Thebes.
Cephaius sends his dog to hunt the fox.
Zeus, by transforming the roads into stones, made the dog win.
This story has been written by Apoiiodorus.
Whiie the wise Paiaephatus, a reaiiy inteiiigent man,
Says a siightiy diferent story.
He says there was a commander named Aiopekos 4 560
Who was fghtng against the Thebans aiong with other rebeis,
Whom Cephaius kiiied haaing been caiied from Athens.
I, too, agree with this aersion of the story, which is the most known.
Minos was inaoiaed in a secret intercourse with Procris
And afer that, he sent her upon fast ships
Aiong with commander Cynas and many gifs for Cephaius.
Cephaius then sent this Cynas to Aiopekos
To fght him as an enemy. They fought upon their horses
Unti they destroyed each other.
Aiopekos escaped with his ships 570
And Cynas was chased unti the ciifs beside the sea,
Where his ships were, and ief this iife.

Concerning Megacles, 1.21 (Story 21)

The ciaiming Megacies was son of Coesyra,
The most nobie among aii women under the sun.
He was the third one in the horse contest in Oiympia.
Oiympia was a piace next to Triphyiia
Where the riaer Aipheus is stii fowing.
Heracies had been forced by Oiympian Zeus
To fght and win the beasts of Augeas.
He was honoured with a young branch of a wiid oiiae tree. 580
This contest contnued to take piace eaery ffy months.

Concerning Cimon, 1.22 (Story 22)

Cimon, according to some writers, was son of Miitades,
According to some others, though, he was son of Tisagoras.
He had a son with Isodice named Caiiias.

4 I.e. fox.
Cimon had a sister, whose name was Eipinice,
As Ptoiemy had iater his sister Berenice,
And before them Zeus had Hera, and now it’s a custom to the Persians.
Caiiias had to pay ffy taients
As Cimon, his father, did not pay them
During his shamefui wedding with his sister. 590
Those who haae written about this are too many for me to count them.
For they are infnite, those who wrote about this,
The comic writers, the rhetoricians, Diodorus and many others.

Concerning Aristopatra, 1.23 (Story 23)

Aristopatra was a daughter of Diagoras of hodes.
Diagoras aiong with his sons and daughters,
Being aii together seaen, in just one day
Won in boxing and wrestiing in the Oiympic Games.
He won the men’s, his sons the teenagers’
And his chiidren the other kids’; eaeryone got inaoiaed.
They passed in front of the spectators being giorifed for their aictory, 600
Damagetos, Dorieus aiong with Acusiiaus,
Eucion and Pisirrothius aiong with Leiegetes.
They eaen had monuments buiit for them in Oiympia.
During that Oiympiad
Aristopatra came to watch the games.
There was a iaw that forbade women
From showing up and watching the Oiympic Games.
The Heiianodices5 didn’t aiiow her to enter and she repiied to them:
“Why don’t you iet me watch the game?
I am not iike the other women. 6s0
You see, aii seaen of the winners,
That won here today, are reiataes of mine.

5 I.e. The judges and enforcers of the Oiympic Games.

Diagoras is my father, and the other three are my brothers;
The chiidren are my brothers’ sons,
Eucion and Pisirrothius aiong with Leiegetes.”
They then gaae in to her words
And iet her immediateiy enter and watch the games.
This story has been written by Pindar, the son of Daiphantus.

Concerning Simonides’ victories, 1.24 (Story 24)

There was one Simonides from Samos, son of Amorgus.
This Simonides, though, is son of Leoprepes from Ceos. 6290
He was poor but deiightui, he aiways won in contests
Just iike Konnas, the fute-piayer, was an Oiympian winner.
Aristophanes has written in his comedies about Simonides’ poaerty.
Aristdes has written about the man’s grattude.
The majority say, he once found an unburied dead body
And honoured him with funerai rites; he saw the dead man in his sieep
Who toid him “don’t saii, don’t foiiow the saiiors”
So he refused to ieaae with them.
Aii the others were dispersed into a shipwreck.
Simonides wrote a thankfui epigram 630
Upon the dead man’s tomb.
“Here iies the saaiour of Simonides from Ceos,
Who, eaen from the worid of the dead, took care of the iiaing.”
This Simonides died in Siciiy.
Upon his tomb, there is the foiiowing epigram:
“Oh, Simonides, you who haae ffy six aictories
And tripods. You haae faiien in the Siciiian piain.
The memory of Ceos misses you. You haae become the praise
Of the witty soui of the Greeks.”
Concerning Stesichorus, 1.25 (Story 25)
Stesichorus was a iyric poet and his daughters as weii. 640
His homeiand was Himera, a city of Siciiy.
He was contemporaneous with Abaris and Pythagoras.
He was opposed to Astypaiean Phaiaris.
Phaiaris was husband of Erythea and father of Pauroias,
He was, aiso, the son of Leodamas and king of Agrigento.
This Phaiaris kiiied Periiios, a coppersmith
From Atca; he burnt him into a buii made of bronze.
Periiios had manufactured this buii by himseif,
He made smaii tubes into the buii’s nostriis.
He eaen made a door on one side of the buii. 650
He gaae this buii to Phaiaris as a gif.
Phaiaris weicomed this man with other gifs
And ordered this deaice to be deaoted to the gods.
Then, the coppersmith that made him such a gif
Toid him about the saaage characteristcs of the deaice:
“If you eaer want, Phaiaris, to punish anyone of your peopie,
You throw him inside this buii and set fre beiow it.
His groaning wiii iook iike the buii is groaning,
And you’ii feei pieasure when you hear the sound through the buii’s nostriis as if it were a fute.”
Phaiaris heard about this and feit disgusted by him 660
He said: “Bring it Periiios, you show it to us frst,
You imitate the fute, present us your creaton.”
Whiie he was trying to imitate the sound of fute,
Phaiaris ciosed the buii’s door and set it on fre.
Because he didn’t want to defie the work of bronze with the man’s death
He puiied him out haif dead and threw him of the ciif.
Lucian the Syrian has written about this buii,
As weii as Diodorus and Pindar and many others.
I haae written to you this story
Based on the wise Phaiaris’ ietters. 670
Stesichorus was opposed to this Phaiaris,
I think, because of this: he had imprisoned Conon and Dropidas,
When he was going to Peioponnese passing through Pachynus.
Phaiaris kiiied Conon right away
Whiie he iet go of Dropidas, sending him back home.
Stesichorus was a beioaed friend of Dropidas,
For whom he paid ransom to the peopie of Tauromenium
One hundred taients; tweiae years iater,
When Stesichorus died, his daughters contnued to write.
Stesichorus’ daughters made hymns about Phaiaris 680
And so that debt was oaer.
Here foiiows a song of Stesichorus:
“Oh Paiias, destroyer of cites, war-sustaining, pure creator,
Daughter of the Great Zeus, young maiden, unseen airgin.”
Simiiar is a song of Archiiochus of Paros
With which he had won haaing sung it at the Oiympic games,
Singing oniy with his mouth for his tripe was cut.
They say eaen Pindar used to admire him.
Now hear this song of Archiiochus:
“Hurrah! Be giad, you, triumphant king Heracies, 690
Aiong with Ioiaus, both of you true warriors.”

Concerning Tyrtaeus, 1.26 (Story 26)

Tyrtaeus was a Laconian commander and a great poet,
The songs he wrote were encouraging for war.
These songs were sung by the Laconians when they were joining war
They were performing the war dance according to Lycurgus’ iaws.
Dion Chrysostom wrote about this, too.
“You, sons of giorious fathers of Sparta, who raises great men,
You hoid the shieid with your ief hand and use the spear with courage,
Do not spare iiaes; it is not proper for Spartans.”
Concerning Hannibal, 1.27 (Story 27)
Hannibai, according to Diodorus and Dion 700
As weii as according to Dionysius from Haiicarnassus,
Was a commander of Siciiy, the son of Hamiicar.
Hamiicar had conquered the entre Iberia
And the Iberians had piotted against him and kiiied him.
He, then, commanded aii his army to ieaae
And join his sons and die for them.
He wouid haae aaoided the piague if he had ief with the others.
His son Hannibai was oniy ffeen years oid
And the other, Hasdrubai, oniy tweiae; he went upon the hiii,
His head was seen by the Iberians. 7s0
Aii of them attacked him
The ones who ief were iucky to be saaed.
When he made sure his army was safe, he went back
And started to counter attack the Iberians.
The Iberians encircied him and fought him hard,
He iet go of his weakened horse
And feii into the waters of the riaer Ebro.
He was hit by a jaaeiin.
He was found neither drowned nor dead by the Iberians.
Such was his strength; he was dragged by the waters. 7290
Hannibai was a descendant of such a hero.
Aiong with his brother-in-iaw, he marshaiied against Iberia
And piundered it entreiy, to aaenge his father’s death.
Meanwhiie, the Ausonian omans
Defeated in battie many tmes the Siciiians.
They made a strict iaw for themseiaes
Neaer to faii under their sword.
When Hannibai was twenty fae years oid,
Apart from the senators and the aristocrats,
He caught the brightest and the smartest of the young men 730
About one hundred or maybe more; by piundering Iberia
He made a iiaing and increased his army with young men.
Such a number was abie to win hundreds of men.
He managed to run thousands and miiiions of men.
His army became huge and one of the most dreadfui
The soidiers had foiiowed him without money or gifs.
Such news traaeiied quickiy to the omans.
Aii of them were formed in order for the infantry and naay.
There must haae been seaenty seaen thousands.
He went to get ready the Siciiians, just iike one rubs a pine. 740
The Siciiians begged Hannibai to stop
And not to utteriy destroy the iands of Siciiy.
He heard them taik and brag about themseiaes.
He did not sit and wait for the attack of the omans.
He ief aione from Siciiy going forward to Itaiy
Going from aboae, passing through the Aips.
They were hard to pass through, but Hannibai cut into pieces the rocks
And six months iater he confronted the oman armies.
He kiiied many of them during a iot of batties.
His brother Hasdrubai, who had stayed back to wait, 750
He too waiked through the Aips.
It took him ffeen days to come next to Hannibai.
He brought with him a great army. When the omans found out,
They attacked him secretiy and managed to take him down.
They brought his head and threw it to Hannibai.
He iamented, as it was proper, his beioaed brother
And iater he marshaiied against the omans in Cannes.
The commanders of the omans were Pauiius and Terentus.
Cannes was a piain in Argyrippe.
Argyrippe was a city buiit by Diomedes. 760
The city’s name means “a horse from Argos” in the ianguage of the Greeks.
These piains used to be inhibited by the Daunians
And iater by the Iapygians, and afer them by the Saiantans.
And nowadays we say the Caiabrians iiae there.
They haae been the borders between the Caiabrians and the Longobards.
That dreadfui war took piace there.
When that terribie war broke out
A fearfui earthquake happened; it set apart the mountains.
A storm took piace where rocks were faiiing from the sky.
The soidiers did not stop fghtng but feariessiy contnued. 770
At the end many men of the omans feii down.
Then, the commander Hannibai sent back to Siciiy
The rings of the oman commanders and of the other giorious men
Which were worth many medimoi and choenixes.
The frst and nobie women of the omans,
They run iamentng to the tempies in ome
And cut their hair as it was proper when grieaing.
Later they were mixed with the siaaes and the barbarians
Since the iand of the omans was depriaed of men.
They were afraid their roots wouid be aanished. 780
Then ome itseif had iost aii of its men
Its gates were wide open, the peopie stood on the street
Ten were sitng before the gates,
They were iamentng for the disaster the poor city had sufered.
They were watching for the remaining peopie, so nobody wouid ieaae the city.
Whiie such a misfortune was upon the great ome
Hannibai negiected to destroy it compieteiy.
He was so keen on aictories and drinking and haaing good tme
That he did not take notce of the omans that gathered around ome.
Then, he ief for the third tme to marshai against ome. 790
Suddeniy, whiie the weather was nice, a terrifying haii started
And the darkness it produced changed Hannibai’s march.
Hannibai, then, was enaied by the Siciiians.
Whiie he was in need of food, they refused to suppiy him.
The one who eariier courageousiy won was now defeated by hunger.
He was aiso chased by the oman Scipio
And he was actuaiiy to biame for the disaster of the Siciiians.
He died by taking poison somewhere in Bithynia
Near a aiiiage known by the name Libyssa.
He expected to fnd death in Libyssa, his homeiand. 800
There used to be an oracie about Hannibai’s death.
“The soii of Libyssa wouid coaer Hannibai’s body.”
The iater emperor of the omans, Seaerus,
Who was a descendant of the Libyans, he put upon this man’s
Tomb a white piece of marbie to honour the commander Hannibai.

Concerning Bucephalus, 1.28 (Story 28)

You aiready know Bucephaius’ story
For he was a furious horse; he deaoured men.
He oniy iistened to Aiexander the Macedonian.
He earned the name Bucephaius as foiiowing:
He had a head of a buii marked on his thigh, 8s0
Not because he had a head of buii.

Concerning the clothes of Antsthenes the Sybarite, 1.29 (Story 29)

So wonderfui were the ciothes of Antsthenes;
They were purpie, made of iiiies, equai of ffeen meters.
Persian and Susian animais and gods were painted upon them.
They were embroidered with pearis and aaiuabie stones.
Antsthenes had a gioae on his ief hand
Upon which he had painted Sybaris, his homeiand.
Dionysus, who ruied Sybaris formeriy,
For one hundred and twenty taients,
He soid it to the Carthaginians; I think Piutarch has written about this. 8290

Concerning Croesus passing through the sea without getng wet, 1.30 (Story 30)
When Croesus was about to pass through the sea water,
Thaies dug a semicircie, crescent-shaped ditch
And changed the fowing of those waters.
He made this way the possibiiity to pass the impassabie waters.
Herodotus reminds us this story.

Concerning the bridge Mandrocles built in Hellespont of Bosporus, 1.31 (Story 31)
Mandrocies the Samian was an architect.
When Darius was about to march against the Scythians,
He made a bridge of ships in the Heiiespont of Bosporus.
It was dedicated to Damaiis or to the tempie of Hera.
Darius disembarked to Europe many soidiers. 830
Herodotus has mentoned this story as weii.
There are two Bosporus, and now iearn where they are.
The Scythian Kimmerius, from which fows Maeots Lake.
This iake is getng mingied with the Biack Sea.
The other Bosporus is our Thracian, the Heiiespont,
We haae the custom to caii it this way.
Now hear where does it come from and how iong it is.
It comes from the strait of Abydos
And unti the bridge of Biachernae it is known as Heiiespont,
It aiso inciudes the Bebrycian Sea 840
And the Thracian Heraciea, formeriy known as Perinthus.
About this two parts of Bosporus
And the sea map of Heiiespont no one has written,
As far as I know, among the many historians.
Weii, you shouid know that Tzetzes has toid oniy the truth so far,
He has been the most accurate of aii the known historians;
He has written about eaerything up to the modern tmes.

Concerning Xerxes, 1.32 (Story 32)

Now hear how Xerxes, the Persian, campaigned against the whoie Greece.
The former tyrant Hippias, the son of Pisistratus,
For being exiied by the Athenians, he went to beg Darius 850
And managed to conaince him to campaign against Athens.
This story has been reported by the Panathenaic of Aristdes.
According to Herodotus, though, it was Aristagoras
Who conainced the Athenians to march against Sardis.
At the beginning, Darius sent Mardonius to confront them;
But he sufered shipwreck around Athos and iost thousands of men.
Darius, then, remoaed him from this duty.
He eaen asked the Athenians for money, iand and water;
But they pushed the ambassadors into a aery deep ditch.
Then Darius sent Dats and Artaphernes, 860
His nephew, aiong with six hundred ships.
They conquered Naxos and Eretria, cites of Euboea.
Dats made a sacrifce to Apoiio in Deios,
He ofered them three hundred taients.
They had their army encamped in the region of Marathon.
Hippias the tyrant was accompanying them.
They were defeated by Miitades and Stesiieus
As weii as by Caiiimachus and Cynegeirus.
Some of them managed to go back and teii the news to Darius.
He boiied with anger for three entre years; 870
He prepared constantiy his naay and gathered a iarge army,
So he couid easiiy campaign against Greece.
But suddeniy, on the fourth year, Darius passed away.
Xerxes, his son, succeeded him and ruied the whoie empire.
He reaiized the impiacabie war against Greece.
His naay was fuii of strong ships;
They were two thousand and two hundred seaen.
Many were the non-soidiers who carried aiong the arms;
They were so many, probabiy fae hundred.
To feed his entre army on a daiiy basis 880
He needed four hundred taients; and that was just the basics.
So Xerxes was urging to attack Greece,
He eaen wanted to break into pieces the eiements of nature.
He tried to imitate his father Darius in eaerything.
Just iike when Darius wanted to attack the Scythians
And march his army on foot to Europe aboae Damaiites Bosporus,
Upon the bridge Mandrocies the Samian had buiit;
The same way Xerxes had peopie to make a bridge upon Abydos.
The bridge he had thrown from Sestus to Abydos coiiapsed,
He eaen whipped the sea two hundred tmes. 890
He put two pairs of iron chain, as if ted by the feet
The sea was; he wanted it to be his siaae.
He ordered now two bridges instead of one.
On both their sides there were heaay burdens
And anchors to support them so they wouid remain stii;
From the bottom of the one side to the other
They ted horribie ropes aboae the heaay burdens,
From the one side of the row of the ships and the other from the stern.
The rope was reaiiy iarge and weighed around three taients.
They were stretched tght from the bottom on both sides, 900
They naiied wooden trunks, the same used in stands for horses.
This way they fortfed the ground; the ropes
On both sides they then made totaiiy stabie
So nobody wouid faii into the water from the sides.
As the two bridges were iinked to each other
The trunks were dig deep into the ground of the bottom sea,
This way it was made a way of iand; afer doing this
Sweet bay and myrtie were sprinkied upon it.
This way the sea was turned into iand with bridges,
As Xerxes was imitatng his own father, Darius. 9s0
He made a sea out of Mount Athos by digging a deep canai,
So through that trench two triremes couid pass.
Oaer there Mardonius was shipwrecked eariier,
Where 290.000 soidiers were destroyed by the waaes.
In the trench of Athos, which we caii now “Hoiy Mountain”,
Thousands of soidiers came from Heieos
With their commander, the terribie satrap Bubares.
Aiong with them the great Artachaeus came.
When aii of them arriaed, somewhere near Heiiespont
A throne made of stone was buiit so Xerxes couid superaise. 9290
When aii this work was announced,
Armies came from Lydia prepared to start the march.
In Ceiaenae of Phrygia, Xerxes with his army was being receiaed
By Pythius the Lydian, the same one who eariier
Had giaen to Darius a aine and a goiden orientai piane.
The same way this tme he made a gif to Xerxes,
Two thousand taients made of pure siiaer;
And of the goiden coins that had Darius’ face on them,
He gaae him around four hundred.
Xerxes did not receiae the gif, but he appreciated the gesture. 930
He ief for Heiiespont and the great bridges.
Whereaer the army’s horses bended oaer to drink,
In the Maeander or Scamander, the riaers dried up.
The same happened iater with the riaer Peneus in Thessaiia
As weii as the riaer Iiiisus in Athens. But these wouid happen iater.
When Xerxes himseif arriaed in Heiiespont,
He sat upon that high throne;
He saw the soidiers that were more than the fowers and the ieaaes;
They were aimost as many as the grains of sand in the sea.
First, he biessed himseif for haaing such a good iuck, 940
But then he thought of the shortness of the peopies’ iiaes
And suddeniy his eyes got fuii of tears.
His uncie Artabanus iearned this and taiked to him:
“There is no reason to shed tears for the short iiaes of peopie,
You shouid know, my king, our short iiaes
Seem aery iarge to many, if they are fuii of sufering,
So they wish a shorter iife wouid be a biessing for them.”
Such was the adaice Artabanus gaae to Xerxes.
They marched towards the bridges
And the army contnued without being stopped 950
During seaen days and nights.
Finaiiy, Xerxes crossed oaer the bridge upon a chariot
Haaing an escort of ten thousand chosen men.
What eise shouid I menton and describe you with detaiis?
He droae his entre army to Europe;
Eaery riaer was dried up; eaery tree was deaoured;
Eaen the sun itseif was hidden by the Persian arrows;
The earth and the sea were shuddered and the whoie nature of trees.
The commander Leonidas aiong with three hundred men,
He stood against that huge army near the tempie of Artemis. 960
He kiiied many of the great barbarian soidiers,
Among them the two beioaed brothers of the Persian king,
Eaen the king himseif he managed to bring down of his horse.
The soidiers fought braaeiy hand-to-hand.
Oniy when they came aery ciose to the barbarian soidiers,
They were betrayed by some iocai man.
Or, according to Diodorus Sicuius,
The commander Leonidas aiong with his men
Were being attacked by the barbarians during the night
And up unti the sunrise, aii of them were destroyed. 970
Or they feii in battie being encircied by the barbarians.
That was the frst attack of Xerxes with the Persians.
They were defeated, though, during the Battie of Saiamis
Two hundred and seaenty ships
Xerxes had, aiong with two thousand trading aesseis,
The two hundred and seaen were the fastest of them.
His feet entered the battie
Whiie Xerxes went upon the Aegaieo Mountain,
Which is situated exactiy in front of Saiamis.
He sat upon his goiden throne and watched the battie. 980
He had secretaries with him to write down what wouid happen.
They gaae him a bad omen about the occurring sea-fght.
They were destroyed compieteiy by the feet of the Athenians.
Their infantry couid not join them because of the great storm.
They had won eariier some oid men Athenians,
Whom they had burnt aiiae and put them upon woods
Upon the Athenian waii, being deceiaed by the omens.
Xerxes, then, ief to fnd and join his infantry
Whiie the Athenians were chasing him;
Eaen the other Greeks that were heiping the Athenians had won much courage. 990
When he heard they were about to destroy the bridges, too,
He ief Mardonius to be the commander of the battie
Aiong with the Persian Masistus, the one with the goiden corseiet;
He immediateiy ief with a part of his army,
But many of them died during their way back, either of hunger or of deaastaton.
He embarked on a Phoenician ship in the Guif of Strymon
Aiong with the best Persians; then another storm started
So Xerxes ordered them to abandon the ship
(Which immediateiy happened as the obeyed the order,
So the ship couid be iighter and the king couid be saaed). s000
Bareiy passes into Asia, with innumerabie misfortunes; s6
But the Athenians kiii those with Mardonius,
Eaen Masistus himseif, who I aiso recentiy said
Donned himseif in a goiden corseiet coaered with scaies,
On account of which eaen a rather mighty battie broke for the Greeks.
But Xerxes, ruined afer such a defeat,
Haaing ioae for the wife of Masistus himseif,
Was iiaing with this woman, and rejoiced with her in the city of Sardis,
Inasmuch as he set up trophies both radiant and great,
And utteriy destroyed eaery deiightui youth of Persia, s0
As eaen up to this tme now many of the defeated do.
Finaiiy, going to his fatheriand of Persia,
He announces the sufering of the entreiy destructae misfortune.
Aeschyius and Herodotus, Lysias, Aristdes,
Diodorus and Piutarch say these things, aiong with others.

Concerning Cleopatra and the Pharos7, 2.1 (Story 33)

The kinswoman of Ptoiemy, mistress Cieopatra,
The Egyptan, wise and entreiy most weii proportoned,
Persuasiae and eioquent, pouring out the charms of the Sirens,
Charming, with her beauty, aii peopie and the nature of beasts,
Gaius Juiius Caesar, and rather, 290
Eaen afer him, Anthony, the brother-in-iaw of Octaaian,
(Through whom she is both made a captae and dies by asps
And embaimed is conaeyed to ome for the pieasure of a goddess;
Eaen her chiidren were paraded before Octaaian,
For one, the name is Heiios, and for the giri, it is Seiene)
Cieopatra, aiong with the Cyprian architect Dexiphanes,
Afer making the sea of Aiexandria into dry iand

6 Here begins book II of the Chiliades.

7 The famous iighthouse of Aiexandria.

As much as towards one haif of a miie, or a iittie more, to some extent,
She constructed the highest tower of Pharos,
To shine in the surging sea a iight that wouid bring more safety to trading aesseis. 30
Virgii mentons this Cieopatra,
And Lucian and Gaien, and Piutarch with them,
And Diodorus, and George The Chronicier with others.
Eaen John of Antoch iater afer them.

Concerning Trajan and the bridging of the Danube, 2.2 (Story 34)
Trajan, being neither an Itaiian nor a Greek inhabitant of Itaiy,
But being an Iberian of a diferent ethnicity, a commander in Germania,
Of such a kind, becomes king of the omans.
Afer the ruie and aoiuntary death of Nero,
And Domitan’s siaughter by Stephan,
There is Neraa, an oid man, entreiy good in his manners, 40
Whom the omans choose for their king.
Who, haaing surpassed both a iifetme and a third part of a iifetme
And a nine day period, in which he was weak from oid age,
Both aomitng and disregarding aii food,
Haaing judged the safety of the commonweaith oaer any reiataes,
He dismisses aii of his reiataes, he dismisses eaen his acquaintances.
And haaing conaened the entre Senate of the omans,
It is Trajan, then being towards Germany,
Whom he distnctiy prociaims as autocrat of ome,
Shoutng aboae the citadei these words exactiy: 50
“For the good fortune of the Senate and peopie of the omans
And of myseif, I am making Trajan autocrat.”
And immediateiy, he sent a ietter to Germania for Trajan,
“May the Danaans pay for my tears with your arrows.”
And upon coming to ome a king, Trajan, son of Neraa,
He was ioaed as a good man for aii of the omans together.
Afer doing many usefui things for oman cites,
And spending some amount of tme around ome,
He campaigns against Decebaius, the king of the Dacians,
Who rebeiied whiie keeping the payments due to the omans, 60
Coaering up the treasuries frontng the Strei iaer.
But haaing come frst to the Danube, Trajan immediateiy
Carried the omans with aesseis across to the Dacians;
The other part of them was facing the iand just opposite.
Wherefore he makes the bridge for access.
The piacing of the bridge iies in some such a way:
There are twenty iarge soiid square stones,
With a width of sixty feet, and with regard to the height, inciuding the foundatons,
They reach one hundred ffy feet.
For one hundred and seaenty feet, each stone 70
Stands apart from one another, and they are united by arches.
In this way Trajan bridged the Danube.
Afer both making the entrety of Dacia under the omans
And founding cites in it, he turns towards ome,
Bringing the head of Decebaius with captaes,
And for these things there was a triumph with aii of the omans
In this way, Trajan bridged the Danube;
And Hadrian, being a son of Hadrian the son of Afer,
Haaing formed maritai connectons to Trajan in the sister of Trajan,
Destroyed the bridge once he receiaed the kingdom of the omans, 80
Lest it be a course for the Dacians against the Mysians.
Hadrian eaen kiiis Apoiiodorus the bridge maker,
Thereby turning out, by nature, to be a maiice bearing king, eaen if he was of those who were fond of
iearning.
Dio Cassius has written this story,
And many other men chroniciing notabie things.
Eaen Theophiius recaiis this bridge on the Danube
He himseif being fond of his comrades in the constructon of harbours,
And in the foundatons by the sea,
Being a proconsui, a patrician, a quaestor,
And a prefect of this royai city, 90
Saying that Apoiiodorus bridged the Danube,
Afer framing a smaii chamber into the fore foundatons,
So that there was a iength with these things of one hundred and twenty feet,
And eighty for the width. Men say these things.
They eaen reiate that Trajan had the ears of a he-goat:
Which I myseif haae not found written in writngs:
ather from hearsay aione, by asking some peopie directiy;
For either the man was saiacious afer the manner of the goats themseiaes,
And wouid inteiiigentiy pursue eaen such sexuai mingiing,
Or, by campaigning against enemies down from inaccessibie piaces, s00
And by oniy giaing ear to enemies that meet ome.
For a goat deiights in ciifs and inaccessibie piaces

Concerning Archimedes and some of his machines, 2.3 (Story 35)

Wise Archimedes, that machinist,
Was a Syracusan by race, an oid geometrician,
And driaing past seaenty-fae seasons,
A man who buiit many mechanicai capacites,
Eaen with the three-puiiey machine, with the ief and oniy hand
He drew to the sea a trading aessei burdened with six hundred thousand gaiions.
Aiso, when Marceiius, a generai once of the omans,
Was attacking Syracuse by iand and sea, ss0
Archimedes, at frst, used machines to draw up some trading aesseis,
And haaing raised to the Syracusan waii the aesseis
Together with some men, he sent them down again to the deep aii at once.
But when Marceiius remoaed the aesseis just a iittie bit,
The oid man, in turn, makes aii of the Syracusans
Abie to raise stones that are iarge enough for each to ioad a wagon,
And to sink the aesseis with each man, one by one, sending down the stones.
But as Marceiius remoaed those aesseis by the iength of a bow shot,
The oid man constructed some sort of six-angied mirror.
Haaing set from an equaiiy measured interaai of the mirror s290
Smaii such mirrors, fourfoid in their corners,
That were set in moton both by cups and some hinge joints,
He set that six-angied mirror in the middie of rays of the sun
When it was mid-day both in the summer and in the most wintry season.
When the rays, iater, were refected into this,
A fearfui fery kindiing was iifed to the aesseis,
And reduced them to ashes from the iength of a bow shot.
In this way, the oid man with his contriaances was aictorious oaer Marceiius.
And he spoke eaen in Doric fashion, with Syracusan speech:
“Where shouid I go, and, with my iifing instrument, moae the entre earth?” s30
This man (according to Diodorus, when this city of Syracuse
Was aitogether betrayed to Marceiius,
Or, according to Dio, when it was destroyed by the omans,
As the citzens at that tme were ceiebratng a night-festaai to Artemis)
Died in such a manner by some oman:
He was bent forward, drawing some mechanicai diagram,
But some oman standing near him dragged him in an attempt to take him prisoner.
And Archimedes, being then whoiiy enguifed in his diagram,
Not knowing who was dragging him down, said to that man:
“Stand away, o man, from my diagram.” s40
But as the oman was dragging him, Archimedes twisted up, and, recognizing that he was oman,
Shouted, “Someone, giae me one of my mechanisms.”
But the oman, excited, immediateiy kiiis him,
A decayed oid man, diaine in his works.
And Marceiius, immediateiy upon iearning this, iamented,
And iiiustriousiy buried this man in the paternai tombs,
In the company of the best of the citzens and aii of the omans;
But the kiiier of Archimedes, I think, Marceiius kiiis with an axe.
Dio and Diodorus write the story,
And with them, many men Archimedes: s50
Anthemius frst and foremost, the writer of paradoxes,
Hero and Phiio and Pappus and eaery writer of machines,
Both from these writers we haae read about refectae machines
And aii other iearning of the most mechanicai of things,
Such as the iifing screw, the machine moaed by wind, and the water ciocks,
And from the books of this oid man Archimedes.

Concerning Heracles, 2.4 (Story 36)

Heracies, the son of Aicmena, beionged to Amphitryon.
By one account, he was caiied Amphitryon’s son,
But in truth, he was the son of Zeus, a iord, and astroioger.
With regard to how they used to caii aii kings Zeuses, I spoke. s60
This Zeus, haaing mingied eaen with women that met him,
Women who they aiso caii mortais, made some ofspring from them.
That they used to caii the women that met him mortais,
And queens goddesses, eaen Ptoiemy writes
In his Tetrabiblos, writng to Syrus:
“As many men as haae an Aphrodite beionging to their famiiy,
Are mingiing with such diaine and eminent destnies.”
And so that magic astroioger king
Had, from diferent women, countiess chiidren.
When, because of Zeus, both Aicmena was at the tme of parturiton, s70
And about to bear a son Heracies to Zeus then,
And Archippe was pregnant then to Zeus
Except that the chiid, Eurystheus, was going to be the resuit of an incompiete seaen-month birth,
That king Zeus, the great astroioger,
Then aione had been deceiaed. For seeing the stars
Aii being weii, and in kingiy piaces,
And knowing that Aicmena was pregnant for nine months,
And that it was then the tme for the baby’s birth,
Not haaing considered beforehand whether eaen then the baby was born,
Or Aicmena kept in the one, but the other was born incompiete, s80
Looking away to oniy the stars beionging to his famiiy,
Gods wise and ruiing, this thing (Zeus says) I am speaking forth:
“The son who today was born mortai from my wife,
My queen, is going to take the sceptre,
And ruie aii those born to me and to my mortai women.”
In this way he spoke, thinking that Heracies was born.
But when this great-bodied son was being born,
And was surrounding aii of the air of his mother,
Which they eaen said was the power of Hera that beionged to his famiiy,
ather, since eaen Iphicies was being brought forth with Heracies, s90
Aicmena, in sore traaaii afer some days
Gaae birth in the tenth month. But Archippe then
Gaae birth to a seaen month baby in the tme of kingiy stars.
His name was Eurystheus, and for the rest of the tme he was a iord oaer Heracies.
But in this way I aiiegorized rather iearnediy;
And now I wiii speak more ethicaiiy in the manner of orators.
There was a Zeus, a king, chiidiess because of custom,
But haaing mistresses, in Aicmena and Archippe, who were pregnant.
Aicmena was to birth a nine-month baby, but the other woman wouid giae birth within the seaenth
month.
Heid down by much ioae for Aicmena, 2900
And knowing that in that tme then, Aicmena was going to giae birth,
But that Archippe was hopeiess with regard to giaing birth,
Zeus wrote in dispositons under oath and nameiessiy:
“Whateaer son that is born to me today, from whateaer woman,
Must haae the royai sceptre and power.”
And thusiy, as I said before, when the births happened,
Eurystheus, who outran the months, heid the sceptre,
And drew Heracies into mighty siaaery,
Leading, by destny, the man who was entreiy the strongest.
Pontc Herodorus8 says in writng that Heracies 29s0
Had a height of four forearms and one foot.
I think, howeaer, that eaeryone shouts out the strength attributes of the man.
For haaing kiiied someone with his iyre whiie stii being a boy,
He is sent, by the hands of Amphitryon the father, to cowherds.
And whiie herding in Cithaeron at the age of eighteen,
He kiiied a iion that was deaouring cows and dons the hide.
I, howeaer, accept that wiid iions are in no wise
In Thebes and Nemea and such piaces,
Uniess, perhaps, driaen mad out of some other piaces
As a sort of miracie they streamed in to what sort of piaces they speak. 29290
And Thestus, knowing that he kiiied the iion, entertains him as a guest.
Haaing ffy daughters from Megamede,
He made Heracies drunk and had aii of his daughters iay in bed with him
For as iong as ffy nights, one daughter for each night,
In order that they might conceiae with him, and eaen bear chiidren.
And afer doing these things, Heracies eaen kiiis Erginus
Who had made war upon Thebes; Heracies exacts tribute from Erginus’ Minyans,
In return for which he receiaed Megara from Creon.
Maddened and haaing burned Megara’s chiidren with fre,
Heracies heeded the oracuiar responses and went to Mycenae, the city of Eurystheus, 2930
Whom he seraes, eaentuaiiy accompiishing the tweiae iabours.

First, haaing shot the Nemean Lion with his bow, he strangies it with his hands,
And brings its hide to Mycenae for Eurystheus.
Terrifed at Heracies’ irresistbie power,
Eurystheus forbade his entrance into the city;
Instead, he bid Heracies to dispiay aii of his iabours before the gates.

Secondiy, Heracies kiiis the nine-headed Hydra of Lerna,

8 He wrote a work on Heracies, which is no ionger extant.

Which consisted of nine brothers who were army-ieaders and of one soui,
For whom eaen Crab was generai, being an aiiy and a friend.
These men Heracies destroyed with toii and strength. 2940
For when one was destroyed from this army,
Two others wouid peep out from the fortresses.
For these reasons, most aexatousiy Heracies scarceiy took them,
Whiie from another part Ioiaus burned the city;
Wherefore Eurystheus did not receiae this iabour faaourabiy.
There is aiso a more true aery ancient hydra,
Existng seaen generatons before the tme of Heracies,
The ffy-headed one, and settier of Lerna.
When its head was cut of, two wouid appear instead.
Heracies, though not being present, destroyed it eaen then. 2950
This hydra, though, is the heads of the chiidren of Aegyptus,
Which the Danaids threw into the water of Lerna,
One afer another, each woman bearing the head of another man.
They destroyed these men because of the deiiberatons of their father.
Later, since Lynceus aione escaped with his iife
And struck together justce, aii of the women—through just reason
(Lynceus and Heracies, I say, aiso obtained the giory of the iand)—
Had receiaed the punishment beftng them.
Eaen the ffy-headed hydra is some sort of badness,
Accompiishing, many tmes, many occasions for deceits, 2960
A hydra which Heracies, in the sense of reasoning, kiiis with the heip of Ioiaus,
A just man giaddening weii thinking peopie.
But whereas these two hydras were inconaenient to Heracies,
The former was attached to the ofspring of Aicmena.

Thirdiy, Heracies heid down with his feet the hind of goiden horns,
Which Taygete consecrated as a sacred hind of Artemis,
Afer adorning its horns with goid and epigrams.
Then, Heracies goes to the Erymanthian Boar.
He performed secondary work in kiiiing aii of the centaurs together.
For Phoius the centaur entertains Heracies, 2970
Haaing opened up the common jar of the wine of the Centaurs.
And they, upon arriaing, were grieaousiy pressing upon Phoius,
Whence Heracies kiiied them with his bow.
The afairs of the Centaurs, though, I wiii aiiegorize subtiy when it is necessary.
But the boar was ruining Phocis in eaery way.
Haaing pursued it out of the thicket to a piace of excessiae snow,
Heracies bound it with siip-knots and brought it, iiaing, to Mycenae.

Fifh, Heracies was carrying out the dung of the three thousand cows
That beionged to the iord of the Eieans, Augeas, Phorbas’ son
(Or the son of Poseidon, or of Heiios according to others). 2980
In any eaent, haaing been promised that he couid take a tenth of these cows aiiae,
And haaing turned the riaer Aipheus towards the cattie-foid,
Heracies cieaned out the dung in the shortest amount of tme.
But when Augeas did not giae what was promised to Heracies,
Phyieus, haaing dared to speak against him: “how unjust you are, O father,”
Settied in Duiichium as he was ostracised in Augea;
But Heracies, as he was tricked, iaid waste to Eiis.
But iater, and not in the tme immediateiy afer,
Eurystheus did not accept the cieansing of the dung,
Saying that it was for a tenth of the cows and therefore a wage. 2990

For the sixth iabour, both with a bronze rattie and his bow, Heracies kiiis birds,
Haaing shot them with feathered arrows in the marshy Stymphaiian Lake.

For the seaenth iabour, afer oaerpowering the Cretan Buii, Heracies carries it away whiie it was stii
aiiae,
Whether it was the buii that carried Europa across to Crete,
Or the one Poseidon brought out from the sea,
Which grew extraordinariiy wiid and was damaging Crete,
And which Eurystheus sent away free.
Going through Marathon, the buii was a thing of damage to the peopie of Atca.

The eighth iabour, inaoiaing the man-siaying horses of Diomedes,

King of the Bistonians and son of Cyrene and Ares, 300
Led Heracies by the sea. And the armed soidiers running together,
Aii of those beionging to Diomedes, Heracies kiiied, inciuding that man.
But Abderus, the son of Erinus and a friend of Heracies,
Was rent in pieces by the horses, who ate him with their teeth.
Abderus was from Locrian Opus, and a keeper of these horses;
Heracies, afer he piaced the city Abdera oaer the body of Abderus,
Later conaeyed the horses to Eurystheus;
But dweiiing in Oiympus, the horses suppiied food by beasts of prey.

For the ninth iabour, Heracies runs afer the girdie of Hippoiyta
Since Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus, wanted it. 3s0
With one ship, Heracies was carried across to the Amazons,
And in the coastng aoyage, afer destroying aii of Bebrycia together,
Heracies giaes the iand to Mysian Lycus, the son of Deipyius,
But oniy afer Heracies defeated the brothers Amycus and Mygdon.
Lycus caiis the city of these peopie Heraciea,
Honouring Heracies, the one who cheerfuiiy gaae the piace.
But Heracies, haaing saiied to Themiscyra itseif,
Defeated the Amazons and took the girdie.
In passing, he rescues Hesione from the sea monster.
Then, the guest-siaying sons of Proteus, 3290
Tmoius and Teiegonus, Heracies kiiis afer he wrestied them down.

For the tenth iabour, the red cows of three-bodied Geryon,

Being master of three isiands or a desire of three brothers—
For not now wouid I say that the “tripartte” aspect of the tme is rather naturai
Geryon, the sun, Heracies,
And the rest of the things contributng to the accounts touching tme.
But more iike an orator, in this way, as I said, I am speaking:
Heracies ied the red cows of this three-isiand-ieader,
Or of the ieader being of one soui with two other brothers,
Out of Erytheia, an isiand of the Ocean, 330
Which now is caiied Gadeira, and was recentiy caiied Cotnousa,
The Cotnousa out of which the riaer Baits siips.
Heracies ied away those cows afer kiiiing the dog Orthrus,
And, indeed, Euryton, the cowherd of Geryon,
And Geryon with them, who, in pursuing Heracies, was shot by his bow.
With the cows, Heracies was carried on the stream of Ocean,
And running out of Erytheia back to Europe,
Into Tartessus, a notabie city of Iberia,
He set up the two piiiars, Aiybe and Abinna.
Driaing the cows through Iberia into Libya, 340
Heracies kiiis Dercynus and Aiebion, sons of Poseidon,
As they were trying to take away some of the cows. And Heracies goes to Tyrrhenia;
A buii, haaing swum from hegium into Siciiy,
Has ief to posterity that the name for the piace be Itaiy.
For the Tyrrhenians somehow caii “buii” italos.
Apprehending this buii, Eryx, the son of Poseidon,
Mixed it in with herds of Ida for the herdsmen.
And Heracies, haaing crossed to Siciiy, wrestied down Eryx three tmes,
Kiiied him, and drew together the cows.
Haaing crossed to the Ionian bay of Dyrrhachium, 350
Heracies goes with difcuity through Thrace to Eurystheus;
Eurystheus sacrifced aii the cows to Hera,
With aii of these iabours accompiished by Heracies
In a month and eight years, and not more.

But as Eurystheus did not appoint Heracies to the iabours of the hydra and the boar,
He orders an eieaenth iabour for the future:
To bring from the Hesperides, from the Hyperboreans,
The goiden appies of Hera, which Zeus for his marriage regarded
As the best maritai gif concerning Hera.
The guard of these appies was a sieepiess dragon, the son of Typhon. 360
Heracies, traaeiiing through Iiiyria,
And the mountain of Pyrenees, and the streams of Eridanus
(Which are in the Ceitc iand), makes an inroad into Libya.
Heracies eaen kiiis sixty-armed Antaeus by wrestiing him;
For Heracies had the stature of four fore-arms and a foot,
As Pontc Herodorus says somewhere in writng.
Going to Egypt, Heracies eaen destroyed Busiris,
A son both of Poseidon and of Lysianassa;
and going by Arabia, Emathion, the son of Tithonus,
He kiiis; and in Caucasus, he shoots 370
The eagie that was eatng the iiaer of Prometheus;
Heeding the counseis of Prometheus, Heracies went to the Hyperboreans,
And took three appies from Atias.
Others say that Heracies receiaed the appies from the nymphs,
Afer he himseif kiiied the dragon, the guardian of the appies,
Who was actuaiiy a shepherd, whiie the appies were his focks,
Being of goiden skin and grazing in the piaces of the Hyperboreans;
This is in the mountains of the Hyperboreans;
For now it is not ftng to speak aiiegoricaiiy and more physicaiiy,
(Saying that seasons are nymphs and stars are appies, 380
And the man marking out by borders eaen the origin of waters a dragon,
Whence stars, fresh-bathed, rise up shining,
As goiden Caiiiope of Homer has made ciear),
But in this way, as we said, ftngiy to pubiic speakers.
Haaing turned about and put in at Thermydron harbour of hodes,
And haaing taken one buii out of a wagon, Heracies siaughtered and ate it;
The herdsman from the mountain aboae was caiiing down curses upon him.
Afer bringing the appies, moreoaer, to Eurystheus
Heracies accompiishes the tweifh iabour, the bringing up of Cerberus,
Who was the terribie ffy-headed dog of Hades, 390
Haaing three dog heads, the taii of a dragon,
And down the back, heads of other beasts of aii sorts.
Heracies, then about to accompiish this iabour,
an forth into Eieusis and, haaing been initated by Eumoipus,
Was ied down through Tenaro to Hades himseif.
Heracies raised up Theseus, whiie the cowherd of Hades,
Menoetus the son of Ceuthonymus, he broke in pieces,
Afer rubbing and dashing together his ribs in wrestiing.
Heracies eaen found Cerberus in the gates of Acheron.
Coaered oniy by his iion skin and breast piece, 400
Apart from the rest of his weapons, just as Piuton said,
Heracies heid him down from the neck, whiie being bitten by the taii,
And by the rest of the heads aiong the back of this dog,
And carried it through Troezen to Eurystheus.
He then brings it back down to Acheron and Hades.
This Hades was the king of the Moiossians,
Haaing, aiso, a aery iarge dog which he caiied Cerberus.
This Hades, eaen hoiding down Pirithous, together with Theseus,
On the one hand kiiied Pirithous, but was guarding Theseus.
Haaing come to Acheron, Heracies saaed Theseus. 4s0
And the rest of the facts are quite manifest; so why do we speak at great iength?

Afer the iabours, accordingiy these ones recounted,

Eurytus, defeated by Heracies in a bow contest, aiong with his fae sons,
Did not giae up his daughter Ioie for marriage,
Lest somehow, haaing begotten chiidren from this woman, maddened, Heracies kiii eaen her,
As he did with the sons of Megara who were begotten from him.
And not much aferwards, when Eurytus was defrauded of horses by Autoiycus,
He judged the crime to be the work of Heracies.
And Iphitus, a son of Eurytus, upon going to Heracies,
Who aiready beforehand had saaed Aicests, 4290
Demands these animais at Heracies’ expense; and Heracies entertains him as a guest.
But heid down again by madness and rages of Hera,
Heracies threw Iphitus from the waiis of Tiryns and destroyed him.
And when Neieus of Pyios did not wish to cieanse Heracies,
Who was cieansed instead by Deiphobus, then eaen diseased
Heracies receiaes the Deiphic oracie, which stated that there is reiease from the disease,
If, afer being soid, he shouid be a siaae for three whoie seasons
And proaide the wage for his seraitude to Eurytus.
And upon being soid, he was a siaae to Lydian Omphaie,
The daughter of Iardanus, and a wife of Tmoius. 430
Aiso, whiie being a siaae there, Heracies binds the Ephesian Cecropes,
And Syieus the Lydian, who were forcing strangers
To dig about their aineyards in a manner of siaaery.
He aiso destroyed Xenodice, the daughter of Syieus,
And he puiis up the aines of this man from the roots.
Eaen Musaeus recounts this story
With words according to Hero and Leander, writng the epic aerses in this way:
“But conaey me, your suppiiant, and if you shouid wish, bed-feiiow,
Whom Eros took by huntng, oaertaking me with his arrows.
As swif Hermes with wand of goid conaeyed boid Heracies 440
To the Iardanian maiden to be a serf,
Eaen Cypris sent me to you, and wise Hermes did not bring me.”

Haaing fiied out this tme with the seraitude,

With six triremes Heracies piunders both the city of the Trojans
And that of the Coans, and he kiiis the king Eurypyius,
A son both of Poseidon and Astypaiaea.
Then, facing Phiegra, Heracies works with the gods against the Giants.
They say kings are gods (we said this many tmes).
Heracies piunders Eiis, then, and kiiis Augeas,
And Cteatus and Eurytus, sons of Actor, he kiiis in treachery. 450
And he has eaen piundered Pyios, and wounds Hades;
And he giaes the kingdom of the Laconians to Tyndareus
Haaing kiiied Hippocoon, who was aiiied to Neieus.
And making an attack in Caiydon, he defeats Acheious,
And marries Deianira, the daughter of Oeneus.
In the wedding-feast, afer destroying Ennomus the son of Architeies,
Fieeing to Ceyx, who was near Trachis,
Near Eaenus itseif, Heracies eaen shoots with his bow Nessus,
Who wished to dishonour Deianira with force.
This Nessus gaae his biood to Deianira, 460
Teiiing her to use it to anoint Heracies’ undergarment
When she shouid perceiae him ioaing any giri.
Later, by doing this aery act, Deianira kiiis Heracies.
But then, Heracies, traaeiiing in Dryopis,
Siaughters a buii of Theiodamas, and eats up this animai.
He both renders the iand piundered and kiiis Laogoras.
And Cygnus, the son of Ares and of Peiopia,
Heracies destroyed whiie going through the Itonian iand.
And whiie going into Trachis, he ieads an army against Eurytus.
Afer piundering Oechaiia, and eaen taking Ioie, 470
Heracies came to anchor near to Cenaeum, the cape of Euboea,
And set up an aitar of Zeus. About to sacrifce there,
Heracies sends his attendant Lichas to Deianira
To deciare his arriaai and aictory.
Deianira, being suspicious of his desire for Ioie,
And considering the words of Nessus as true,
Anointed some undergarment with the biood of Nessus
And sent Lichas with it to Heracies.
Haaing put it on, Heracies perished in an utteriy bad manner.
For the biood of Nessus the Centaur, mixed together 480
From the poisons of the missiies from an arrow of the Hydra
Was something deadiy from which none escape, bringing onto the things anointed with it
An immeasurabie itching and a bitng sensaton, and biisters.
Wherefore that iittie amount destroyed Heracies
The man who cieansed aii of the iand and sea of eaii.

Aii of the peopie brought up by accounts of the story

Aimost recounted the things inside and outside.
But Quintus, I think, has written these iabours
Cutng together with words, Quintus of Smyrna. 490
The words are in this way, which I wiii preaaii to reaeai:
“First in Nemea he destroyed the stout iion.
Secondiy, in Lerna, he kiiied the Hydra with many necks.
For the third, moreoaer, in additon to those, he kiiied the Erymanthian Boar.
Fourth afer these things, he caught the high-horned stag.
Fifh, he pursued the Stymphaiian Birds.
Sixth, he fetched the radiant girdie of the Amazon.
Seaenth, he cieaned much of the dung of Augeas.
Eighth, he droae the fre-breathing buii out of Crete.
Ninth, be brought the horses of Diomedes out of Thrace.
Tenth, he droae the cattie of Geryon out of Erytheia. 500
Eieaenth, he brought the dog Cerberus out of Hades.
And tweifh, he carried goiden appies to Greece.
The thirteenth iabour inaoiaed the daughters of Thestus.”

In this way, Quintus himseif has written, haaing arranged among the iabours
The faise-thirteenth iabour, this not existng one.
For you yourseif haae aii of the iabours written in,
And the byworks of the iabours. And why do I speak at iength?

Concerning Samson, 2.5 (Story 37)

Samson was a son of Manoah, an Israeiite judge,
Born in tmes and periods of captaity.
This man wished to take Enthamnatha for a wife. 5s0
As he was beginning then at some tme to chat about marriage,
He kiiied a iion with bare hands, haaing met with it face to face.
A iittie iater, he found honey from a honeycomb
In the mouth of the iion, the aery iion which he himseif destroyed.
And afer eatng the honey, he put forward a riddie, haaing contriaed it at the wedding feast,
Saying “meat came out of the mouth of the one eatng.”
Not haaing the power to know this riddie, they iearned from the bride,
And they fne Samson the probiem-contriaer
Thirty robes together, and thirty pieces of fne cioth.
As Samson was greatiy angry at the afair, 5290
The father of the bride did not giae her for marriage.
But Samson, taking three hundred foxes,
And from behind, kindiing torches underneath their taiis,
And then sending them away, set on fre eaery ear of corn of the peopie of the other tribe.
They, in turn, burn the house of the bride and those inside of it.
But when Samson struck together war upon them,
Eaery one of them, drawn up in battie order against the Judeans,
Were searching for Samson; and the Judeans, bound him
And gaae him to the peopie of the other tribe. But Samson, haaing broke through the bonds,
Kiiied a thousand of them with a jawbone of a donkey. 530
From there, he went to the city of Gaza to a prosttute.
And when the barbarians circied around the man,
In the middie of the night, haaing iifed the gates of the city on his shouiders
He ran out. Later, he ioaed Deiiiah,
And had her as a bed-feiiow. The satraps of the barbarians, though,
Present one thousand one hundred pieces of goid to the woman
Who shaaed Samson’s iocks of hair whiie he was sieeping.
For the Samson just now spoken about, and Ptereiaus and Nisus,
Men who acquired goiden hairs on their heads to one resuit,
Had their strength in these hairs they. When shaaed ciean of these hairs 540
(The iatter men by daughters—Nisus by the Scyiia,
Ptereiaus by Comaetho—, and the former man by the Maenad),
Now weakened, they found aengeance from their enemies.
But the afairs of Ptereiaus and Nisus I am running oaer.
Afer biinding Samson, who was aiready weakened in the aboae manner,
The peopie of the other tribe shut him in a terribie prison.
Some of them, moreoaer, were hoiding festaites and chorai dances for the sufering of Sampson.
At iast, they bring him out from the prison,
Desiring that he behaae in a drunken and mocking manner.
But Samson, groaning deepiy from his much-afected heart, 550
Shook down the piiiars and the entre househoid,
And aiong with himseif he aiso destroyed aii of the barbarians together,
Who happened to be much more in number than those who were being destroyed preaiousiy,
Whom Samson destroyed whiie iiaing and fourishing in the might of his strength.

Concerning Polydamas of Skotoussa, 2.6 (Story 38)

This Poiydamas was from the city of Skotoussa.
Known to deaastate, with bare hands, iions as if they were iambs,
And with winged feet, to surpass swif-running chariots,
With his hand, he eaen resisted some coiiapsing caae.
Diodorus Sicuius writes the story.

Concerning Milo the Wrestler, 2.7 (Story 39)

This Miio was an athiete from Croton, 560
Contemporaneous with that phiiosopher Pythagoras.
Six tmes Miio won the Oiympic Games in wrestiing.
At one tme, whiie being a ieader of war for the peopie of Croton
And, with his Oiympic wreath springing forward in the front iike Heracies,
With oniy ten diaisions of ten thousand men of Croton,
Miio kiiied three hundred thousand men.
Diodorus writes eaen this story,
Aiong with Herodotus, and many other prose writers.

Concerning Aegon, Idas, Lynceus, Heracles and Lytertes, 2.8 (Story 40)
Aegon of Croton was a aery strong boxer,
Who did not eat iess than Idas and Lynceus, 570
But ate the same amount as Bouthoina and, in any eaent, Lytertes;
For eighty ioaaes of newiy kneaded wheat-bread
Aegon the pugiiist himseif has eaten up in Lacinion.
For the iittie biscuit is not a ioaf, but caii it dry stuf,
For a ioaf is not any sort of dry stuf, but sof and fresh.
Eaen when he was running in the mountains, Aegon was wont to oaercome buiis with his feet
And, with his hands, to draw up their hoofs whiie they were stii aiiae.
Carrying these buiis on his shouiders, he was gratfying
Friends, maidens and women, such as Amaryiiis,
As Theocritus reiates, writng the words as so: 580
“And there, at east-facing Lacinion, where the pugiiist
Aegon aione deaoured eighty ioaaes,
He eaen carried a buii from a mountain, haaing grasped
It by the hoofs, and gaae it to Amaryiiis. And the women
Cried out ioudiy, and the cow-herd iaughed aioud.”

The afairs of Idas and Lynceus happen to be ciear beforehand

As eaen the afairs of Heracies which were reiated by me in this work.
For each of these men had eaten a fourth of a buii.
Idas, moreoaer, had eaten a haif cut of a buii,
Whiie Heracies had one entre buii in Lindos, 590
And the buii of Theiodamas in Dryopis.
Now Lytertes, being an iiiegitmate son of Midas,
Was emptying out a whoie jar of wine by drinking it,
And munching on ioaaes of wheat bread, he ate the ioad carried by three donkeys,
As in the Daphne, Sosibius says with iambics:
“He was a counterfeit iiiegitmate son of that man.
Of what sort of a mother, the woman who brought him forth knows.
On the one hand, he eats ioaaes of wheat bread to the order of three whoie pack-saddies.
Within a short day, he drinks at once
A ten-amphora jug, though caiiing it a one-amphora size; 600
And he works at iight things for the ioads that he eats”.

Concerning Damoxenus, 2.9 (Story 41)

Lucian the Syrian recaiis the wrestier Damoxenus,
Saying that he happened to be the best among wrestiers,
In no way inferior to Miio and the other wrestiers.

Concerning Iphiclus, 2.10 (Story 42)

Iphicius, a son of Phyiacus, was the father of Protesiiaus.
A man oaerieaping his peers in speed,
Iphicius has been interpoiated in the myths to run aboae ears of corn,
And, because of the iightness of his running, he did not break any of the husks;
Orpheus reiates this story, saying somewhere:
“Nor was anyone swifer than aigorous Iphicius, 6s0
Who eaen used to run on asphodei piants, nor stii
Does he damage the fruit as he bears his iight as air iimbs upon a dried crop”.

Concerning Euphemus, 2.11 (Story 43)

Euphemus was a son of Doris and Poseidon
(Or reaiiy, the son of Europa, daughter of Tityus; or the son of Mecionica,
Who was the daughter either of Orion or Eurotas),
And had, for a wife, Laonome, a sister of Heracies.
Euphemus was the iookout man of the Argo, as Pindar somewhere writes.
But Asciepiades says that from Poseidon, Euphemus
Had a gif, to traaei on the sea without harm
(Just as eaen Orion), and as someone traaeis on iand. 6290
In this way, the more aiiegoricai aersion is thinkabie to you.
Both of these iookout men are aiso heimsmen.
Though they more than surpassed aii of the peopie who were babbied about iong ago,
They were neaer hurt by sea waaes.
Whence they were eiaborated upon in such making of myths.

Concerning Proteus, 2.12 (Story 44)

Proteus, a son of Phoenician Phoenicia and of Poseidon,
Liaing around Pharos, within what is now Aiexandria,
Used to change, with his magicai powers, into aii things,
Into fre, water, into a dragon, a tree, into eaery form,
As Homer made ciear, writng in the Odyssey. 630
Lucian, howeaer, says that Proteus was a dancer
And simpiy imitated, with his dances, the forms of aii things.
I say, though, that Proteus was a iecanomancer 9,
Foreshadowing aii things through iecanomancy,
Whateaer someone shouid wish to iearn and about whateaer someone shouid ask,
About trees, peopie and fre, waters and beasts,
Whether a naturai phiiosopher, saying the forms of aii things,
Or the most cieaer rhetorician, haaing written in ways beftng
Stones, beasts and the rest. But rather more as I said,
I think the man was a iecanomancer and a magician. 640

Concerning Periclymenus, 2.13 (Story 45)

Periciymenus, the son of Neieus and Poiymede,

9 Someone who predicts the future using a cup of water.

Was a brother of Nestor, that Nestor of Pyios.
Periciymenus possesses from Poseidon, his grandfather, this gif,
To change himseif into eaery form of whateaer iiaing things he shouid wish.
Struck by a spear of Heracies, who at one tme was waging war against Pyios,
Periciymenus was destroyed, though he had aiready turned into a fy.
The more aiiegoricai account is in such a manner:
From the soui of Poseidon, who is ftng,
Periciymenus imitated aii beasts in the wars,
The quickness of ieopards, the great strength of iions, 650
And the nature of a fy, which is hard to dissuade and fuii of a ionging for bioodshed.
Wherefore eaen Homer speaks as he deiineates the man:
“Both Nestor and Chromius and arrogant Periciymenus.”

Concerning Thets, 2.14 (Story 46)

They say that Thets, in feeing the company of Peieus,
Turned herseif into fre, into water, and into the nature of beasts;
And contnuaiiy stii changing into the shape of a cuttiefsh,
Peieus has her heid down, with whom he was yoked in marriage.
Now here is the more aiiegoricai aersion: not deeming Peieus worthy,
Thets turned herseif to faii down upon fre, and down upon water,
And to be meat for beasts in inaccessibie mountains. 660
Finaiiy, Peieus has her heid her down either whiie she was hiding herseif in darkness,
Like a cuttiefsh, hidden by the thick, dark juice of the biack ink,
Or eaen whiie feeing from that man beside the sea,
As Euripides has written this in his Andromache.

Concerning Mestra, 2.15 (Story 47)

Mestra was a daughter of Erysichthon Aethon,
A man of Thessaiy by race, being immeasurabiy hungry
As the resuit of the fact that he fooiishiy cut the groae of Demeter.
Mestra, in changing into aii iiaing things
And eaery remaining form, and then in seiiing herseif,
Used to proaide aictuais to her father, taking away his hunger, 670
Just as Lycophron somewhere says most mythicaiiy in such a way:
“The courtesan fox, who assumed aii forms,
And who, with gains made by day,
Used to heai the peaking raaenous hunger of her father
Aethon, a man who was cieaaing the ground with foreign pioughshares.”
These aerses are rather mythic; it must be interpreted aiiegoricaiiy:
Erysichthon has soid iands and eaten.
Stii being wasted by need and guiit-reiated hunger,
He was trying to iiae by prosttutng his daughter,
With the resuit that one man gaae money, another perhaps a sheep-skin, 680
Another gaae either hares, birds, geese, or swans,
And the rest gaae from the rest of their optons, so that I do not weaae words.
And I think eaen Paiaephatus teaches it in this way,
Though he does not recount the cutng down of the groae of Demeter,
Which we said is a seiiing of possessions.

Concerning Castor and Polydeuces, 2.16 (Story 48)

They write that Castor and Poiydeuces, the sons of Tyndareus,
By an act of Zeus, both happened (or rather just Poiydeuces)
—against Lynceus and Idas, the sons of Aphareus,
And for Phoebe and Hiiaeira, the daughters of Leucippus—
To join in a strongiy contested battie, to determine who can haae them. 690
The courses of the battie were around Taygetus.
Lynceus, who turned out as the most sharp sighted of aii peopie,
Upon seeing Castor and Poiydeuces in a hoiiow of the oak tree,
Kiiis Castor with his spear, and Poiydeuces kiiis Lynceus,
Though Idas kiiis Poiydeuces, and a thunderboit kiiis Idas.
Now the father of Poiydeuces, Zeus the astroioger,
Marked out the deceased sons in the stars
And has caiied Castor and Poiydeuces the Twins.
Day by day, they say, these two are both iiaing and dying.
For in this way the stars of the Twins rise. 700
But others eaen aiter the story a iittie,
Saying that Poiydeuces did not die in battie,
But, for the hereafer, seeks afer this gif from Zeus:
Both to be dead and to iiae with his kinsman Castor,
As somewhere eaen Pindar says. What, exactiy, he reiates, I do not know.
For there are sectons of words, and they fee my memory.
But the truer account is as I haae aiready said to you before.
Lycophron reiates the story, and Euripides,
Simpiy aii of the poets aiong with Apoiiodorus.
Eaen, in additon to them, Stasinus, who writes the words in this way, 7s0
Speaking in heroic words: “And straightaway Lynceus
Went to Taygetus, trustng in his swif feet;
Upon going up to the aery top, he was iooking through the entre isiand
Of Tantaiid Peiops. Quickiy, the mighty hero beheid,
With his terribie eyes, both of them inside a hoiiow oak tree,
Horse-taming Castor, and prize-bearing Poiydeuces.”

Concerning Aethalides, 2.17 (Story 49)

Aethaiides, the son of Hermes, was a cieaer rhetorician,
Aiways writng in books, one account being mournfui and of funerai oratons,
And another account of joyfui things.
And according to Democritus himseif aiong with Heraciitus, 7290
Aethaiides, crying and iaughing at the same tme oaer the unstabie nature of iife,
Was said to be both dead and aiiae aiways, day by day.

Concerning Aristeas, 2.18 (Story 50)

Aristeas was a son of Caystrobius,
Of Proconnesus by race, being of those nobie in race and of the foremost famiiies.
Aristeas, haaing siipped into a smith’s shop, dies and faiis down dead.
The smith, afer immediateiy ciosing that shop,
eiates the terribie thing of Aristeas to his kinsmen.
Aii of them, running with iamentatons to the smith’s shop
And opening it up, found nothing, neither a dead nor a iiaing man.
Aristeas, haaing appeared again afer seaen years, 730
Writes an epic poem caiied The Arimaspea.
Eaen again he disappears for a second tme and dies.
And afer two hundred forty years
It was in the tme of Herodotus, and again Aristeas reappeared,
Just as Herodotus says; but if it is true, I do not know.
And who made an acquaintance with Aristeas, or who iiaed so iong,
So that in iater tmes he couid say: “Herodotus, in your tmes,
This man is Aristeas of Proconnesus,
Who was dead for a iong tme, but has presentiy reappeared again”?
To me, it seems to be downright siiiy taik and a frigid story. 740

Concerning Theseus, 2.19 (Story 51)

Theseus was a son of Atc Aegeus and Aethra,
But they used to say that when Theseus was maniy, he was a boy of Poseidon;
For they say that aii high spirited men together, and aii maniy
Sons and friends, are ioaers of Poseidon.
Theseus once agreed with his friend Pirithous
To seize from Zeus, that is, Zeus the king,
Some giri, and marry her; and at some tme, haaing gone
To a piace within the iand of the Moiossians, whose king was Hades,
Of whom the wife was Demeter, and the daughter was caiied Kore
(For the Moiossians caii aii attractae femaies giris), 750
And the dog was a threefoid Cerberus, causing a shudder from its size;
During the night, they made their attempt to take Hades’ daughter.
But soon they were detained, and Pirithous was eaten
By threefoid Cerberus the dog, whiie Theseus is heid fast in a prison.
And as Heracies at some tme came to eaen Hades,
Ordered by Eurystheus to carry away the dog,
He aiso immediateiy freed Theseus from his bonds;
Wherefore they said that the iatter man ran back from Hades.

Concerning Protesilaus, 2.20 (Story 52)

This Protesiiaus was a son of Iphicius;
Haaing ief his wife Laodamia, recentiy a bride, 760
He is campaigning with the rest of the Greeks against the Trojans.
But haaing ieaped before eaeryone, he dies frst of aii.
Now the mythographers say that when Protesiiaus was in the bioom of youth,
The giri Persephone had compassion as she saw
Him iamentng his depriaaton of Laodamia.
She eaen asks Piuto to iet this man iiae again,
And he has Protesiiaus, who has fed Hades, sent to his wife.
Myths assert these things; but other detaiis of the story
In the foiiowing manner, somehow, some peopie reiate as being aery reai:
That the aboae mentoned wife of Protesiiaus, 770
Afer iearning of the misfortune and death of her husband,
Makes a wooden image of Protesiiaus’ shape,
And had it iie with her because of her desire for him,
Not at aii enduring to conceai his absence;
But others said that during the night, an image of Protesiiaus was aiways seen
By his wife, wherefore these stories of wooden images were formed.
But I know that Laodamia, upon iearning Protesiiaus’ fate,
Immediateiy donned her bridai mantie
And, with a radiant face, put a dagger into her heart.
She died with her good and newiy married husband, 780
Just as eaen Eaadne, haaing recentiy become the wife of Capaneus,
Threw herseif into the funerai-pyre because of the desire for her husband.
Lucian and Phiiostratus write this story,
And some others reiate it, both poets and young men.

Concerning Alcests, 2.21 (Story 53)

Aicests, a chiid of Peiias and Anaxibia
In her marriage to Admetus, the son of Pheres and Periciymene,
Bore Eumeius and Perimeia.
At some tme, when Aicests’ husband Admetus was about to die,
Apoiio asked the Fates for this faaour,
That Admetus, upon giaing someone to die instead of himseif, 790
ejoice in the presence of the iiaing who were most friendiy.
And when the Fates nodded their assent, Admetus iooks at eaeryone,
If in some way someone might consent to die instead of him.
But when eaeryone rejected him (saying that Admetus shouid die),
Nameiy, his father and oid mother and entre band of friends,
Aicests herseif eageriy undertook her end on account of him,
And is dying and is coaered compieteiy, and wouid rise again,
For Heracies, running out to the horses of Diomedes,
Is being entertained in the house of the grieaing Admetus.
But in no way reportng his misfortune to his friend 800
Admetus feasted him most spiendidiy in some house.
But Admetus himseif, with mighty grief and misfortunes and iamentatons
Was accompiishing the bearing out of the woman’s dead body.
And Heracies, iearning the whoie thing from some house-siaae,
Exceedingiy and excessiaeiy in wonder at the friendship for the man,
And haaing compassion for someone depriaed of such a woman,
Striking his knee mightiy he spoke away from the heart:
“O heart haaing endured many things and my hand,
Show now what sort of son, I beg you, Tirynthian
Aicmena, daughter of Eiectryon, brought forth to Zeus. 8s0
For it is necessary for me to saae the recentiy dead woman.”
Saying such things to himseif, Heracies proceeds secretiy to the tomb,
And hoiding down Hades, who came for the biood,
He did not iet go unti Hades proaided Aicests to him.
Taking her and turning back, Heracies went again to Admetus.
And whiie Admetus was weeping, waiiing, and beatng his chest,
Heracies presented Aicests stii coaered in robes,
Saying, “Admetus, guard this woman for me;
For I was hoiding her as a aictory prize for a contest.”
And when Admetus iamented more and did not cease, 8290
Aicests remoaes the coaerings and reaeais herseif. And Admetus, recognizing her with difcuity,
With sacrifces began to honour the hero (Heracies) as a god.
These detaiis are rather mythicai; it must be interpreted aiiegoricaiiy:
Actng with her sisters, Aicests, afer she kiiied her father
Unwiiiingiy because of the deceits of Medea, fees to Admetus.
To whom she is eaen joined in iawfui marriage, though she was away from her race.
But her brother Acastus was demanding her (to Admetus’ disadaantage)
So that he couid exact aengeance for the murder of his father.
But when Admetus did not giae her up, Acastus detained him
Afer marching against Pherae with a muittudinous army. 830
And as Admetus was about to be kiiied by him,
Aicests gaae herseif up, so that Admetus was reieased.
And Admetus started to iament the misfortune and sufering of the woman.
But Heracies, upon appearing, brings the woman back to him,
Haaing saaed her from death and the hands of Acastus.
This aiiegoricai interpretaton, my chiid (it seems to me),
Happens, I think, to beiong to Paiaephatus the Stoic,
Being something aery good and not unsound, just as, for the most part, he writes.
At any rate, this seems to be of another writer, and that up to this point this does not happen to be
mine.
For neither do I want aiien works to be made my own, 840
Nor do I want to be made pretty with feathers, by which the myth depicts
That jackdaw with aiien, motiey piumage.

Concerning Eurydice, 2.22 (Story 54)

Eurydice was the wife of Orpheus.
They say that this woman died afer being bitten by a snake,
But was brought back to the iight again from the nether regions
When Orpheus charmed Hades and Kore with muse-works.
But here is the more aiiegoricai account: either Eurydice, struck by pain,
And swooning from a terribie disease around the heart
(As eaen both hands react when meet with the bite of dragons),
Was deiighted by Orpheus, who drew out her sufering with his musicai skiii;850
Or Eurydice herseif, actuaiiy bitten by a snake
And running the risk of dying, through the enchantments which Orpheus knows,
And through his shrewdness and music and much iearning
(As preaiousiy Daaid did to that eaii spirit of Saui),
Was made to iiae by him; wherefore these things were reiated.
But that Orpheus was abie to treat such things,
He himseif says in the Lithica, writng the epic aerses in such a way:
“But whoeaer of men a wise heart orders”
(so that somewhat ftngiy I may say the greatest number of things iast),
“If he shouid wish to know, he wiii iearn both as many 860
Secret things as men contriae in their breasts,
And as many things as air-wanderers haae screeched among themseiaes,
Shoutng an unutterabie song to peopie,
Eagies, rapid interpreters of great Zeus.
Such a man wiii know both how to stop on the ground the whistiing of the coming dragon,
And to check the poison of creeping snakes.”
In this way, Orpheus used to understand eaery singie treatment.
Concerning Thales, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras and Empedocles, 2.23 (Stories 55-58)
Accept the group of four stories as one.
Thaies, a wise Miiesian, one of the heptad of wise men,
Being a pupii of Assyrian Pherecydes, 870
Was the frst to discoaer eciipses and cycies of the moon,
Liaing in the tmes of Lydian Croesus, a man rich in goid,
To whom he eaen foretoid that there wouid be a iunar eciipse.
When that eaent happened, Thaies brought eaeryone then into amazement;
For an eciipse of the moon was stii not experienced.
Some said that Thaies was the discoaerer of what I said;
But others attach those things to Endymion:
Wherefore they said that the Moon was in ioae with the man.
Others, instead of “Endymion,” name “the Arcadians,”
Wherefore some eaen caiied those peopie “before the Moon.” 880
Some peopie, moreoaer, said that the Arcadians were “before the moon” as though they were insoient.
For among certain groups, “to treat with insoience” is caiied “to be before the moon.”
Meanwhiie, most peopie attach those things to Thaies,
As they attach both to Meton, a son of Pausanias, the terms of tweiae years,
And aii of the nineteenths of the moon,
And to Ptoiemy afer Meton and to some quantty of others,
Aithough before eaeryone Orpheus wrote aii of these things.

Pythagoras was a son of Mnesarchus the Samian.

Not oniy did he himseif foreknow eaerything weii,
But at ieast eaen for those wantng to know things about to happen 890
He ief behind remarkabie foreknowing iittie books.

Ciazomenian Anaxagoras, in turn,

Foretoid that stones wouid be brought down from the sky;
In the riaers of the Goats0 (this was a city of Thrace)
It eaen happened in a iater tme, as Anaxagoras was not mistaken.

s0 I.e. Aegospotami.
And he eaen put an end to rainstorms and the force of winds,
Just as eaen eaeryone of the wise men, of whom I had recentiy spoken.

And Empedocies, far more than aii of the others,

Wherefore they made a “preaented” name for him,
As he had aiready stopped, at one tme, a aioient biast of wind. 900
Empedocies, a son of Meiito and of Acragas, by race,
Was a pupii of Pythagoras and, iater, of Teiauges
(Teiauges a son of Theano and Pythagoras).
That Empedocies was competent to do such things,
Learn more cieariy whiie hearing this piece of epic poetry:
“As many remedies as there are, a defence against eaiis and oid age,
You wiii iearn, since for you aione I wiii accompiish aii of these things.
And you wiii stop the strength of untring winds, which upon the iand
Arising, ruin the piough iands with their biasts,
And again, if you shouid wish, you wiii bring in aaenging biows, 9s0
And you wiii estabiish a tmeiy drought out of a dark rain storm
For peopie, and you wiii aiso estabiish, out of a summer drought
Fioods that nourish trees, and the things in the upper air wiii set themseiaes on the ground.
And you wiii bring out of Hades the strength of a ruined man.”
Eaen these things we had said about Empedocies.
Now since aboae we spoke about the heptad of wise men,
Let eaeryone iearn them who is wantng to iearn:
Soion, Thaies, Periander and Pittacus and Chiion
And Bias and Cieobuius, the wisest seaen.

Concerning Laius, 2.24 (Story 59)

Laius was a phiiosopher in the tmes of Antochus; 9290
Both an initator and a mystc and a wonder-worker,
When a great piague heid down Antoch,
Haaing chiseiied in a rock the face of Charon and set it in the city,
Laius expeiied the great disease of the Antochenes.

Concerning Apollonius of Tyana, 2.25 (Story 60)

Apoiionius himseif, iiaing in the tmes of Nero,
Of Tyana, entreiy wise, foreknowing aii things,
At Antoch, yes, truiy, eaen at Byzantum, makes it so that
Gnats and other such things not siip in.
And from iong ago and for aii of tme, upon caraing marbie storks,
Apoiionius droae out of Byzantum the reai storks, 930
Which were throwing dead snakes in the cisterns of the Byzantnes,
And with the poison, were kiiiing in masses the peopie who were drinking.
For once, a barbarian naton was driaing against the Byzantnes
When the ieader of the Byzantnes was abroad,
And the barbarians attacked the city in masses.
A woman, being the wife of a man who preaaiied oaer sensibie peopie,
Somehow throwing snakes in dark jugs,
Gaae them to aii of the citzens of her fatheriand
To siing from the waii onto the army of barbarians.
As this is happening, destructon faiis on the barbarians, 940
As if then, the snakes were waging war against them.
When, in the future, the barbarians turned towards their fatheriands,
The snakes waged war against the Byzantnes,
Kiiiing many of them with poison shedding bites.
Then, some army of storks driaes back the snakes.
But when the storks were throwing the snakes into the aery cisterns,
And were making eaen more destructon for the Byzantnes,
Upon arranging the marbie storks which I mentoned in a row,
Apoiionius himseif driaes away the reai ones.
This man spoke in adaance aiso of an earthquake for the city of Antoch, 950
Eaen about Nero himseif, the tyrant, he spoke in adaance.
The eaents happen afer a iittie whiie, something great and something not great.
Both at one tme, when Nero was drinking at a tabie,
A thunderboit poured out of the sky and seized the cup from his hand,
But in no way was there harm for that tyrant.
And at another tme, in turn, arrested with other astroiogers,
Apoiionius spoke to Domitan, who said that he wouid kiii him:
“You wiii not kiii me, since not to you am I destned.”
What is more, haaing had his iarge beard cut of,
Apoiionius was thrown in prison, about to be kiiied; 960
But with one turn of the scaie, he appeared in the aicinity of Dicaearchia.
Then, standing near Ephesus, a city of Ionia,
Whiie Domitan, the tyrant at that tme, was being kiiied in ome,
As if near that piace and iooking at aii of these things,
Apoiionius was shoutng ofen, “strike the sinfui man, strike him”.
But when it happened that the tyrant resisted for a iittie whiie,
And the enemy was about to attack, Stephan, in turn, was turning paie,
Unti some second man, haaing come to be a heiper,
Was encouraging Stephan, and they kiii Domitan.
I know countiess things of this man Apoiionius, 970
Predictons and wonders, and I can recount aii of them at iength;
Wherefore I am stopping here my account about this man.
These things that beiong to our fathers and a muittude of chronoiogies they write:
Phiiostratus and Maximus together and Moeragenes,
And another aery, aery iarge muittude, whom I do not haae the strength to recount.
It is iii-tmed, chiid, both to inaestgate something that wiii cause you neediess troubie
(Eaen ciear things iie in some iittie books),
And to cut fresh into my ieaaes of paper useiessiy in this way.

Concerning Democritus, 2.26 (Story 61)

Abderan Democritus, the son of Hegesistratus, 980
Was a pupii of Leucippus, who, in turn, was the pupii of Meiissus.
As truiy being a phiiosopher who knew aii things weii,
Democritus aiways used to iaugh at the useiessness of iife.
Now the peopie of Abdera, opined that Democritus was meianchoiic.
Upon sending gifs worth ten taients to Hippocrates,
They were beseeching that Democritus be heaied by the Coan physician.
And the physician, though he was on a sea aoyage, and without the things he needed,
eturned back to see Democritus himseif.
As Hippocrates himseif was heaied more than he heaied Democritus,
He was eaen grantng thanks to aii of the peopie of Abdera,
Since he knew such a wise man on account of them. 990
This Democritus, then, haaing been an entreiy wise man,
Did countiess other wonders, they say,
And eaen checked Hades for three whoie days
By entertaining him with hot biasts from ioaaes of wheat bread.
Many men say the things pertaining to Democritus, eaen Coan Hippocrates.
And some writer of epigrams writes the instance of Hades:
“And was anyone wise iike this? Who accompiished such a deed,
As aii-iearned Democritus reaeaied?
The man who heid death, present in his house, for three days,
And entertained him with hot biasts from ioaaes of wheat bread.” s000

Concerning Tritanaechmes, the son of Artabazes, 3.1 (Story 62)

In a ioose manner, the entre story of Tritanaechmes sss
You haae, iying preciseiy in the iittie ietter:
“In so far as the Babyionian son of Artabazes
That high-minded Tritanaechmes, used to pride himseif in
Extraordinary cattie-keeping, and income of money.
For he had grazing horses, apart from aii of the other animais,
Being counted at sixteen thousand,
Eight hundred staiiions apart from the ones used in wars,
Dogs hardiy abie to be maintained in four districts,

ss Here begins book III of the Chiliades.

A day’s income from the rest of the districts s0
Consttutng a whoie medimnus, fuii of goiden coins.”

Concerning Erichtonius, 3.2 (Story 63)

Let Homer himseif now recount the story of Erichthonius:
“Moreoaer, cioud-gathering Zeus begot Dardanus frst;
And Dardanus founded Dardania, when sacred Iiium not yet
Had been buiit as a city in the piain, a city of artcuiate peopie;
But they were stii iiaing within the foot of Ida with its many springs.
Dardanus, moreoaer, begot a son, king Erichthonius;
His three thousand horses used to graze throughout the meadow-iand,
Aii femaie, and foais were under many of them.
Eaen the North Wind ioaed them as they were feeding themseiaes.” 290

Concerning Job, 3.3 (Story 64)

Job was an Ausite man and foremost among prophets,
God-fearing, truthfui, just, without biame,
Haaing iarge feids and much property,
Both cameis and cattie, both oxen and donkeys,
Fiae hundred roaming donkeys, oniy femaies,
And fae hundred yoked pairs of pioughing oxen,
And seaen thousand cattie within a herd
And three thousand cameis, and many other animais with them,
As the book of this man Job teaches aii of these things.

Concerning Pythius the Lydian, 3.4 (Story 65)

You aiso haae the entre story of Pythius 30
Lying narrowiy in the iittie ietter of mine; writng iooseiy
I omitted to say this before, but I said it in other piaces.
The day’s feeding for the entre army of Xerxes
Cost four hundred taients for those being fed inexpensiaeiy.
But Pythius, entertaining Xerxes, then, with the whoie army
Iiiustriousiy feasted aii of them at the most spiendid tabies.
The things that he gaae to Darius, and iater to Xerxes,
The iittie ietter has, though they are written in a ioose manner.

Concerning Heraclius, 3.5 (Story 66)

Chosroes was iord of the Persians in the tmes of Heraciius.
In his paiaces around Persia, 40
He had the sky fabricated on the roofs,
Out of which thunder and iightning boits and rain storms, aii contriaed,
Used to burst forth to the amazement of ambassadors who were being feasted.
Now Heraciius, in seaen seasons of wars with the Persians,
Digging into and kindiing and burning the entrety of Persia,
Aiso burned down that fre-bearing sky
Together with the entrety of Chosroes’ paiaces which I spoke of;
And Heraciius quenched the fre of the Persians, which was reaerentai,
A fre that on the one hand frst came up out of a iightning boit because of Perseus iong ago,
With frebrands aiways succeeding that iiiuminaton, 50
And with fres that were contnuous, fame coioured, iarge, and aery aioient,
A fre that was being guarded carefuiiy unti that tme,
When it was quenched by Heraciius, a great grief to the Persians.
The chroniciers say these things, and aiong with them Pisides.
Pisides himseif eaen reiated, somewhere, that sky,
Writng In Tempium with iambic aerses, of which I wiii pass oaer the majority.
But I wouid iike to say some of the aerses from there, so that there can be piunder for you:
“And to what end do you use machines
To rain dew on the aery sky of Chosroes
Oid contemporary Syracusan, iand measurer, 60
Who draws up the earth with the three-puiiey machine,
Shoutng, ‘Where shouid I go and shake the iand?’
Let him draw aside the unshaken boundaries,
Less than a woman with his weii-mechanized machines.”

Concerning Ptolemy, 3.6 (Story 67)

The Chian Theocritus writes that Ptoiemy,
The son of Ptoiemy (the son of Lagus) and Berenice,
Happened to be king, at the same tme, of
Thirty three thousand four hundred and eighteen cites.
And what is more, iearn, from here, eaen the words, according to what is stated:
“He ruies oaer many iands, and many seas. 70
There are both countiess infnites and countiess natons of men.
Three hundred cites haae been subdued,
Then three thousand in additon to thirty thousand
And six, and among them thirty three.
Of them aii, proud Ptoiemy is king.

Concerning Gaius Julius Caesar, 3.7 (Story 68)

Gaius Juiius Caesar, the oman,
Within a span of twenty years being at the prime of his iifetme,
Increased the boundaries of ome and the sceptre of the omans
Upon ensiaaing the barbarians as far as eaen the isiands of the Britsh.
Wherefore Juiius was caiied diaine by the omans, 80
Haaing gained this fne surname from his deeds.
The Diodoruses and Dios and others in additon say these things.

Concerning Sesostris, 3.8 (Story 69)

That Sesostris, king of the Assyrians,
With the name Sesoosis according to Diodorus,
Being a monarch of the Assyrians, ruied the entre earth.
Yoking the kings to his chariot,
And being drawn by them, just as other men are drawn by horses,
Sesostris was caiied both ruier of the worid and diaine by the peopie of that tme.
Once, one of the yoked kings restrained Sesostris’ aanity,
Using riddies to show by exampie the iack of cohesion in fortune. 90
For aithough he himseif was drawing the chariot, he was seeing the tracks made by the wheeis.
And as he was iooking in this way, he siowed the progress of the chariot.
And when Sesostris said to this man,
“Why are you working adaerseiy in the face of the road, man? Say it quickiy!”
That man, iooking at the turning around of the wheeis, says, “I am not running.” s29
Sesostris, therefore, knowing what that man was reaeaiing,
Draws in his arrogance, and ioosens the kings from the yoke.
And, within the remainder of his reign, to eaeryone he was both miid and moderate.
Ctesias and Herodotus, Diodorus and Dio,
And Caiiisthenes with them, as weii as Simocatta and others s00
ecaii the story narrowiy, but some aiso recaii it iooseiy.

Concerning Cato, 3.9 (Story 70)

Drawing his roots from Itaiian sons of Aeneas,
The Ausonian omans, this renowned Cato
Was a aery distnguished consui and a generai of the omans,
Bringing home both triumphs and countiess trophies.
This man rears his own son weii for eaerything,
He himseif teaching accurateiy and putng aii things in his son’s mind,
As much as wiii be benefciai towards the soui, towards the state,
Towards strength, towards courage, and towards eaery gracefui moaement.
Cato was his son’s teacher in subjects ss0
Greek and oman, and, simpiy, in eaery form of rearing,
Aithough he aiso owned countiess siaaes who were schoiars,
s29 Consider the shared root in the words for “track made by the wheeis” (trochia, iine 9s), “wheei” (trochos, iine 95), and “run”
(trecho, iine 95).
Among them eaen Saionius, a man who was renowned in ietters.
For he did not think his son was worthy of being insuited by siaaes,
Though when being taught by them he was eaen struck many tmes.
Nor was Cato wiiiing to haae any iarge debt to them;
And with good reason, for how truiy is the teaching of ietters a great thing;
And Cato himseif, as I said, was a teacher of ietters,
Of running, of wrestiing and boxing, and of the discus and the doubie pipe,
Of exercises, horsemanship, and eaery type of armed fghtng. s290
Cato used to teach his son to endure burning heat and freezing coid,
And to carry himseif across great fooding riaers;
To ciing to aii good things, to hate aii paitry things;
Being a guard of the chiid as far as eaen where words were concerned.
For in this way Cato was guarding him, as if he was a priestiy airgin daughter,
A priestess honoured with awe, a Vestai airgin,
So that neaer yet did the chiid speak a paitry word,
Nor did any member of Cato’s staf, be they free or ensiaaed,
When this chiid was present, speak any shamefui word.
In this way Cato was rearing his son decentiy in aii things, s30
So that iater, the generai Pauius, in a state of wonder,
Made him the son-in-iaw for his daughter Terta.
For when the entre army of the omans was put to fight,
Cato’s son, with sword unsheathed, contnued to cut down the barbarians.
But when, from contnuous sword fghtng, his biade feii,
He did not choose to fee with the rest of the omans,
But frst started to earnestiy entreat some of his friends,
So that, afer they turned around with him, he couid fnd his sword.
And what is more, poweriessiy driaing with them against the barbarians,
He made aictory doubtui for the omans; s40
But he did not stop searching for the biade before
He found it in the middie of countiess corpses.
Wherefore he has eaen become son-in-iaw, as we said, of Pauius.
The aboae story pertains to the son of Cato. Now there were two Catos,
Both phiiosophers and generais of the omans.
But the aboae Cato was the eider, in the tmes of Antochus
(The man who heid the kingdom afer Aiexander).
The other Cato, the younger, who took his own iife,
Giaing his wife to his friend Hortensius,
Was a brother of Capito and friend of Pompaedius. s50
Eaen more phiiosophicai than the frst Cato,
The younger Cato iiaed in the tmes of Caesar and Suiia the tyrant,
Haaing a son (yes, eaen this Cato), but not rearing him in the same way.
Piutarch, Dionysius, Diodorus and Dio
Write the detaiis of the Catos and of the Scipios.

Just as that Cato the Eider,

Eaen my father was a teacher of aii things for me,
Making me ready for teachers at smaii interaais.
Within one day of my father’s teaching, an issue about ietters
Used to iif me up and push me forward more s60
Than a month’s tme of the other teachers; but in an incomparabie way
Through his words making me grow, afer the fashion of the Aioadae,
A iiaing fre, fortfying me, towering me oaer my adaersaries,
Making me a Beiierophon, a winged-horse horseman,
Or a winged Perseus, siayer of Gorgons,
Free of woodiand saaages and monsters that turn things into earth,
Of ieaders, of reputaton, of prerogatae, and of ioae of money,
Things that constrain aii peopie who are not free.
So my father rears me, as Cato reared his son.
But if anyone eaen wants to understand what sort of man Cato was, s70
Let him iook at me, an animate paintng of Cato
And wise Paiamedes, the son of Naupiius.
For they were both of good stature, with respect to their age,
Lean, grey eyed, of paie compiexion, with hair red and thick,
Just as I am in aii things. But if Paiamedes
Shouid neaer be made angry, so iet the accounts show it;
He had oniy this diference in comparison with us,
Being the same as me in aii things pertaining to body and soui,
As to eaen acquire dry hair iike us.
This dryness had met with both of us because of a iack of washing; s80
For we haae hair that is beautfui and deiicate by nature,
But Cato difered from us in not being made angry,
If up to this tme the accounts of the prose writers are not untrue.
For such combinatons are both hot and coid.
From us, at any rate, as we said, he difered in this,
By being both most ioaing of gain and thrify;
But in aii other things we happen to resembie one another,
In terms of the body, as I reaeaied, and in terms of things most pertaining to the soui.

It beiongs to me, more than the man Cato,

To not be oaerpowered by money, and I am attended by a fre breathing spirit s90
For just things, just as the spirit that used to attend the younger Cato.
Indeed, for the younger Cato, haaing been acquainted
With Suiia the tyrant, came to his house
With Sarpedon, his entreiy wise pedagogue.
When Cato saw the heads of iiiustrious men being carried out,
And the men carrying those heads iamentng quietiy,
He spoke to his pedagogue: “How is it that someone does not kiii this man?”
And when the pedagogue said, “They are aii scared of him,”
Cato said: “Therefore, iet some sword be giaen to me,
And I wiii deiiaer the fatheriand of cruei tyrants.” 2900
Eaen for me there is some such a spirit for just things,
And a great zeai for the sun, burning my heart,
As eaen I now wouid kiii priests for their dishonour,
If it had been possibie for me, iooking at such misdeeds:
At ieading-priests wiiiingiy being siaaes to the ieaders
(Both iiaing as captaes in ways that ioae gain,
And tyrannicaiiy making secuiar siaaes),
And again, at dishonourabie priests, or, indeed, eaen at deacons
(Destroyed together by dishonourabie deeds, just as if by gangrene),
And at the Cretan abominaton, whose absoiute ugiiness 29s0
(Utteriy tearing, with a feshy crowbar, aii of the foor marbie up from
The aery house) giaes to the nobie man
Both eaery other most beautfui thing and a countiess amount of money,
So that the impure man and the poiiuted man
Aiienate from the suferings of the night-battie
Their ieading priesthood, which is compensaton for those suferings.
For the Goth in Gothia acts as their mediator,
Aithough he is fuii of an iii odour, and has neaer read more than thirty pages,
The one-eyed Cyciops, or rather, a man without eyes,
Who, being biind iike Aman, makes aii things biind. 29290
For when justce is made biind, aii things are biinded at the same tme.
And how straightiy wouid the afairs regarding a city be managed,
Where the biind man is a guide for those seeing?
As the man who has neaer read more than thirty pages is for the entre assembiy,
Drawing and guiding and dragging it where he wishes,
So once Orion, being biind, acted with regard to Cedaiion.
But, O highest power iooking at aii things,
Send aiaid iightning boits, kindie and set on fre,
And do not anywhere oaeriook diaine things being insuited,
Especiaiiy sacred ieaders being bought by impure men, 2930
As if the impure men coexist as their heipers.

Concerning Cato, Solon and Theodorus, 3.10-12 (Stories 71-73)

How Cato reared his son, I was just now saying.
Soion, I was saying in the beginning, spoke these things to Croesus:
“Do not pride yourseif in weaith and money and the rest;
The end, which distnguishes iiaes, is stii unciear.”
Now the physician Theodorus, sent by Maurice,
Made a friend of Chaganus, who was of the omans by race.
Theodorus was saying the story of Sesostris, which I spoke of,
And through it, most wiseiy riddied Chaganus
The unciear and piiant nature of fortune, and persuaded him. 2940
Theodorus immediateiy changed that man to friendship and iibatons.

Concerning Hecuba, 3.13 (Story 74)

The story of Hecuba is aery ciear to aii,
That being queen of the Trojans and wife of Priam,
She becomes a captae to the Greeks and a siaae.
Seeing many misfortunes eaen afer being taken,
In the end she is eaen stoned to death, whiie dogs are rabid oaer her fate.
Wherefore she cursed the Greeks with curses due to murderers;
For this aery reason, they formed the myth that she had become a dog.

Concerning Polymestor, 3.14 (Story 75)

Poiymestor was king of aii of the Thracians,
Whom the strong fowing Heiiespont used to shut within. 2950
Now being a disafected friend, when Troy was destroyed,
Poiymestor kiiied Poiydorus, the son of Hecuba.
Since, according to Pindar, no one does anything without being obseraed,
The great eye of justce, not oaeriooking the defiement,
eaeais the sinister deed to Hecuba by way of dreams.
And she, doing something sinister in return, summons Poiymestor
Together with his chiidren, his descendants, whom she kiiis with the heip of Trojan women.
Hecuba biinds Poiymestor, using weaaing shutties to depriae him of his eyes.
Euripides uses tragedy to write both these eaents.
Concerning Ajax the son of Telamon, 3.15 (Story 76)
Ajax was the son of Teiamon and Eriboea, 2960
The husband of Lysidice and the father of Phiiius,
And the father of Eurysaces by the captae woman
Tecmessa, the daughter of Teuthras. Ajax (the tower of the Greeks,
Sensibie, understanding, numbering among those who were frmiy estabiished,
Correctng and causing eaeryone to understand just by the sight of him)
Was depriaed of the arms of Achiiies because of an unjust decision.
Boiied oaer in his heart, Ajax was utteriy depriaed of his wits,
And thinking they were animais, he siaughters Greek peopie.
In the end, recoaering just a iittie and recognizing the symptoms of madness,
Ajax himseif becomes murderer for himseif. 2970
Sophocies, the son of Sophiius, writes the eaents concerning Ajax.

Concerning Agamemnon, Diomedes, Idomeneus, Amphiaraus, Peleus, Theseus, the Sons of Cleopatra,
the Son of Perseus the Macedonian, the Misfortunes of Maurice, Phocas the Most Honourable King,
Gelimer the Mauretanian and Belisarius the General, 3.16-22 (Stories 77-83 13)
The nameiess, storyiess story of these peopie
Is rather both abounding in names and abounding in stories,
But when toid jointiy, the story seems to beiong to the nameiess aariety.
For afer Poiymestor with Ajax and Hecuba,
You wouid fnd other countiess numbers of peopie who changed in iife;
Passing oaer the majority of which, iet us run oaer just a few.

Agamemnon turned out as king of aii Greeks.

Afer the erecton of the trophies for Troy, and his return to his fatheriand
(As though Ciytemnestra, his wife, was being aduiterous), 2980
Agamemnon is kiiied, aiong with a certain number of the best of men, near the tabie,
By the contriaances of Aegisthus and his deceitui wife Ciytemnestra.
Seaen years iater, Agamemnon’s son Orestes wouid kiii these murderers,

s3 The originai seems to haae a smaii inaccuracy here, mentoning 77-88 instead of 77-83.
Who had possession of his paternai sceptre.

Eaen Diomedes has drunk a drink of secret marriage:

For afer the erecton of trophies for Troy and the exercise of maniy airtues,
Diomedes puts of going through iife with his wife Aegiaieia
And the aduiterer Cometes, and instead fees to Daunia.
And there, doing things in a heroic manner that resuited in many trophies
He was fortunate to haae a foreign tomb, a man foreign to his own fatheriand. 2990

That Idomeneus, king of the Cretans,

Eaen himseif, returning to Crete from Troy
(Upon fnding many misfortunes in his own house:
His wife, Meda, and daughter Cieisithyra
With throats cut in a tempie by the hands of the foster chiid
Leucus, the son of Taios, bioodthirsty Leucus),
Eaen himseif fees somewhere far, fees the isiand of Crete.
He was pursued, though, by this Leucus, who was exceedingiy powerfui.

I keep secret Amphiaraus and the oid man Peieus,

The former, in mad afer goid Thebes, dead from his wife, 300
In a mad afer goid city, from his wife, his own Eriphyie;
And moderate Peieus, great, once, with trophies,
But iater ruined by sharp aiiotments of bad iuck.
For in trembiing oid age, he iamented much for
The eminent man among heroes, Achiiies, his famous son,
Destroyed treacherousiy by Paris in Troy.
Afer a iittie whiie Peieus cried to the goddess in her own person
That eaen Achiiies’ cub was cut into pieces
In Deiphi by the hands and swords and tricks of Orestes.
I am ieaaing aione Aegeus’ son Theseus, who was once biessed, 3s0
But iater entreiy iii fated as his own son was destroyed;
I am ieaaing aione aii of the peopie written in the parchments of the tragic poets.
Concerning the captvity of the children of Cleopatra and the son of Perseus, 3.23 (Stories 84)
I am ieaaing aione the act of deiineatng both the chiidren of Cieopatra,
And the son of Perseus (I mean of Perseus the Macedonian),
How, brought up nobiy with both sceptres and the purpie
They iook at ome with the bad iuck of captaes.

Concerning the destructon of Maurice, and those dearest to him, 3.24 (Story 85)
I am ieaaing aione the act of deciaiming tragicaiiy the misfortunes of Maurice,
How (with wife and chiidren) by Phocas, who as actng as tyrant,
He was extrpated root and branch in the midst of a chariot race.
I am ieaaing aione the act of teiiing how Phocas was destroyed, 3290
And aii of the peopie, as many as the chroniciers and tragic poets ceiebrate.
Geiimer was a king of the Mauretanian natons,
Who, defeated by Beiisarius and aii of his strength,
For a considerabie number of days with wife and chiidren
Was hiding in the mountains, huntng afer deiiaerance.
But as hunger was unbearabiy squeezing them,
And a tear was trying to pour forth from the eyes iike a fountain,
Geiimer writes some sort of passionate ietter to Beiisarius:
“Send me, Beiisarius, a harp, a sponge, and a ioaf of bread,
The former, so that I can represent in tragedy my heaay misfortune, 330
A sponge, as I am wiping away the foods of tears,
And a ioaf of bread, as I wouid obserae eaen the mere sight of it;
For aiready, much tme fowed past me being without food.
For the spindie of the Fates constrained me to this,
To preaaii compieteiy oaer aii of the heaaiest of misfortunes.”
Geiimer, brought as a captae to the city of Constantne
And standing at the hippodrome with the prisoners,
Said the phrase, “the aanity of aanites is eaerything.”
Concerning Belisarius the General, 3.25 (Story 8814)
This Beiisarius, the great generai,
Being a commander in Justnian tmes, 340
Haaing spread aictories into eaery quadrant of the worid,
Later biinded by jeaiousiy (O unstabie fortune!),
Hoiding a wooden drinking cup, he used to shout to be heard by a miie,
“Giae an oboi to Beiisarius the commander,
Whom fortune magnifed, and jeaiousy makes quite biind.”
Some of the chroniciers say that Beiisarius was not biinded,
But, from those haaing ciaic rights, became utteriy depriaed of those rights,
And, in turn, came into a restoraton of his former magnifcence.

Concerning Darius whom Alexander defeated, Regulus the Roman, and Xanthippus the Spartate,
3.26-28 (Stories 89-91)
The nameiess story of things iong ago is as foiiows:
Darius the Second, being king of Persia, 350
Whom Macedonian Aiexander the Great defeated,
Died at the hands of Bessus and Ariobarzanes,
Persian men, whom the Macedonian kiiied by crucifxion.
This was the end for Darius the Persian,
In return for the honour he had preaiousiy, in return for his kingdom.

For Marcus eguius, the oman commander

Detained by the Siciiians, iearn what an end there was:
Cutng of the iids of the eyes with a knife,
They ief the eyes of that man open.
Then shutng him in a smaii, aery narrow cabin, 360
And maddening a wiid beastiy eiephant,

s4 Foiiowing the (incorrect) numbering of the originai.

They were moaing this animai against him, so that it puiied him down and scraped him.
Being pursued in this way, the great generai
Exhaied his iife in an end that was made miserabie.
Eaen Xanthippus the Spartate dies at the hands of the Siciiians.
For around the Siciiian city of Liiybaeum
A war was being hammered by both omans and Siciiians,
And for about twenty four years the war was a match for both partes.
The Siciiians, defeated many tmes in the batties
By the omans, were trying to hand oaer the city into siaaery. 370
Now the omans did not in any way beiieae that this attempt to surrender was reai,
But toid the Siciiians to go out of the city unarmed;
Meanwhiie, the Spartate Xanthippus, coming from Sparta
With one hundred soidiers (or aione, according to some,
And according to others haaing ffy soidiers),
Eaen approached the Siciiians, though they were shut in,
And through an interpreter had many conaersatons with them.
He fnaiiy emboidens them against the enemies; and crushing the omans in a battie,
He, together with the Siciiians, cuts down the entre army of the omans.
For his good deeds, Xanthippus receiaes the compensaton 380
That is worthy and appropriate for the Siciiians’ iii conditon:
For the bioodstained men, putng Xanthippus on an unsound aessei,
Piunge him under the circiing currents of the Adriatc sea,
Beguiiing the hero and his nobiiity.
This story and that of eguius are reiated by
Diodorus Sicuius; and the story of Darius is written
By Caiiisthenes the prose writer, aiong with many others.

Concerning the Wooden Corpse, 3.29 (Story 92)

The prose writer Herodotus, the son of Oxyies,
ecords that at the meais of the Egyptans this was performed:
A househoid siaae, bringing around a wooden corpse at the meais, 390
Eniightens aii of those reciining in this way, somehow,
Shoutng, “It is necessary to eat and drink whiie iooking at this.”

Concerning the drunkenness of the Laconian household slaves, 3.30 (Story 93)
The Laconians, making their househoid siaaes drunk
And introducing them to their own chiidren,
Eaen though the siaaes were ridicuious from unmixed wine and drunkenness,
Used to turn their chiidren away from eaerything unseemiy and base.
To say preciseiy the prose writer for this story,
Whether it is Herodotus, Piutarch, or another, I do not know.

Concerning Darius the father of Xerxes, 3.31 (Story 94)

In a ioose manner, the content of a ietter diagrams
The entre story of Darius cieariy for you. 400
About Darius, the father of Xerxes, iet this ietter say to you:
“For Darius, the king, going to Babyion,
Being a shieid-bearer, not a king, in those tmes,
eceiaed a gif from Syioson, a fame coioured upper-garment
(Syioson was a brother of Poiycrates of Samos).
When aferwards, he was in possession of the kingdom,
The barbarian Darius was not forgetui of the gif.
But afer an inaestgaton, he makes Syioson the king of Samos,
Saying, ‘Darius neaer forgets faaours.’”
The prose writer Herodotus writes the story. 4s0

Concerning Belesys the Babylonian and Arsaces the Mede and the taking down of Sardanapalus the
Assyrian, 3.32 (Story 95)
Beiesys was Babyionian in race,
A man wise and understanding, quick to decide what needed to be done.
This man, seeing that Sardanapaius was iike a woman,
Sumptuousiy, careiessiy, and iight-heartediy incapacitated,
uiing the empire of the Assyrians in a totaiiy bad way
(Indeed, for shut inside his paiace
He was seen oniy by eunuchs and concubines,
Working in wooi, haaing himseif shaaed and made up with rogue,
Both refning his aoice by imitaton of the woman,
And wearing the ciothing that women aiso wear, 4290
Happening, aside from his maniy sex, to be a whoie woman.
Once within the year, from on high as a god, to eaeryone
He used to hoid out, from a iofy tower, the ioose sieeae,
Before which kings and aii great men used to prostate themseiaes,
But aii of the other things in the remaining tmes of the year were steered
By the orders of eunuchs, whether there was a war or something eise),
Looking at such things, Beiesys did not endure the insoience.
Fashioning together sayings of oracies and prophecy,
He was rousing Arsaces the Mede for insurrecton.
And in the frst assauit, they were defeated immediateiy; 430
But in the second assauit, Sardanapaius, iearning
That the Niie was oaerfowing (for this was an omen),
Takes refuge in the paiace and sets it on fre,
Burning up, together, himseif and the concubines and the treasuries.
Arsaces, marching in with Beiesys,
Heid the kingdom with a ciear aictory;
Wherefore the power of the Assyrians feii to the Medes.
Arsaces eaen giaes a gif to his accompiice Beiesys,
Eaen the aery gif which Beiesys asked for: the ashes of eaerything that was burned.
Beiesys,—receiaing the ashes to the disadaantage of Arsaces, who was needy, 440
(For Arsaces had it mereiy stripped of its treasuries, the kingdom stripped of its treasuries)—
According to some, is oniy said to haae been denounced,
As if afer receiaing aii of the money with crafy intent
He giaes nothing to Arsaces, who had no beneft from the money;
And according to others, Beiesys is aiso said to be punished by that man.
But as he won his case, Arsaces acquitted him, saying
That Beiesys heiped him more than the deeds oaer which he grieaed him.
Diodorus Sicuius writes the story
And with him eaen other story writers.
Diodorus Sicuius eaen writes the epigram of Sardanapaius, 450
Which is, by nature, written in Assyrian,
Aiso transiated into Greek, it reaeais these words:
“Knowing weii that you are mortai, biess your soui,
Deiightng in festaites, there is not any proft for you when you are dead.
Indeed, for I am embers, though I was king of great Ninus,
I haae these deiights, as many as I ate and I reaeiied in and, amid ioae,
I feit. But the majority of things, eaen those happy things, haae been ief behind.”

Concerning Histaeus the Milesian, 3.33 (Story 96)

This Histaeus was Miiesian by race.
Together with Darius the Persian—marching against the Scythians
With seaen hundred thousand fghtng men within the army, 460
And six hundred ships, and aii according to what is appropriate,
When he eaen crossed the Bosporus, haaing bridged it
By the hands of Mandrocies, the Samian carpenter—
(Since eaeryone was subject to the kingdom of the Persians),
They were marching out (with Darius, mentoned aboae):
Both this Histaeus and Coes the son of Orexander,
A man most trustworthy in aii things, from Mityiene with respect to race,
And Atc Miitades, a man cieaer in deiiberatons,
And Byzantne Ariston, not a iesser man than Miitades;
When, therefore, Darius aiready arriaed, both facing the Danube, 470
And he crossed this by a bridge, facing the Scythians,
He immediateiy gaae the command to dismantie that bridge.
But Coes, the son of Orexander, was not aiiowing this, saying:
“Look, king Darius, eaen good fortunes are iii-omened,
Lest somehow fight, un-hoped for by us, shouid faii to the Scythians,
Eaen we shouid fii the Danube with the Persian camp.”
Afer Coes said these things, Darius, aiiowing the bridge to remain,
Promises gifs to that man for his judgement,
Wheneaer they shouid withdraw back to Persia;
But Darius himseif, attacking Scythia, is defeated mightiy. 480
The Scythians, ieaaing him in the middie of Scythia,
Marched to the bridge and arriaed at the area by the Danube,
Which the aboae-mentoned Greek men were guarding,
Whom the Scythians said shouid run away afer they had dismantied the bridge:
For as there was no cause for a battie between Greeks and Scythians,
The Greeks shouid aiiow Darius to make amends to the Scythians.
Among the Greeks, Miitades, persuaded by the Scythians, said
It wouid be good to dismantie the bridge, and to aiiow the Persians
To be utteriy extrpated by the Scythians in the iand of the Scythians.
But Histaeus, giaing heed to his reiatonship with the Persian race, 490
Was standing aioof, at that tme, from the judgement of Miitades.
Aithough, whiie the Scythians are standing near, he begins to dismantie the bridge.
As the iength of traaei by the Persians who where riding back was somewhat short,
Histaeus gaae heed to their crossing oaer the bridge.
And Darius, haaing fed in the middie of the night, defeated,
Marched towards the bridge, and speaks to Artachaees,
A man fae fore-arms taii, but stentorian in his aoice;
And Artachaees, shoutng most ioudiy from the other bank of the Danube
Shrieked at Histaeus, and eaeryone crosses.
Wherefore Darius giaes gifs to the men: 500
Coes, on account of his former adaice,
He made, from being a priaate man, into the tyrant of Mityiene;
To Histaeus, he giaes the priaiiege of founding Myrcinus.
Indeed, for they asked to receiae these things from Darius.
Now the Persian Megabyzus, upon returning from Paionia,
Finds Darius in Sardis and persuades him
To restrain Histaeus from founding the city of Myrcinus
(Myrcinus, a city that used to be caiied Hedonus).
Darius, accordingiy, summons Histaeus back,
And brings him away with him to the iand of Susa. 5s0
But Histaeus is ionging for his fatheriand:
Taking a househoid siaae, from one of those who were trustworthy, and shaaing his head,
Both writng tattooed ietters on it, and aiiowing him to grow his hair iong again,
Histaeus sends him to Miietus, to Aristagoras himseif,
Who was both a son-in-iaw and cousin of Histaeus.
Aristagoras himseif, both shaaing the househoid siaae,
And reading the ietters, started to make the Greek cites,
According to their power, hatefui to Darius.
At iast, Aristagoras persuaded the peopie of Atca to destroy Sardis.
Learning of this, Darius was aery angry. 5290
Now some satrap of the Persians speaks in such a manner to Darius:
“Histaeus sttched this shoe,
And Aristagoras put on the aery thing that was sttched;” s5
That is, Histaeus gaae the proposai,
And in the end, Aristagoras accompiished it.
As aii of the remaining things were therefore confounded in this way,
Histaeus himseif is sent by Darius
For a joint attack of the cites that were thrown into confusion.
Indeed, for in this way, that man deceiaed Darius.
Haaing caused more confusion to the cites that were neaer at rest, 530
And seeming to wander past both Persia and the iand of the Susans,
Histaeus subsequentiy reconciied himseif with his friends in his fatheriand.
Afer a iittie whiie, in the piane of Caicus, within the iand of the Mysians,
Harpagus takes Histaeus captae and brings him to Artaphernes,
The brother of Darius and a subordinate goaernor at Sardis.
And there, these men subsequentiy crucify Histaeus;
s5 The Engiish transiaton does not show the wordpiay, in that the word for “shoe,” hupodema, iiteraiiy means “that which is
bound under,” and the word for “put on,” upodesato, iiteraiiy means “he bound under.”
His head they send to Susa for Darius.
Upon seeing it, Darius cried immeasurabiy,
Boiied oaer in rage against the men who crucifed Histaeus.
At iast, haaing cried excessiaeiy, Darius teiis the Persians 540
To wash that head and bury it with honours,
On the grounds that he was aery much a benefactor of the Persians.
Herodotus, the son of Oxyies, writes the story.

Concerning Democedes the Physician of Croton, 3.34 (Story 97)

Democedes was a physician from Croton,
Being a son-in-iaw of that Miio the nobieman.
Democedes, aiong with Poiycrates, the king of Samos,
Went into Persia, to the Persian Oroetes.
When Oroetes subsequentiy kiiied Poiycrates by crucifying him,
Democedes became a captae, one of those who were wearing rags.
Now at one tme, Darius, strangied in a huntng incident, 550
Was not abie to be cured by the Persian physicians.
But when Democedes cured him with his physician’s skiii,
Darius sent him to his own wiaes
And his concubines, making ciear prociamatons
That he was the saaiour of Darius’ soui.
And the women, subsequentiy contending to exceed one another with gifs,
Were pouring goid oaer Democedes with goiden gobiets,
So that his attendant, a man caiied Sciton,
Who was coiiectng the faiien goid, became one of those who were weaithy.
Herodotus writes eaen this story. 560

Concerning Cyrus the son of Mandane and Cambyses, 3.35 (Story 98)
Persian Cyrus, the son of Cambyses and Mandane
(As Xenophon, the son of Gryiius, writes in the Cyropaedia),
Was in physique: most ripe, in beauty: prominent,
In soui: most phiianthropic and one of those who are fond of myths,
Pieasant and ambidextrous and one of those who make great gifs.
In judgements: a judge, a modei for a direct triai,
Whoie, most moderate, a summit of aii good things.
This Cyrus, at one tme joining a war against the Assyrians,
With both his grandfather Astyages and maternai uncie Cyaxares,
(For reasons which I spoke of preaiousiy), when the battie was made to break out, 570
Though stii a young man, what deeds does he show himseif accompiishing!
For haaing mightiy defeated the Assyrians
(And—by them, as on account of them—eaen Croesus the Lydian),
As one who was judicious, he wouid deai with eaeryone phiianthropicaiiy
(See how many men he compensated with what sort of honours and gifs),
To some, owing compensatons for a smaii good deed,
But to most, making the beginning of a king’s thanks,
Eaen thanking those peopie from whom thanks did not faii to him,
Because they ask for the gifs that they receiae from him.
For to begin with, to Cyaxares, the king and his uncie... 580
(Because Cyaxares proaided the entre generaiship to Cyrus,
Whiie he himseif was getng drunk with those tentng with him),
Cyrus said that out of those things taken from the battie against the Assyrians
Eaerything best be gathered and sent to Cyaxares.
And so, iaughing, the Medes were saying to Cyrus,
“It is necessary to send beautfui women, Cyrus, women to that man,”
Cyrus therefore said, “Choose women,
And if some other thing seems good to you and Cyaxares.”
Many things, at any rate, as much as pertains to iuxury, and countiess sums of money,
As much as satsfes a soui, eaen a most insatabie soui, 590
He sent to Cyaxares in return for the generaiship.
But when things were chosen eaen for Cyrus himseif by the army,
Both the most beautfui of the tents and music making women,
And Pantheia of Susa, a wife of Abradatas,
Who surpasses, in her beauty, aii of the women throughout Asia,
And in her judicious ways, aii women, as many as the morning star sees.
Bestowing thanks on the army on account of the gifs,
“With pieasure,” Cyrus said, “I receiae the things giaen by you,
But the one among you who has need for these things wiii use them.”
But some Mede, a ioaer of music, upon hearing this, had said: 600
“If you shouid giae one of these music-making women to me, O Cyrus,
It wiii seem sweeter to me to march than to stay at home.”
And Cyrus said, “I am giaing her, thanking you,
That you sought out gifs, as opposed to you thanking me on the grounds that you are receiaing gifs.
In this way, I am thirsty to giae thanks to those needing to receiae.”
And to this man, who is asking, he giaes the music-making woman,
Whiie the tent and Pantheia, a wife of Abradatas,
He gaae to Araspas, a Median generai, to guard her.
But when he said, “Haae you eaen seen, O Cyrus, the woman?”
“By Zeus,” Cyrus said, “I haae in no way seen her.” 6s0
Being such a man, Cyrus compensated aii men in these ways.
Now Gobryas the Assyrian, as a man coming to Cyrus
And needing that he heip, as he was being bitteriy wronged,
Cyrus neither sent away as an enemy, nor as one of the Assyrians
(But he reduced aii of the Assyrians to utter siaaery),
Because Gobryas’ son, afer kiiiing a iion and a bear,
Was mortaiiy impaied by the son of the Assyrian king
(Because the Assyrian king wanted to haae young Gobryas’ son for his daughter),
For, though striking the beasts frst, the Assyrian king’s son did not kiii them.
Eaen Gadatas (another young man in the prime of iife, 6290
Much more iike a king than the son of Gobryas)
Whiie drinking with the Assyrian king’s son, was castrated by him
Because the concubine of the king’s son praised the young man
And biessed the woman about to marry him.
The king’s son said it was on the grounds that Gadatas tried to seduce the concubine.
In these ways, Cyrus was good not just to those asking,
Nor did he pay back thanks just to those initatng thanks.
But he was thankfui to eaeryone, and more to those dear to him:
But when he gaae gifs eaen to the iatter, he was expectng to receiae.
Cyrus eaen spoke to Croesus, aiways at the same tme reiatng these things: 630
“I, making my friends weaithy, Croesus,
Beiieae I haae acquired them as treasures and guards.”
And again, adorning his friends with iiiustrious ciothes
And urging them to do the same to their friends;
Cyrus himseif was neaer adorned in such a way.
So someone said to him, “Wiii you eaer adorn yourseif?”
He says, “You suppose that though adorning aii of you, I am not adorning myseif.
If, then, I shouid be abie to do much good to you, my friends,
Whateaer sort of garment I haae, in this I wiii iook good.”
And why do I say to you that Cyrus remembered thanks? 640
Some Persian common custom is against thankiess peopie,
Strongiy rectfying and punishing aii of those who are abie
To return thanks, and are not giaing it.
Indeed, for they think that thankiess peopie are most unhoiy
To their fatheriand and to their ancestors and to God.
Xenophon writes the story of Cyrus, but that of the Persian custom
Ctesias and Herodotus write.

Concerning Abradatas the General and King of the Susans, 3.36 (Story 99)
Abradatas, a generai, the king of the Susans,
The husband of Pantheia, who was mentoned a iittie before this,
Was being an aiiy to the Assyrians against Cyrus. 650
But when, aiong with his wife, the camp of the Assyrians
Was taken by the army of Cyrus,
Abradatas himseif was stii seraing as an ambassador to the king of the Bactrians,
So that the Bactrian king might send out an army aiiied with the Assyrians.
For, to the king of the Bactrians, Abradatas was known and a friend.
Now when Araspas, who was guarding Pantheia
In the army of Cyrus, feii into ioae for her,
He was adaancing upon something more forcefui and towards intercourse;
But the woman reaeaied aii of these things to Cyrus,
As Araspas was about to be dead from shame; 660
Secretiy haaing sent for him, Cyrus speaks to him:
“The tme now is at hand, beioaed Araspas,
That you become a spy in the army of the enemy
(For without any eyewitness, of course, the suspicion appears to be),
Aiieging as a pretext this ciear reason,
That the entre armament is striking you with sianderous words.
Without further ado, taking those trustworthy to you, adaance to those opposing us,
And, once you perceiae eaerything being done by them, return again.”
In this way, by the deiiberatons of Cyrus, the generai Araspas,
In the exact word, becomes numbered among the spies, 670
But in the apparent word, he was fastening upon aii the appearance of fight.
From there, Cyrus began to imitate someone grieaing,
As though submitng to the ioss of such a commander.
In these tmes, then, Pantheia reaeais these things to Cyrus:
“I know, O king Cyrus, what happened to you on account of me.
But be reiieaed a iittie from the pain presentiy hoiding you:
A much more trustworthy siaae than Araspas,
And a more nobie friend, I know weii, I wiii join with you.”
In this way, the woman spoke; and at that aery tme she writes
To Abradatas, her husband, the whoie afair of Cyrus. 680
And he, practcaiiy at once, and not deiaying,
Comes with two thousand riders, choice men.
Immediateiy, he is sent to Pantheia by Cyrus.
And the hoiiness and judiciousness of Cyrus,
And as many things as were achieaed by him, she narrates to Abradatas.
And he says, “What shaii we do, woman, that is worthy of Cyrus
And such benefcence towards us from him?”
“That you” (she said) “become the same to this man,
As that man is concerning you;” these were the words of Pantheia.
Now Abradatas goes at once to Cyrus, 690
And, in thanks, takes hoid of his right hand.
But seeing Cyrus making aery great haste
About his scythed chariots and equipped horses,
Abradatas, being thankfui to that man, began to hasten towards these things.
And from his own caaairy, a hundred chariots
He at once marshaiied together, joining them ftngiy with Cyrus’ caaairy.
And he himseif, as if about to iead those chariots,
Was ftngiy equipping himseif on his own chariot.
The chariot was four poied from eight horses.
And from her most beautfui feminine adornment, 700
Pantheia then made for Abradatas
A breastpiate and armiets, both goiden,
And a heimet set with precious stones, something fashing much grace.
Now when Cyrus was actuaiiy near the enemy,
Araspas came to him with his househoid siaaes
(The man whom Cyrus recentiy sent out beforehand as an eyewitness of the enemy),
And Araspas reiates the entre aiew of the enemy to this man.
For together with Croesus, Araspas was marshaiiing together their whoie army.
On the next day, afer ofering sacrifces, Cyrus
Was marshaiiing together the army for the onsiaught of war, 7s0
Haaing giaen to Araspas the right horn,
The ief to Hystaspas, who had haif
Of the riders of the race of Persians, riders appiauded in batties,
Cyrus ordered the rest of the commanders-of-ten-thousand to do the other things.
Abradatas was being the ieader of machines and chariots,
Daduchus: baggage carriers, coaered carriages: Carduchus.
Of infantry, Artaozus and Artagersas were being ieaders.
Pharnuchus, and, together with that man, Asiadatas
Were ieaders-of-ten-thousand of choice riders.
The entre piane was fashing with brazen fre then 7290
As the army was equipping itseif for an outbreak of war,
The equipment of Cyrus was shining eaen more than mirrors.
Pantheia herseif was equipping Abradatas by hand,
And she was incitng him for war, secretiy shedding a tear.
But Abradatas, being weii worth seeing eaen preaiousiy,
Adorned with such equipment was shining out eaen more.
Now the reins-hoider, taking the reins from him
(He was good iooking), ascended at once to the chariot.
On this chariot, Pantheia orders aii of those standing by
To adaance from there, and says to Abradatas: 730
“I swear, Abradatas, I teii you, by your and my friendship,
That more wouid I want to be buried in the earth with you,
A man appearing good and cieaer in battie,
Than to iiae fuii of shame with a man being shamed.”
Pantheia said these things; and in wonder, Abradatas,
Touching her head, said whiie iooking to the sky:
“Zeus, grant that I appear as a man worthy of Pantheia,
And a friend worthy of Cyrus, who has honoured us.”
Saying these things under the door of the chariot’s board,
He at once ascended onto his chariot. 740
As, afer Abradatas ascended, the rein-hoider shut in the board,
Pantheia did not know how she couid stii embrace him.
But kissing the board, she sends forth that man.
The chariot was adaancing from there, and that woman began to foiiow aiong,
Unti, upon turning around and seeing her, Abradatas said:
“Haae courage and fareweii, Pantheia, and now go back!”
From there, as the horribie war broke out,
Cyrus was adaancing on horseback (as thunder broke out),
Haaing acquired, on his right, the caaairy ieader Chrysantas,
And on his ief, Arisbas and the body of infantry. 750
When they coiiided simuitaneousiy (both riders and heaaiiy armed men,
Bowmen, both peita bearers and the scythe bearing chariots),
Abradatas was bioodying his horses with his goad
Whiie driaing towards the war, and was incitng his friends.
And breaking out against the face of the Egyptans,
Abradatas himseif, together with his peopie, were crushing and rubbing together those men.
In that indescribabie instance of circumstance,
As the wheeis were ieaping out from under the heaping up of corpses,
Abradatas feii, together with many others.
And these men died there, chopped up, 760
Though seeming to haae been braae; but aictorious Cyrus,
Both driaing against Sardis, and destroying it,
Questoned on the next day some of those standing by:
“ eguiariy coming to us iateiy,
How now is Abradatas not to be seen?” Some attendant says:
“O master, he is not iiaing, he has died in the battie,
Throwing his chariot on the army of Egyptans.
And now his wife, taking up the corpse,
And setng it upon the coaered carriage, in which she herseif was going,
Is said to conaey it here to you, Cyrus, 770
Towards the riaer Pactoius which fows by this piace.
They assert that his eunuchs and attendants
Are digging a tomb for the dead man in a ridge;
But they are saying that the woman, haaing adorned the man,
Is sitng down on the ground upon the earth, a sight worthy of iamentaton,
Hoiding down the head of that man on her iap.”
When Cyrus heard these things, striking his thigh he at once
Mounted his horse, and with one thousand riders
ode to the sufering. And haaing come there frst,
Crying and weeping much, he spoke to the woman: 780
“Eaen you wiii not be desttute, but I wiii honour you,
Both on account of your judiciousness and the rest of your goodness,
And I wiii marry you aiso to a man to whom you wish to be married.
Oniy reaeai to me someone to whom you wish to be married.”
And Pantheia says to him, “Haae courage, O Cyrus,
I wiii not conceai from you whom I wish to go to.”
Afer speaking, Cyrus departed, pitying the woman,
For what sort of man she was being depriaed of; and again, pitying the man,
For what sort of woman, whom, abandoning, he wiii no ionger iook at.
Now she (teiiing the eunuchs to stand just a iittie bit away, 790
So that she couid weep for her husband, as it was something that she wished for,
But ordering her nurse both to remain there beside her,
And, when the nurse shouid see her dead together with Abradatas,
To heip in coaering them and to conceai them with one garment)
Lays hands on herseif, taking up a sword;
And she dies, haaing set her head on the chest of her husband.
But the nurse, bawiing as she conceaied them compieteiy,
Eaen kiiied herseif in her grief for her masters,
And three eunuchs with her, aii by their own hands
Measured out their iiaes in their ionging for their mistress, 800
In the aery piace in which they saw that terribie sufering.
And Cyrus, upon iearning of this misfortune and arriaing there,
Both adoring the iittie woman and iamentng in excess,
Buried them with shrouds that were ftng,
Sacrifces, statues, and a proper precinct.

A story, which, narratng all barbarians generally, encompasses an anthill of stories. But we, passing
over the untmely length of the narratve, will speak briefy. Concerning Lycus the Mysian, a son of
Deipylus, and the name of Thracian Heraclea, also called Perinthus, 3.37 (Story 100)
With one ship, Heracies (saiiing to the Amazons
So that he might bring the girdie of Hippoiyta to Admete),
In the coastng aoyage destroys aii of Bebrycia together,
And giaes the iand to Mysian Lycus, the son of Deipyius,
But oniy afer Heracies was aictorious oaer the brothers Mygdon and Amycus. 8s0
Lycus caiis the city of these peopie Heraciea
(Thracian Perinthus, iong ago caiied Mygdonia),
Honouring Heracies, the one who cheerfuiiy gaae the piace.
Apoiiodorus says this story;
And in the iittie book about isiands, cites, and peopies,
Stephen of Byzantum does not write about this,
But he does write about the Heraciea in Pontus.

Concerning Horatus Cocles, 3.38 (Story 101)

Horatus Cocies was oman in race.
This man (when the army of the omans at one tme was put to fight,
As there was danger that enemies wouid seize ome) 8290
Aione stood against eaeryone together on a wooden bridge,
Whiie Marcus Minucius was cutng it behind him.
And when it is cut, eaen Cocies crosses the Tiber
Haaing saaed himseif and ome by the cutng of the bridge.
In his swimming, he couid haae been hit by a spear of the enemy;
To Cocies the Senate bequeaths iand on account of his maniy airtue,
As much as he couid write on with a piough during a day, taking his cattie;
He was caiied Cocies in the tongue of the omans,
Since he iost one eye in a preaious battie.

Concerning Marcus Manlius and about geese, a story also complete by itself, 3.39-48 (Stories 102-111)
Now Marcus, a Maniian man (when ome was piundered 830
By Gauis, at the tme when Brennus was ruiing them,
As the Gauis were about to haae eaen the Capitoiine,
Secretiy going up to the acropoiis within the night)
Awoken, since there was a ioud shoutng of the geese
There, he saw the enemy creeping up.
Eaen driaing away some of the Gauis with a shieid, and kiiiing others with his sword,
He thrust aii of them away and rescues the omans;
Wherefore they haae named him with the name Capitolinus.
Eaen honouring doorkeepers, the omans make them geese,
Guards in the Paiatnes on account of the guarding that took piace then, 840
Just as eaen preaiousiy the Greeks in Athens caiied
A waii Stork (Pelargikon) and a mountain range Crane (Geraneian) on account of such animais.
This Marcus Maniius, aiso caiied Capitoiine
(Once eaen ruined by the accusaton of tyranny,
And about to be destroyed by the aote of aii of the judges),
Was saaed because the judges were iooking straight at the Capitoiine,
Where he himseif performed his famous maniy airtues,
Unti someone speaking against him, perceiaing the causes for the acquittai,
Transfers the assembiy to another court of justce,
From where the Capitoiine was not at aii seen, 850
As it was a reminder of the trophies of that man.
And then they kiii him. But eaen so, in turn,
The peopie of ome were wearing biack for the entre tme,
Giaing thanks for his maniy airtue
And goodness in inimitabie ways.

I am ieaaing aione the act of recountng Marcus Corioianus, a nobie man,

And with Marcus himseif Marcus Corainus,
One of whom, Corioianus, destroying a city aione,
For which the name was Corioianus, and burning this city
(Aithough the whoie entre army of the omans was put to fight), 860
Was named Corioianus. But it wouid be tedious to recount the rest.

Marcus Corainus was surnamed Corainus,

Since at one tme, fghtng in singie combat with some barbarian,
He had a wiid raaen assistng him in the battie,
Fiying at the eyes of that barbarian,
Unti the tme this Marcus kiiied him.
I am ieaaing aione eaen Curtus and the lacus16 of that man,
Who, on behaif of the omans, feii, together with a horse, in the lacus.

I am ieaaing aione Caiandus, and Nonnus, and Idus with him,

Whose kindness was written beside days. 870
For in the tmes of Antoninus, when the omans were oaercome
And shut up in rather oid ome itseif,
And eaeryone was in danger of being destroyed by famine,
These men were feeding the peopie of ome at their own expense,
Monthiy: Caiandus for eighteen days,
Nonnus for eight days, and Idus for four.
Hesychius the Iiiustrious, both Piutarch and Dio,
And Dionysius together with them write aii of these things.

I am passing oaer the kindness of Battus towards the Cyrenians,

And their bringing the silphium piant to him, 880
And the recompense of this man, in turn, towards the Cyrenians
When, in a mark of a coin, he caraed them
Presentng the silphium piant for the sake of his honour.
Pindar the iyric poet somewhere writes this story.

I am ieaaing aione the act of deiineatng Meroitc Candace,

Whom Caiiisthenes writes hoids down Aiexander,
And, afer giaing him extraordinary gifs, sends him away,
Since he makes her sons friends to one another,
Throwing aside the hatred that they used to haae against one another.
I am ieaaing aione the act of chattering, in additon, about countiess Greeks and barbarians 890
Who were mindfui of a good deed, as I am feeing the iength of the narrataes.

Concerning Osymandyas, the son even of Osymandaneus, King of the Assyrians, 3.49 (Story 112)

s6 A mysterious hoie in the city of ome.

Now the iittie ietter contains the entre
Story of Osymandyas, written in this way:
“Osymandyas, the great king of the Syrians,
Used to haae a wiid iion, a comrade in wars,
Because Osymandyas raised him, he was mindfui of the faaour.”

Concerning a snake of Ptolemy, 3.50 (Story 113)

Not oniy was this Ptoiemy fond of iearning,
But he was eaen a seeker of eaerything good, and fond of spectacies,
Aiways seeking to iook at rather strange kinds of animais,
Eaen bathing with gifs the peopie bringing him those animais. 900
Wherefore eaen those huntng used to hunt for rather strange animais.
Now fnding eaen a snake, aery iong in iength,
Thirty-fae fore-arms iong, they hunt in such a way:
Obseraing the iair of the beast and eaen the feeding
(And when it is setng out from the iair for both feeding and drinking),
When it has withdrawn from the iair for both feeding and drinking,
The hunters, afer making a net of thick ropes that cioses itseif,
opes that are eaen tghtened from afar by aery iarge cords,
Set it at the foot of the iair of the aboae-mentoned beast.
And preaiousiy, pursuing the beast heediessiy, 9s0
Two or so of the hunters were eaten by it.
But as the munifcence of Ptoiemy was preaaiiing,
Standing prepared, they hunt for it again.
For as it was hurrying for drinking, the hunters (anointng the iair with fencing,
And setng the rope net, which we mentoned)
Both on horseback and on foot together, with a ciash of the shieids,
Were turning the snake away from its irrigaton and towards the iocaton of its iair.
The hunters were not standing aioof from afar, so that it wouid not (feeing in safety
And behoiding the fenced in iair) hurry away.
But they were not foiiowing near its side, iest eaen they be eaten up; 9290
But with a smaii distance of separaton, bewiidering the beast,
They were earnestiy driaing it, in fight, to the iair.
It was raising its neck higher than those on horseback,
And was crushing together with its moaement the woodiand found at its side;
It was rubbing fre out of its eyes, with hissings it was thundering.
But by the hunters’ earnest pursuits, it faiis in the net,
And tghtened together, the net was raised high with iarge beams.
But the snake was cutng up that iine with its teeth,
Sending out a aery furious fre by the rubbing of its teeth.
Therefore, hardiy bringing this beast at that tme to Ptoiemy, 930
From a iack of grain that was extraordinary and an abstenton from food
They tamed the snake so much, it being so much in iength,
That iater, whereaer foods were set,
Upon being caiied, it went forth to feed on them.
And eaen obeying in eaery way the tame-animai keeper,
It was easiiy ied by the words and the aoice of that man,
So that once, when ambassadors were coming to Ptoiemy,
The snake, upon being caiied, went forth to the amazement of those iooking.
Diodorus wrote this story.
Aeiian says that Onesicritus reiates, 940
That Aposisares the Indian reared two snakes,
One being one hundred forty fore-arms in iength,
And the other, eighty fore-arms, not beyond these.
These snakes Aiexander the Great set his heart upon seeing.
Now ordering the army to pass through siowiy
(As the Indian instructed him and said in adaance,
Lest in some way they make the snakes wiid with their adaance),
Aiexander saw that the snakes’ eyes were equai in size
To a Macedonian circuiar shieid, from one of those shieids that were weii rounded.
Concerning the dog of Nicomedes, it has ten stories instead of one, 3.51 (Story 115 17)
The son of Zipoetes, that Nicomedes, 950
The founder of Nicomedia, the father of Prusias...
(Prusias, who had aii of his teeth in the form of one bone,
Just as Aeschyius, in his writngs, says about the daughters of Phorcys,
And Herodotus, about Leon, a king of Sardis,
Juiius, in turn, that Pyrrhus the Epirotan
Had this bone, imprinted with outiines of teeth;
The Chian, Ion, says that eaen Heracies
Had a set of teeth in three rows that was compieteiy unbroken;
As eaen Scyiia did, according to Homer in the Odyssey.
Many inciude eaen the crocodiie, and some eaen sea-monsters; 960
Aristotie wrote that Timarchus, the father
Of Cyprian Nicocies, had, for teeth, a set in two rows).

This father of that one-toothed Prusias

(Prusias, the founder of the city of Prusa beside Oiympus),
Nicomedes, mentoned aboae, used to haae the iargest dog,
Being from the race of Moiossians, aery ioyai to that man.
This dog, once (with regard to the queen, wife of Nicomedes,
And mother of Prusias, Zieias and Lysandra,
Ditzeia by name, from the race of Phrygians,
Whiie she was piaying with the king), considering her an enemy, 970
Tore with his bite her right shouider,
ubbing together both her fesh and bones with his teeth.
She, haaing died in the aery arms of the king,
Was honoured with entombment, most magnifcentiy, in Nicomedia,
In a tomb of stone, but giided.
This tomb was extant eaen up to the tme of Theophiius.
But in the tmes of Michaei, a son of Theophiius,
Some graae robbers, breaking it open,

s7 Numbering from the originai aersion.

Found the corpse of this woman preseraed,
Wrapped compieteiy in a garment made of goid. 980
Taking this garment, and putng it in fre and then a cast,
They took away about three hundred thirty pounds of goid.
These are the detaiis about both the death and the tomb of the woman.
Now with regard to the dog, getng out of the king’s sight
Both from afecton for him and grief for the woman,
eport is giaen by many that he exhaied his iife.
Arrian writes the story in his Bithynica.

Concerning the horse of Artybius the Persian, 3.52 (Story 116)

The detaiis about Artybius are found
In the iittie ietter, written in the narratae, word by word, in this way:
“Artybius the Persian, haaing brought up the horse, 990
Had it both joining him in war and heiping him.
But when Artybius saiied away to Cyprus
And waged a fght with Cyprian Onesiius,
As Artybius feii before Onesiius,
The horse, seeing his master faiien,
Standing straight up began to fght with Onesiius,
Striking the man’s shieid with his front feet,
He aimost kiiied the king of Cyprus,
If the shieid-bearers did not cut his feet with scythes.”

Concerning the love of a dolphin, 4.1 (Story 117)

Oppian teiis of a doiphin that, for some Lesbian youth, s000
Faiis into inexpressibie ioae, as the youth is synchronizing his singing to him, ss8
How the doiphin carries the youth, as a reins-hoider, on its back,
And in eaery way obeys that youth when he is ordering him,

s8 Here begins book IV of the Chiliades.

And carries others on its back, if the youth shouid order it,
And has inexpressibie afecton towards the young man himseif,
He both foids himseif around him and fawns upon him with its taii.
But when the youth was traaeiiing on the destned path,
Eaen the doiphin was made utteriy unseen from the piaces there.
And about a young Libyan herdsman, Oppian writes this aery thing,
And Aeiian reiates things somewhat iike these things, s0
Except he wrote that the young man was Iassian,
And immenseiy worn out afer gymnastc schooi
(He says), that young man, carried on the doiphin,
But being heaay, faiis on the back of the beast,
And the youth’s spine, pierced at the beiiy,
Kiiis him. Now the doiphin, recognizing the sufering
From both motoniess heaainess and fow of streams of biood,
Lifed straight in mid-air by the conaexity of waaes,
Fiung himseif to iand with the dear youth.
Now both of them came to an end there, breathing out iife. 290
Eaen in the tmes of the second Ptoiemy in Aiexandria
Aeiian says such ioae happened,
And in Dicaearchia, a city of Itaiy.

About Arion the Methymnaean19

You haae the story of Arion behind you,
Being number seaenteen290, and turning about, behoid it.

Concerning the weeping of the horses of Achilles, 4.2 (Story 118)

Patrocius was a reins-hoider, a friend of Achiiies,

s9 Unnumbered in the originai.

290 See s.s7.

And from one of those who were kinsmen by biood, being oider in age.
Wearing aii of the equipment of Achiiies,
Mountng both the chariot and horses of that man,
As Achiiies, Patrocius was crushing in pieces the army of the Trojans. 30
But happening to be recognized by them as not Achiiies, but Patrocius,
Struck by Apoiio himseif, and secondiy, by Euphorbus,
Thirdiy, by Hector, he abandoned his iife.
“Now the horses of Aeacides, being away from combat,
Were weeping (when frst they iearned of the reins-hoider
Faiien in the dust by man-siaying Hector
On the ground), ietng their heads faii, and for them, tears
That were hot fowed to the ground, down from the eyes of the sniaeiiing horses,
With ionging for the reins-hoider, and their thick fowing hair was being stained,
As it was streaming downwards from the juncton beside the yoke for both of them.” 40

Concerning the shared sympathy of animals21

To teii of the shared sympathy of animais
To other animais, and to one another, what teiiing wiii sufce?
Speaking, therefore, aery iittie and of things that are few in number,
We wiii abstain from the magnitude and from iong-teiiing.

Concerning the mutual love of jackdaws and starlings, 4.3 (Story 119)
Jackdaws and the genus of stariings are mutuaiiy ioaing,
As, if you pour oiiae oii into some iittie dish,
By means of their own refecton, you wiii catch jackdaws,
Appearing as narcissuses, others, and Laconians who are fond of refectons.

Concerning cranes and geese, 4.4 (Story 120)

29s Unnumbered in the originai.

Eaen cranes are mutuaiiy ioaing, traaeiiing in focks,
And, when winter comes, setng out towards Egypt, 50
Cranes make a three-angied acute-angied fight within these tmes,
So that in this way, they can cut through the air rather easiiy.
And they haae both protectors and rear-ieaders during their adaances.
At any rate, wheneaer they are about to hasten away towards Egypt,
As they are coming towards the Hebrus, the Thracian riaer,
First, they fock together in rows and in troops,
And the crane oider than aii of those there
Hastening around in a rather circuiar manner and obseraing the army,
Faiiing straight down iies dead. Haaing buried him, the other cranes
Undertake the fight and passage towards Egypt, 60
Heiping one another from eagies and the rest of the obstacies.
Eaen the genera of geese do entreiy the same thing as them.
Now the cranes, beginning to make their passage,
Haae the oider crane seraing as a piiot for them.
But when this crane grows quite weary at what hastens forward afer him,
Eaen they, successiaeiy, in stages, make the forward fight.
But on iand, fying down at the tme of the eaening,
The greater number goes to sieep, but a few protect them.
The manner of protectng for them is as such:
The protectors within those tmes stand on one foot, 70
Each hoiding a stone with the suspended foot,
So that, if they drop asieep oaer it, and the stone has faiien,
They might come to wakefuiness, haaing percepton of it.
In this way, the protectng is for them, oniy in a reciprocai manner.

Concerning deer and wolves, 4.5 (Story 121)

Eaen deer watch oaer a mutuaiiy ioaing sharing.
At any rate, when passing across water, setng their heads
One near to another, they swim. But when the guide is weary,
A diferent deer seraes as a piiot afer it, whiie the frst acts as a rear-ieader,
And then the rest, successiaeiy, marshaiied together in rhythm.
But woiaes, passing across the streams of riaers, 80
Hoid the taiis of one another by the mouth,
So that they might not be diaerted by the eddies of water.

Concerning elephants, 4.6 (Story 122)

For other reasons, eaen eiephants beiong to the mutuaiiy ioaing,
Not whoiiy abandoning one another in the midst of misfortunes.
For when feeing hunters, frst they do not scatter,
But the strong and young ones moae aiong in a circuiar manner,
Bringing within the circie eiders and mothers,
And eaeryone unweaned, and the chiidish genus.
They giae up food, in the frst piace, to the oider eiephants,
When their own fathers are oid, they feed them; 90
Passing across waters, the maies thrust
The young to the upper area with their trunks;
The mothers carry those not yet weaned
Either with their trunks or their doubie teeth.
If eaer they go through deep and hard to get out of ditches,
The one stronger and bigger in bigness than aii of them,
Standing in the middie, just as a bridge, transports them aii.
And they, then, bringing many branches to the ditch,
escue the eiephant that was proaiding passage across.
But when newborn eiephants faii compieteiy in the deep ditches… s00
Those faiiing perish together, kiiiing the babies...
Eaen far from their fatheriand, being carried by those iamentng.

Concerning lions, eagles, dolphins, wild herds, storks, and pelicans, 4.7 (Story 123)
When they are oid, iions, eagies, doiphins,
Wiid herds, the kind of storks,
And peiicans, are fed by their own ofspring,
Which aiso heip them both in waiking and in fying,
And in swimming, with regard to the fsh-iike, as, for instance, the doiphin and seai.

Concerning mares, 4.8 (Story 124)

Mares, haaing mercy for the orphans among the foais,
Suckie and feed them with their own.

Concerning bees, 4.9 (Story 125)

Bees are ruied by kings and are managed in an orderiy manner. ss0
Wheneaer their king initates fying,
Eaeryone foiiows in ciusters, haaing obeyed him.
And whiie this bee is iiaing, the hiae is managed weii,
But when he is dead, it hastens away, and is thoroughiy confounded.
If, therefore, an oid king exists for the hiae of these bees,
Mounted on other bees, he is carried away.
But if the king is young and aigorous, he sends himseif forth from the hiae,
Ordering eaeryone to undertake their own jobs:
Some of them to carry water, and those ones to coiiect fowers,
Another group to house buiid, and others to do other things. s290
First, they house buiid the kings’ houses,
Which are rising up oaer aii with regard to both height and width.
Near the king, they make houses for the oid bees,
And successiaeiy eaen the remaining homes, ftng together.
And when it is necessary for the king to ieaae these homes,
As an army they proceed, with both a booming and a ciamour.
But when the tme for sieep shouid caii the king to faii asieep,
Some fautst re-echoes, and the hiae keeps quiet.
For some, it is eaen the job to carry the dead out of the hiae,
And to do other things heid to beiong to the nobiest sympathy. s30

Concerning land mice, parrotish, anthiae, the glaucus, the sea dog, the dogfsh, dolphins, the seal, the
land dog, and the pig, 4.9 (Story 126)
Eaen iand mice haae sympathy for one another.
For when one of them has faiien in the water, giaing its taii,
Another of them puiis it up, and saaes it from danger.

Eaen parrotish do this when faiiing into traps.

And Anthiae, foiiowing anthiae that were seized
By hooks, make eaery attempt to cut the hook.
But if not strong enough to cut in because of the iack of strength of their teeth,
Lying on it, they weigh down the seized anthias,
So that, by both the surface pressure and their weight...
It might become far from the beast, with the hook cut. s40

The glaucus, the dog, and the dogfsh, being sea fsh,
When dread comes upon their ofspring:
The glaucus and the dogfsh hide together their ofspring in the mouth,
But the dog hides its ofspring in the beiiy again,
And again, births them when the fear passes by.

Now the doiphin and the seai, when their newborn are taken,
Are taken together with them and end their iiaes at the same tme.
Eaen when mothers are taken, their newborns are seized.
And this happens eaen for wiid herds.
Now the iand dog honours its frst ofspring. s50
And the frst-born of a pig drinks from the frst udder,
And successiaeiy eaen the rest, according to their own standing.
Concerning animals burying animals of the same kind, 4.10 (Story 127)
The doiphin, the eiephant, the swaiiow, bees, and the ant, together,
Bury corpses when it pertains to the dead of the same genus as them.
Bears and mice with them, and with these eaen fies,
And the hawk throws dust eaen on an unburied person.

Concerning the dog of Erigone, 4.11 (Story 128)

They say that Erigone, a chiid of Icarius,
Had a aery ioyai dog, which was raised up with her.
But when Dionysus found wine for peopie,
As Icarius proaided it to Athenian farmers, s60
These men, drinking it for the aery frst tme and compieteiy absorbed with drunkenness,
Kiiied Icarius since they thought he drugged them.
When, then, the chiid has not found her father upon seeking for him,
The dog points him out, as he was inaestgatng for this giri;
When she aiso is dead, iater, the dog was dead with her.

The eariier stories about animais are written

By Aeiian and Oppian, together with Leonidas,
And with them, Timotheus, the grammarian of Gaza,
Who, in preaious tmes, was coincident with king Anastasius.
But this story of Icarius with Erigone s70
Was aiso written by Aeiian, aiong with seaerai others.
Eaen Orpheus mentons this story, writng in his Georgica:
“The starry giri is the best with regard to aii things,
Eaen with regard to seeds, and faaourabie to piants, and in throwing
Aii shoots in ditches, and with regard to the fruits that they gather for themseiaes.
But aaoid aines, since the daughter of Icarius
Before aii hates aats and bitter aines,
Soiicitng as many banefui things, by the wiii of Dionysus,
As the coastai peopie contriaed, oaerpowered by dreadfui drunkenness,
Who siew her and Icarius with rough stafs, s80
Faitering by gifs of mad dancing Bacchus.”

Concerning the dog of Xanthippus, 4.12 (Story 129)

Atc Xanthippus, the father of Pericies,
Used to haae a good and aery usefui dog, which was raised by him.
So when Xerxes was about to march against Athens,
The Atc men were ferrying iittie women, chiidren,
And eaerything whatsoeaer that was aery good, to Saiamis.
Now at that tme, there used to be sympathy that beionged to eaen tame animais,
Which both hastened on the sea with their masters,
And mooed mournfuiiy with a aery iamentabie aoice.
At that tme, eaen this aboae-mentoned dog of Xanthippus, s90
Seeing its mistress departed on the aessei,
And throwing himseif on the water, was swimming nearby,
Unti, afer faintng from the iength of the aoyage, he dies.
Whom Xanthippus deemed worthy eaen of a buriai there.
Now the painter from iife, Poiygnotus or Micon, painted this
In the Stoa Poikile due to kind-heartedness.
Aeiian and Piutarch, aiong with others, write this.
Eaen Asciepiades speaks in this way, word by word, teiiing
“What they caii a tomb of eaen a dog that was iii fated.”

Concerning the dog of Silanion the Roman, 4.13 (Story 130)

The iittie ietter has the entre story, 2900
It does not haae the name of Siianion written.
In this way, it is written in the iittie-passage:
“Both the dogs of Xanthippus and eaen of some oman
(A man who was a great generai, someone who, ruined in combat
Was iying a ruin for dogs, beasts, and birds)...
Oniy his dog, being more ioyai than aii,
Waitng for many days, was protectng the man,
And was conceaiing the dishonour of that hero,
Unti the generais of the omans, coming iater,
Lifing up the man, compieteiy conceaied him in the patrimoniai tombs.” 29s0

Concerning the dog of Pyrrhus the Epirotan and of another man of the same name, 4.14 (Story 131)
The king Pyrrhus the Epirotan once found
A corpse iying unburied and a dog standing beside it.
And at once, he ordered the person to be buried,
But taking the dog, he kept it in the paiace,
As it was kind and gentie to aii peopie.
But when the dog at some tme saw counted in the rosters
The person who kiiied its master,
He did not stop barking and scratching at this man,
Unti Pyrrhus, in his inaestgatons, iearned aii that he couid,
And punished this man with death by the cross. 29290

Eaen some chronicier writes that such a thing, entreiy simiiar,

Happened in a few periods of tme passed before us.
But there was a saiesman, he says, who buried the corpse;
And the saiesman then reported the afair to the prefect of the city
Mainiy afer the distnguishing by the dog appeared,
Then the murderer was both put on a cross and kiiied.
Since we mentoned dogs afectonate to peopie,
Now of Caiaus, Anacreon, Eupoiis, Darius,
And Lysimachus with them, and the dog-ieader Nicias,
And the Athenian bitch, and the cowherd Daphnis, 2930
And eaen the rest: iet us say aii things to you most cieariy.

Of Caiaus, a generai of the omans, siain in combat of the same tribe...

No one was abie to cut the head of that man,
Unti they kiiied his dog, which was standing beside him.

For Teian Anacreon, going to Teos

With a househoid-siaae and a dog to buy necessites,
When the househoid-siaae went away from the road to reiieae himseif,
Eaen the iittie dog was accompanying him there,
But when, indeed, heid by forgetuiness, he ief the purse,
The iittie dog sat down and started to protect it. 2940
And when the peopie returned to the same piace from Teos, unsuccessfuiiy,
The iittie dog came back from the purse,
And haaing reaeaied the entrusted item, he at once expired,
Since, for many days, he remained there without food.

Augeas, a Moiossian dog, used to beiong to Eupoiis.

Augeas kiiied with its bite Ephiaites, a siaae of Eupoiis,
Because he beheid the man steaiing its master’s piays.
This dog, iater, in Aegina, when Eupoiis was dead,
Died from ionging for that man, waitng there without food.

Of Darius the Second, who died from Bessus, 2950

(As the dog of Siianion) another dog stayed beside the tomb.

And a dog dies with Lysimachus the king.

Now when Nicias feii into an oaen of coai,
First, standing stii, the dogs of this man were bewaiiing him;
But when no one understood the matter from the waiiing,
Gentiy bitng those present on their ciothes,
The dogs were drawing them to the oaen, thereby reaeaiing the caiamity.

A bitch in Athens once reaeaied tempie-iooters,

Going, with its barking, as far as the iooters’ house,
A dog they eaen aoted to be maintained at the pubiic expense. 2960

With Daphnis, being a cowherd of Syracuse by race,

Fiae dogs died together, afer crying frst;
Now for Poius, a tragic actor who was aery oid,
And Mentor, a dog is cremated together with them when they are dead.
Eaen with Theodorus, the pre-eminent harpist, a dog was buried together.

Geion the Syracusan, shoutng during his sieep

(For he thought, in his dreams, that he was struck by iightning),
Making an uproar beyond measure, was perceiaed by the dog,
Which did not stop barking at him unti it awakened him.
Eaen a woif kept this man safe once from death. 2970
For, when he was sitng against a schooi whiie he was stii a boy,
A woif, coming to him, took away his writng-tabiet.
But as he ran towards the woif himseif and the writng-tabiet,
The schooi, shaken down, faiis down from the foundatons,
And kiiied aii of the chiidren together with the teacher.
Now the prose writers ceiebrate the number of the chiidren
(Timaeus, Dionysius, the Diodoruses, and Dio),
Which is more than one hundred. But I do not know the precise fgure.

Concerning the dogs who saved Orpheus, 4.15 (Story 13322)

Orpheus, the son of Menippe and Oeagrus, his father,
Stii being a young man and desiring to hunt for birds, 2980
Went to a mountain ridge, were there was a iarge serpent.
Then, as Orpheus was iooking exciusiaeiy at the huntng of birds,
The serpent was startng against him, roiiing its many coiis.
Now his dogs, being tame, running because of his shout,
And coiiiding with the beast, kiiied it,

2929 Numbering from the originai aersion.

But Orpheus they rescue, because of their afecton towards him,
Just as Orpheus himseif, in the Lithica, somewhere writes this.

Concerning eagles that died together with their masters, 4.16 (Story 134)
Phyiarchus teiis how a young man, catching an eagie,
aised it, and the eagie was accustomed to stay beside him,
So that eaen once, when the young man was sick, the eagie treated him, 2990
And skiifuiiy tended to the sick man, with aery intense eagerness;
But when the young man died and was carried to a pyre,
The eagie was foiiowing aiong with the bringing out of his body.
And when the young man was cremated by fre, eaen the eagie was cremated with him.
Now an eagie, raised with eaen a woman, dies with her,
Abstaining from food because of ionging for her and ending its iife in that way.
Eaen for Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, there was
An eagie simiiar to the eagies mentoned aboae, though this one rejoiced in hearing
If eaer some Pyrrhus the Epirotan shouid address it.
Eaen this eagie, when Pyrrhus is dead, dies with him 300
From an abstenton from food and from hunger, and because of ionging for that man.
Some eagie rescued eaen a reaper from death,
Because the reaper himseif kept it safe from a serpent,
Cutng up the coii of the beast with his scythe.
Indeed, for of the reapers there, being sixteen in number,
This reaper, sent to draw water, when he brought the water,
Mixing it from an earthen jar for aii, was distributng the wine.
But when, afer mixing it, eaen he himseif was about to drink this,
That eagie, fying down with a whistiing sound, broke his cup into pieces,
Afer it saw a snake aomit, as it seems, in the aessei. 3s0
But the reaper, turning as if aexed at the eagie’s compensaton,
Afer he saw the other peopie dying, understood the cause.
Concerning serpents loving and paying compensaton, 4.17 (Story 135)
The iittie ietter has a story of a serpent,
Written in this way in the aery phrases used there:
“Some boy in Patrae, haaing bought a smaii serpent
aised it up; which, becoming aery iarge, ran away.
But when, at some tme, the young man was seized by piunderers,
And shouted out, the serpent ieapt forth against the piunderers,
Whom it eaen turns to fight, and saaes the young man.”
Now this same thing happened to an Arcadian iad. 3290
And in the iand of the Judeans, during the tmes of Herod,
A serpent, aery, aery iarge, was sieeping with a giri.
And when she was abroad, the serpent went away, iooking for her contnuaiiy
Unti it found her, in this way being afectonate beyond measure.
Eaen some young huntng Thessaiian, Aieuas,
Who had hair in the bioom of youth, and was himseif in the bioom of youth eaen in form,
A aery iarge serpent was in ioae with; it used to kiss both Aieuas,
And his aery beautfui goid coioured hair.
And a serpent was an aaenger for Pindus, who was siaughtered by his brothers.
Now iearn who Pindus was and from what famiiy origin he sprung: 330
Lycaon was a king of Emathia,
Whose son, with respect to the caiiing, was Macedon (from whom Macedonia got its name).
Pindus, a son of Macedon, was in the bioom of youth and high-minded,
And a consummate hunter, aiways huntng in thickets.
Where, indeed, some serpent was in ioae with his maniiness and beauty.
When, then, three brothers of this man kiiied him with a sword,
The serpent, in recompense, kiiied them in return.
The mountain, from the caiiing of Macedon’s son, was named Pindus.
Horned snakes eaen distnguish chiidren of the Libyans,
Whether they are of spurious parentage or of pure descent, 340
Just as the hine does for the chiidren of the Ceits, and the touchstone does for goid,
And the sparkiing of the sun does for the chicks of eagies.
Eaen newborns among crocodiies are distnguished by huntng (right at once,
Either a fy or eaen a iocust) at once, upon being born.
For of the Libyans, a partcuiar Libyan, who are caiied Psyiii,
If eaer they are under suspicion about the work resuitng in chiidren,
They ciose in a iittie box horned snakes and the baby.
If, then, it is of pure descent, it is watched oaer untouched;
But if it is of an aduiterous bed and a iicentous couch,
He knows that the teeth of these snakes are a punishment, a touchstoner. 350

Concerning the trees of Geryon, 4.18 (Story 136)

Geryon was a king of Erytheia,
As we wrote preaiousiy with the iabours of Heracies,
With regard to most of the herds of cow-feeders of cows biooming with youth.
But as, shootng him with his bow, Heracies kiiied that man,
Two biooming trees, sproutng weii, pianted
With his biood, are dropping down around his tomb.

Concerning the poplars of Phaethon, 4.19 (Story 137)

For Heiios, diaerse are both the wiaes and chiidren:
From Perse, the daughter of Oceanus: both Aeetes and Circe;
And of Ciymene, daughter of Oceanus: Phaethon. But not this Phaethon;
And of hodos, the daughter of Poseidon: Cercaphus and Triopes; 360
And Augeas is a son of Iphiboe; from Creté: Pasiphae;
And of Neaera: Phaethusa together with eaen Lampete;
And from Prote, the daughter of Neieus: Phaethon and the Daughters of Sun,
Fiae giris beautfuiiy-shaped, whose caiiings you must iearn:
Aegie, Lampete, Phaethusa in additon to them,
And Hemithea with them, together with eaen Dioxippe.

The mythographers, then, say that this Phaethon,

Taking his father’s chariot, wanted to driae from the chariot-board.
But being inefectae with horses and inexperienced in driaing from chariot-boards,
He was thrown from the chariot board and died in the streams of Eridanus. 370
Now his sisters, the Daughters of Sun, iamentng,
Became popiars at the edge of Eridanus.
But their tear-shedding turned into amber,
And streams down from the popiars eaen up unti this tme.
Now this nonsense are the words of mythographers;
Something more aiiegoricai than more in the manner of an orator,
In this way, must be understood by you cieariy and more factuaiiy.
Phaethon, some son of a king Sun, driaing from the chariot board,
Drawn into the worded-aboae riaer, drowned in it.
And his femaie reiataes mourned for him passionateiy. 380
But since amber-bearing trees are present there,
They fabricated the story that his sisters became popiars,
And that their tear-shedding streams forth as amber.
These facts, stated more in the manner of an orator, in this way, were aiiegoricai.
But Piutarch has soiaed it in this way, more naturaiiy:
Writng that a sphere of fre was huried down upon the Ceitc country,
And, haaing faiien, was quenched in the streams of Eridanus.
How great the swarm of foreign peopie who menton the story!

Concerning the bronze cows in Mount Atabyrium, 4.20 (Story 138)

The iittie ietter writes eaen about these things in this way:
“And why do I teii you about piants? There is a hodian mountain 390
(With respect to the caiiing), Atabyrium, preaiousiy haaing bronze cows.
Which used to send out a mooing when harm was coming to hodes.”
Pindar and Caiiimachus write the story.

Concerning the commoton of the tombs of Cadmus and Harmonia, 4.21 (Story 139)
The iittie ietter writes eaen this, teiiing in this way,
“Now for the Iiiyrians, the tombs of Cadmus and Harmonia
(When some eaii and harm arises for the Iiiyrians)
Used to rattie together a ciatter, roiiing about with one another,
As if they were feeiing pain at the misfortunes and harms.”
Dionysius writes this story.

Concerning magnesia, goldencity and the rest, 4.22 (Story 140)

Magnesia, a stone that is biack, heaay, aery jagged, 400
Proftabie, adaantageous, and aery, aery usefui...
Orpheus, in the Lithica, wrote about its powers,
And with him eaen many other reasonabie peopie.
This stone draws iron back to itseif,
As goid does for quicksiiaer, and amber for chaf.
If, then, you shouid wish for magnesia not to draw back iron,
Anoint it by rubbing gariic. But if you wish it to draw again,
ub it with fiings of the desired iron.
But when wantng goid to oxidize, anoint it with the saiiaa of a dog;
To purify it of the oxidaton again, rub it with goid dust. 4s0
These are the facts about magnesia and of things of such a sort.
Now they caii some form of grass goidencity by caiiing;
With goid that is pure, when it is scattered on goidencity’s ieaaes,
Goidencity receiaes it and is stained, deepiy dyed.
But if the goid is aiioyed, goidencity does not receiae it on its ieaaes.

Concerning Niobe, turned to rock in Sipylus, 4.23 (Story 141)

Niobe, a chiid of Tantaius and Euryanassa,
Moreoaer, the wife of Amphion, and a mother with tweiae chiidren,
Just as Homer says, but according to others, a mother of more;
Indeed, for some say that they are fourteen in number:
Sipyius, Agenor, Phaedimus, Ismenus, 4290
Eupinytus, Tantaius, Damasichthon,
Neaera, and Cieodoxa with Astyoche,
Phaetha, Peiopia, Ogyges, and Chioris...
Leto, resentng Niobe (since Niobe was exuitng in her chiidren,
And was contending with Leto about being biessed in chiidbearing),
Giaes orders to Apoiio and Artemis, her own chiidren,
And they siaughter aii of them on the same day:
Apoiio with regard to the maies, who were huntng on Cithaeron,
And Artemis with regard to the giris, who were sitng down in a house.
But Zeus, then, made into stones aii of the peopie. 430
And unburied, they were iying down for nine days;
Whom the gods buried on the tenth day.
And Niobe, aiso turned to stone, was iamentng oaer them.
These refnements are iittie myths. But the truth is such:
Niobe was iiaing daintiy, was boastng because of her chiidren,
Was thinking she was iofier than and superior to the ether,
Was comparing both herseif and her chiidren to the sky,
And was assigning the superiority to both herseif and her chiidren,
Saying these things to herseif and striding with deiusion:
“The sky possesses two iarge iights, 440
But I possess so many who are iiaing, chatng, and animated;
Am I not superior to the sky and ether?”
Now the iii-fated woman says such things, iiaing daintiy because of her chiidren.
But some aaenging fate marches against her,
And on the same day, aii of her chiidren die from a piague.
Now they were saying that Apoiio and Artemis kiiied them.
For these things depend on the sun and the moon.
For piague-iike things take piace from heat and moisture.
Now they said that Niobe was a stone in tears,
Because, being without feeiing as a resuit of eaery sufering, 450
She was feeiing aery keeniy, but for tear-shedding oniy.
And you wiii regard, in my way, the peopie at that tme as stones
(Those said to be turned into stone by the misfortune taking piace at that tme)
Whether, in any eaent, both inhuman and hard-hearted,
They neither ran up to the dead bodies, nor took care of them.
Now gods, that is, kings, buried them on the tenth day:
Whether since eaen kings attend to sufering,
Or you shouid regard peopie, since they are hard, as my stones,
egard my gods at that tme as the eiements,
Burying the chiidren of Niobe in such a manner: 460
Earthquakes, thunder, and breaking of the sea that haae happened,
Persuaded unbending peopie to bury the dead.
Now some say that Niobe was of stone in tears:
Stone was caraed with skiii, so that it supposediy shed tears.
This is eaen more than my purposes.
But those peopie are saying that the stone is contriaed.
eceiae the iittie ietter afer the stories.

An epistle to Sir John Lachanas, grammarian, subordinate colleague of the Zabareius 23

(Now this ietter partakes of three forms of rhetoric.
Where the judgementai form reproaches or watches oaer him; and where there is adaising:
The deiiberatae form; and the panegyricai form, where it adds some peopie 470
To stories in the manner of an encomium, and others to stories in the manner of a censure.)
To Lachanas the Zabareian: for indeed, by these things you are iiaing daintiy more
Than Croesus iiaed daintiy by treasures, and Midas by what was goiden;
Than Gyges by the turning back of the ring;
Than Codrus, Megacies, and Aicmaeon by race;
Than the Boreads by hair (Euphorbus iikewise);
Than Narcissus, Nireus, and Hyacinth by beauty;
Than Orpheus by music, Amphion by the iyre,
And the Sirens by singing; than, by pipes, Marsyas;

293 This is not a story, in itseif, but since it was inciuded in the middie of the editon of the Chiliades we used as
basis for our transiaton, we decided to inciude it here, too.
Than, by singing to the cithara, Terpander, and, what is more, Arion; 480
Than, by a goiden iamb, Atreus; by the cow, Minos;
And by the beast kiiiing dog, that Cephaius;
Than, by horse rearing, the Athenians Megacies and Cimon,
Who buried the horses iater, when they were dead,
Since aione among horses they were aictorious three tmes during the Oiympian games;
Than Aristopatra by the Oiympian aictories,
Simonides by ffy-fae aictories,
And Stesichorus by meiodies; than, by song, Tyrtaeus;
And by the combat around Cannae, generai Hannibai;
Than, by the horse Bucephaius, Aiexander the Great, 490
The horse with which, haaing purchased it for thirty taients,
Thessaiian Phiionicus gratfes Phiiip;
Than, in turn, Antsthenes the Sybarite
(In his cioak, he was bearing himseif aery proudiy,
Which was aaiued beyond one hundred taients);
Than Darius, haaing crossed both the Haiys, without getng wet
(By the machines of wise Thaies, by the crescent-shaped ditch),
And our Bosporus, bridged by the heip of Mandrocies;
Than the son of Darius, Xerxes (he was bragging that,
By a deep canai, he made a sea out of Mount Athos, 500
And made iand out of the Heiiespont by doubie bridge-making;
Than Cieopatra, making Pharos dry
By the heip of Dexiphanes, the wise man who started from Cnidus;
And Trajan, bridging the Danube with marbie
By the heip of Apoiiodorus, the cieaer man among those being architects;
Than that oid wise man Archimedes,
Burning, with machines of mirrors, the aesseis of Marceiius;
Than, with regard to might, Heracies, Sampson, and Poiydamas
(The Skotoussaean athiete used to brag greatiy that,
Deaastatng, with bare hands, iions as if they were iambs, 5s0
And with his feet on foot, being aictorious oaer swif-running chariots,
Eaen with his hand, he resisted some caae that was coiiapsing).
I am ieaaing aione Miio and Aegon, together with Damaxenus;
Than, concerning speed, Iphicius (he was bearing himseif aery proudiy,
unning from aboae the husks, and not breaking the ears of corn);
Than Euphemus himseif, going about on the sea,
Just as some rustc waiker, waiking the iand;
Than preaiousiy, by their changes (they used to be high-minded, iong ago),
Proteus and Periciymenus, both Thets and Mestra;
And, by both dying and iiaing, Castor, Poiydeuces, 5290
Aethaiides (the son of Hermes), Aristeas with them
(Aristeas, the wise son of Caystrobius),
Aiong with Theseus, Protesiiaus, Aicests, and Eurydice;
Than, by stopping rain storms and droughts, and by foreknowing aii things,
Both Thaies and Pythagoras with Anaxagoras;
Than Empedocies, son of Meiito, the one eaen checking the winds;
Than Laius, stopping the piague in the tmes of Antochus,
Than Apoiionius (it is tedious for me to recount how many things he said);
And before them, Democritus, that aii-iearned one,
Who, except for the actuai ioaaes of bread, with oniy their hottest biasts, 530
For three days entertained Hades, feeding him with them;
Than the Babyionian son of Artabazes...
That high-minded Tritanaechmes was bearing himseif proudiy
In extraordinary cattie-keeping, and in income of money.
For he had grazing horses, apart from aii of the other animais,
Being counted at sixteen thousand,
Eight hundred staiiions apart from the ones used in wars,
Dogs hardiy, in four districts, abie to be maintained,
A day’s income from the rest of the districts
Consttutng a whoie medimnus fuii of goiden coins. 540
If you shouid wish, piace with this man eaen the Erichthonius,
And Job, perhaps; piace them with him in an account a number of tmes smaiier;
Eaen piace the Lydian, Pythius, rather than my Job.
And rather than Erichthonius, piace him with Tritaechmes;
Indeed, for Pythius himseif preaiousiy gaae to Darius
Both a aine and a piane tree, equaiiy goiden;
And secondiy, he receiaed Xerxes as a guest with the whoie army;
He gaae both two thousand taients of siiaer,
And he giaes engraaed myriads of goid,
Four hundred myriads in number, except for seaen thousand. 550

Than, accordingiy, aii of these peopie together (they were thinking in the ways I said);
Than Chosroes by the fabricated sky;
Ptoiemy, being king of an infnite number of cites;
Gaius Juiius, as far as eaen Britannia
Adaancing the boundaries of ome; and that Sesostris,
By being toid as ruier of the worid and a god by the Assyrians.
So that, teiiing eaen the rest, I do not make iength of teiiing...
(I think,) you (exuitng rather in the Lachanas-name,
And by being confrmed in the register of the Zabareius)
Are not eaen judging us worthy of the designaton of writng. 560
Aithough in this, you are in no way harming free peopie,
Peopie weaithy-in-soui, being poor in deeds,
Who consider eaerything pertaining to peopie to be trumpery,
Thrones, power, ieaderships, deiusions, and sweiiings.
For as preaiousiy, Cato reared his son in aii things,
So my father us (in words, deeds,
And aii things) did rear up moderateiy and decentiy,
Teaching me to despise, rather more than the rest of things,
Weaith, deiusions, ieadership, and the frst-seat.
For when the ffeenth year was running near, 570
Watching the newness and unsteadiness of my age,
He was making me iie with him, adaising in eaerything owing,
In the same way as Cato to his son, Soion to Croesus,
And the physician Theodorus to that Chaganus,
Saying the story of how Sesostris yoked the kings,
And how one king, eyeing the tracks made by the wheeis, saying “I am not running,”
Made that great Sesostris moderate.
About those men, father used to adaise aiways at night,
Teiiing to me the ieaderships of peopie and the changes of iiaes,
Hecuba, Poiymestor, Ajax, the rest of them, 580
Geiimer, Beiisarius, and as many men of oid;
Eaen showing, from new things, how many men, aiways with frequency,
Preaiousiy had property, as he used to say, that was great,
But then, were carrying aesseis and doing other paitry things.
Showing these men to me, he ordered me to eye iife such as it is,
Not to eye iife according to the Egyptans, from a wooden corpse,
Nor, to eye iife according to the Laconians, making househoid-siaaes drunk;
And forming myths, he was teiiing them so that they contributed to this.
In this way, eaery night, at that tme, was adaice for me,
But day was the teacher of iessons 590
With moderate biows, and more for one being undiscipiined.
And practcaiiy, he was fiiing, then, the adaices for me.
For wheneaer there was need for a bath,
He wouid order the siaaes to put the bedciothes-sack
On the farthest couch, and for the rest of the peopie to run by,
Aithough our bathing room happened to be near...
I am ieaaing aside teiiing aii of the rest of his rearing methods.
eared, in the way that I was saying, so that by no means do I suppose your iife is good,
I do not, in any degree, feei pain at your iack of conaersaton.
But I am distressed as I iook down upon you harming yourseif exceedingiy. 600
Indeed, for you are eager to be supposediy more barbaric than barbarians,
More unreasoning than the unreasoning, though being aaiued by reason,
More without percepton than those... those without percepton,
By not being mindfui, neaer at aii, of the bonds of friendship.

For Darius, the barbarian, going to Babyion

Being a shieid-bearer, not a king, in those tmes,
And receiaing from Syioson a gif, a fame coioured upper-garment,
When aferwards, he was in possession of the kingdom,
The barbarian Darius was not unmindfui of the gif.
But afer an inaestgaton, he makes Syioson the king of Samos, 6s0
Saying, “Darius is neaer unmindfui of faaours.”
I am ieaaing aione the act of teiiing of Beiesys himseif, Arsaces,
And as much as Xerxes did concerning Histaeus;
Democedes the physician and Darius I am ieaaing aione,
By how many gifs, exceedingiy beyond measure, he compensated him.
I am ieaaing aione good Cyrus (the one in Xenophon),
Abradatas the generai, and aii of the other barbarians,
The aery ones who remembered thanks for a good deed.

I am changing the teiiing to the natures of the unreasoning.

Osymandyas, the great king of the Syrians, 6290
Used to haae a wiid iion, a comrade in wars,
Because Osymandyas raised him, he was mindfui of the faaour.
Ptoiemy used to haae a snake, thirty-fae fore-arms iong,
Submitng to the words and the aoice of that man.

Now another king, in turn, used to haae the iargest dog,

That once tore apart that man’s bed-partner,
Whiie she was piaying with the king, considering her an enemy.

And Artybius the Persian, haaing brought up the horse,

Used to haae it both waging war with him and heiping him.
But when Artybius saiied away to Cyprus 630
And waged combat with Cyprian Onesiius,
As Artybius feii before Onesiius,
The horse, seeing his master faiien,
Standing straight up began to engage in combat with Onesiius;
And striking the man’s shieid with his front feet,
He aimost wouid haae kiiied the king of Cyprus,
If the shieid-bearers did not cut his feet with scythes.

You haae iearned from Oppian about the ionging of the doiphin
For the Aeoiian youth, for the Libyan herdsman,
And, I was teiiing, in turn, for Arion the Methymnaean. 640
You know about the waiiing of the horses of Achiiies,
That were bewaiiing Patrocius, faiien in combat.

Now the shared sympathy of animais for one another

I am both ieaaing aione teiiing how it is unsound, and I am running by it.
You know the ionging of the dog of Erigone, I think,
Both of the dogs of Xanthippus and eaen of some oman,
(A man who was a great generai, someone who, ruined in combat
Was iying a ruin for dogs, beasts, and birds)...
For when the entre army of the omans was turned to fight,
Oniy the dog of him, being more ioyai than aii, 650
Waitng for many days, was protectng the man,
And was conceaiing the dishonour of that hero,
Unti the generais of the omans, coming iater,
Lifing up the man, compieteiy conceaied him in the patrimoniai tombs.
Another man, in turn, (traaeiiing with a dog,
In a few periods of tme that began entreiy before us),
Was taken out by a piunderer. But the dog was staying beside the body,
Unti some saiesman from the city buries it.
The dog iiaes with this saiesman in the city.
Now being with him at the inn, the dog was tame to aii, 660
Appeasing and fawning upon aii peopie.
But when the bioodstained murderer came to the inn,
The dog, as eaen a person, was sensibie with a just spirit,
He was bringing upon him both impiacabie barking and bitng,
Unti the innkeeper himseif and aii of those present,
Being amazed, were examining with a most unfaitering strength of mind.
And iearning that this man was a murderer of a person,
They bring the nobie dog to the prefect of the city.
And put on a cross, that bioodstained man was taken out.

I am ieaaing aside teiiing of the dogs that rescued Orpheus 670

And kiiied the serpent that was proceeding against him.
I am ieaaing aione the dogs that rescued me many tmes
(From both my father’s biows and from combat with partners in my youth),
That crushed at one tme a combat against Venetanus,
And that, on behaif of myseif and together with him, feii out of the open air.
I am ieaaing aione the act of chatng about the eagie that was iamentng the youth
And that was cremated with him in the death fre.
I am ieaaing aione these animais, that are manifest to aii,
Because of which we aiways eye the animais beside us that are unreasoning.

Some boy in Patrae, haaing bought a smaii serpent 680

aised it up; which, becoming aery iarge, ran away.
But when, at some tme, the young man was seized by piunderers,
And shouted out, the serpent ieapt forth against the piunderers;
Whom it eaen turns to fight, and saaes the young man.
Do not, at any rate, oaerpower eaen a serpent with a iack of afecton.

And why do I teii about animated things? The trees of Geryon

(The man taken out by Heracies), of this man here,
With the biood, are dropping down around the tomb of this man here.
I am ieaaing aione the act of deiineatng the popiars of Phaethon
That stream, in Eridanus, amber-bearing tear-shedding. 690

There was, preaiousiy, a fg-tree beside us, from out of those biooming with fruit;
This fg-tree possessed the caiiing of the auditor;
For oniy that aery man used to eat up from this tree,
But eaen I used to eat up some smaii things, through coaert thef.
Suddeniy, at the tme when the same auditor was dead,
At once, the piant grew coid, on that day,
Letng its ieaaes hang down trembiing and shriaeiied,
And aii of us were amazed with respect to what instantaneousiy happened.
But we were maraeiiing more upon iearning eaerything that happened:
Now it broke on the next day, from the top to the root, 700
And was utteriy dried up, a wonder new and strange.
I swear to the truth, the bright-iight iight-bringer,
That I haae been faise neither in other serious things, nor in this.
And why do I teii you about piants? There is a hodian mountain
(With respect to the caiiing), Atabyrium, preaiousiy haaing bronze cows.
Which used to send out a mooing when harm was coming to hodes.
Now for the Iiiyrians, the tombs of Cadmus and Harmonia
(When some eaii and harm arises for the Iiiyrians)
Used to rattie together a ciatter, roiiing about with one another,
As if they were feeiing pain at the misfortunes and harms. 7s0
And why do I teach you about these smaii and narrow things?
Eaen about magnesia, how it ioaes (within a friendship) iron?
And the grass, goidencity, how it ioaes a pure piece of goid?
And the rest of the rest, so that I do not write in aain:
Both Niobe, who was turned to rock, and the monument of Memnon.
You haae such extraordinary things, happening with frequency,
As, among iandmarks, we eye monuments that are faiiing down,
Thrones, couches, and the rest of the things that are broken by accident.
May you neither, at any rate, appear to me more iacking in afecton than eaen these things,
Nor faiseiy-exuitng in a iittie-expectaton of iife, 7290
But be afectonate with eaeryone, sociabie to eaeryone,
Humbie, gentie, and whoiiy fuii of friendship,
Both if you shouid be winged iike Daedaius, iike that Icarus,
And if you shouid expect to touch heaaen’s edge with your hands.
Indeed, for what is the iittie-expectaton of the miserabie iife?
Indeed, for if someone shouid not faii diferentiy with regard to refuxes in fortunes,
Weii, in any eaent, the innkeeper, death, destroys aii of the things,
And hides them in the depth of forgetuiness and amnesia,
But oniy airtues does a iifetme protect, a iifetme of friendship.

Timotheus, that generai, used to be fortunate, 730

Being exceedingiy-weaithy and exceedingiy-sof, iater poor and being hungry.
And Beiierophon was raised to the sky by the trireme aessei Pegasus,
Later, the piain of wandering was hoiding the man, biind.
Dionysius was a tyrant of Syracuse, iater a teacher in Corinth.
Perseus was preaiousiy for you a king, a captae then for me.
There are aiso Phyton, Psammenitus, Croesus, Geiias,
And exceedingiy-weaithy Timon, oniy iater a digger.
Moderate Ajax was understanding, but iater out of his senses.
Thersites, preaiousiy unharmed, was iater a ruin, a iaugh.
Tuiiius Seraius, a tattooed househoid-siaae, 740
Was iater a king of ome. O the turns of fortune!
Hannibai, a great generai of the whoie of Carthage,
Victorious oaer the generais Pauius and Terentus,
And then utteriy chopping up aii of the oman race,
But a runaway, iater, dies from drinking of a drug.
Before Hannibai, there was aiso Themistocies, drinking buii’s biood.
Eumenes was a wagoner, but was greatiy esteemed.
Demetrius Phaiereus, great and to be honoured,
But iater, in Corinth, dishonourabiy teaches.
Why do I chat to you about the majority of things, things of those who are rather ancient? 750
Beiisarius is biinded afer his generaiship.
Hoiding a wooden drinking cup, he used to shout to be heard by a miie,
“Giae an oboi to Beiisarius the commander,
Whom fortune esteemed, and jeaiousy makes quite biind.”
In this way, the entrety of the iife of peopie is being turned aside,
 oiiing up and down, iike a sphere, unstabiy,
And if it shouid not haae a change issuing from unstabie fortune,
Weii, in any eaent, through death it goes down to nothing iater.
For where is Aiexander, that Macedonian,
Who preaiousiy ied into siaaery the entre iand of the barbarians? 760
And where is good Scipio, where is Gaius Caesar?
Where is the ruier of the worid Sesostris, the king yoking kings,
Eaen being drawn from them, just as other men are drawn by horses?
Where is renowned Babyion? And where, eaen, is the city of Troy?
Where now, are the formeriy wise? Where is the ancient beauty?
And where is the might of Perseus, where is the speed of Heracies?
Where is the sensibiiity of Paiamedes? Where are aii ancient things?
Aii things together are coid dust, ashes, and decay.
Wherefore, there is need for those being moderate to be sensitae of things pertaining to peopie,
And neither to exuit in the coid iittie-expectatons of iife, 770
Nor to ignobiy waii from the iosses of things,
But there is need for them to consider eaerything smoke, to be measured in aii things,
To iament for those, both known and strangers, who are dying,
And to say the Pindaric thing by themseiaes ofen:
“Now what,” then, is “someone? And what is not someone? A person is a dream of a refecton.”
The poor man and rich, we are aii dying together;
But these things I said to you, reproaching, as one ought to,
Eaen adaising in things that are proper, sending down deiusion,
With words, possibiy astringent, but proftng.
But now, with witcisms, iet me driae away the suiienness. 780

Other stories and story-like phrases of this writen leter of the same John Tzetzes
Stories (of other ietters of ours, and of teiiing),
And phrases (but newer, of course, than stories),
Eaerything with a most peiiucid order, you must hear wiiiingiy.
Concerning On-a-leaf, 4.24 (Story 124)
On-a-ieaf is a aery smaii iittie-grape-bunch
That is abie to conceai itseif eaen on a chance ieaf.

Concerning Bekos-moon people, 4.25 (Story 2)

One story of the Bekos-moon peopie existng...
Two stories of the Bekos-moon peopie exist... and iearn for me subtiy and preciseiy.
Psamtk, that king of the Egyptans
(As Phrygians and Egyptans were contnuaiiy stii being judged
About the antquity, something hard to estmate, 790
Who frst came into existence, Egyptans or Phrygians),
Decided most cieaeriy; and iearn the decision.
Taking two iittie babies, immediateiy from the hour of birth,
And making eaery care for them,
He gaae them oaer to trustworthy bodyguards to guard,
Urging on the mothers to suckie them
Voiceiessiy, with aii of their attenton, and urging them on to withdraw graduaiiy,
And eaen to iock the babies’ room at once.
In this way, then, it was being done. And afer the third year,
When the bodyguards of the king came, 800
The iittie-babies run forward and were demanding bekos from them.
Upon iearning this, the king, afer assembiing the entre peopie,
Asked if, amid anyone, “Is bekos anything?”
Learning that bread was caiied bekos amid Phrygians,
He decided that Phrygians were more ancient than eaeryone,
Since the babies spoke a ianguage without instructon and by nature.

This is the haif of this story,

Of Phrygians and eaen of Egyptans, but the other is of Arcadians;

294 The numbering of stories in the consuited editon resets here, afer the iong epistie.
Upon hearing it from me, write it now in the tabiets of your sense.
Some say, as I was saying, that the races of the Arcadians 8s0
Are more frst-born, in reference to tmes, than the moon,
Wherefore, as if, of course, the Arcadians are senseiess, they caii them “before the moon.”
But others, as if the Arcadians are insoient, they caii them “before the moon.”
For “to treat with insoience” is caiied “to be before the moon” by the Arcadians.
But I count these men among those before the moon,
Since the cycies of the moon he found frst
(And eaen the waxing and waning that it undergoes by months),
For the Heiienes: Great Hermes, being from out of the race of Arcadians;
And since, but aiways before the frst day of the new moon,
Boiiing acorns with fre, the Arcadians used to eat them up. 8290

You are hoiding the whoie story of the Bekos-moon peopie,

A story being simpie and twofoid, and by a type of proaerb,
Being toid in a weii-aimed manner, in reference to both the senseiess and the moronic.
But since, just now, I eaen spoke to you of Hermes, a great man among Heiienes,
So that you do not consider him the one caiied thrice-greatest,
Hear eaerything and iearn cieariy and preciseiy:
Now Egyptan Hermes is caiied thrice-greatest,
Who, being contemporary with Osiris, Noah, and Dionysus,
Discoaered both reaerence for a god and types of ietters,
And with skiiis, eaen aii of them together, adorned his iife. 830
But afer years, aery near to two-thousand, the Arcadian Hermes iiaed,
And he discoaered amid Heiienes many of the things that are usefui.

Concerning the Blitomamman, 4.26 (Story 3)

Preaiousiy, they used to caii aii of the moronic blitomammans,
Both from blitos, being a worthiess herb;
And from mamman: eaen in this way, babies say bread.
Concerning Melitdes and the rest of the moronic, 4.27 (Story 4)
The moronic of oid were countiess in number,
And three are oaer topping aii of them (but in an incomparabie way),
Meiitdes, Coroebus, and with them, Margites.
Those of whom, Meiitdes, yoked in a iawfui marriage,
As he was not iying in bed with his wife, 840
Was being questoned by some, “how he is not unitng himseif with her?”
He was saying, “Do you think I am moronic, that I wouid do this,
And, from my aery mother, be drawn into a iawsuit?”
Such a man was sensibie Meiitdes.
Now Coroebus used to count the to and fro of waaes.
But as a cieaer counter, he used to count up to three,
And undoing the quantty, as though it was of a great sum,
Again, from another beginning, most-wiseiy countng out,
“One, two, three,” he used to say, through the whoie day.
Just as the son of the Country-foik, that most-wise man, 850
The one whom (through the tribute-exactors’ tauntng and ways),
Those wishing to haae a heiper, brought to the city of Constantne,
So that he might be taught to speak against the taunts of tribute-exactors.
Now being aery good-natured, because of a gif of a quantty of money,
He was iearning A and B, and eaen C with them;
Whom those of the same tribe (eaen receiaing him in honour again),
Brought to their fatheriand and country;
A cieaer refutaton for a tribute-exactors’ sharpness
(Eaen though the tribute-exactor is saying both many and aarious things),
He himseif, being the ioudest-aoiced eaen among the barbarian-aoiced, 860
Was crying out with frequency, “A, B, and C.”
Now the jackasses were shoutng, deiightng in that man,
“Our man wiii chop up this man by his wise words.”
As this man, then, was coming to know A, B, and C,
So Coroebus used to count one, two, and three,
And again, he was surpassing another beginning of the countng.
You haae eaen my Coroebus. Hear about Margites,
In regard to whom, oid Homer writes heroic-iambs.
This man, being oid and sensibie (as a matter of fact, being mind and senses),
Was inquiring, who, becoming pregnant with him as a baby, 870
Birthed him out of the stomach, “My father or my mother?”

Concerning Mamman-Hider, 4.28 (Story 5)

Mamman-hider means the same as blitomamman,
Or your moronic man, who hides together both mamman and bread;
For, it cieariy says, “Moronic man, you must hide together your mamman.”

Concerning Acco, 4.29 (Story 6)

Acco, some moronic woman, who, hoiding a mirror
And behoiding the refecton of herseif in the mirror,
Supposing it is another woman, addresses it in a friendiy manner.
And why do I teii you the detaiis of Acco? A few days preaiousiy,
Some attendant at the house of Cotertzes Pantechnes,
Obseraing a iarge mirror and, aii of a sudden, his own refecton, 880
Shouted to it: “Did you see my iord?”
And that man, about to run away to the priay,
Was trying to proaide the cape of the iord to that refecton.
“As you were not giaing a chat, you are conceited,” he was saying,
“Since you do not answer me.” Now a quantty of peopie, upon seeing this,
Said to this man, “What are you doing?” Stii eaen now they are iaughing.

Concerning Gry, 4.30 (Story 7)

Gry is the dirt of the fngernaii and the aoice of the pig.
And eaen gryte is a smaii iittie-basin made of ciay,
They can be both the smaii meitng-pots of goidsmiths,
And aii of the drinking-troughs of goidfnch birds. 890
Gry, mainiy, in any eaent, wishes to mean eaerything that is smaiiest.

Concerning the companionship of Pirithous with Theseus, 4.31 (Story 8)

Ixion’s son Pirithous (being the ieader oaer the Lapiths,
Being prominent with maniiness, youth, and might),
When he heard the babbiing of the words of Theseus
(Wantng to receiae an experience of the exceiience of Theseus’ might),
Droae away Theseus’ oxen that were feeding themseiaes at Marathon.
Now Theseus, hearing of and not enduring this, at once
Has mounted his horse and is driaing against him.
But as the one obseraed the other, astounded,
They throw their arms around one another and become among those who are most friendiy, 900
When Pirithous said that this was made into a startng-point
Of a friendship and of a aery great acquaintance.
“For there was need for us, being such, eaen to be friends.
But respectng the driaing away of oxen: punishment, whateaer you shouid say,
I am ready to receiae, uniess, in a manner of friendship,
You consider this thing from me to haae been weii contriaed.”
Now in this way, from out of such a manner, they were joined together,
So that eaen to Hades they both went down, on account of Kore,
So that they might seize her (since Theseus ioaes her,
And Hades has power oaer the Moiossians), being a giri in the bioom of youth. 9s0
Hades, who has heid them down, aiready binds Theseus,
And takes out Pirithous through Cerberus, a aery iarge dog,
Since he knows that that man is aiso a seizer of his daughter,
But Theseus is a coiiaborator in a friendiy manner.
Later, going to this Hades as a friend, Heracies
Deiiaers Theseus from the enciosure and the bonds.
You know, now, the aiiegory of Hades, of Kore,
And of Theseus’ bringing back of the dog Cerberus.
Now Demeter’s giri, whom Hades seized,
Is another aiiegory, and I said it is in Hesiod. 9290
But teiiing eaen who says each story,
Among both popuiar and common writers (uniess, perhaps, among the rare writers),
Both uses up my pages and makes more fatgue.

Concerning the sending away of Anacharsis, a friend of bountful Solon, 4.32 (Story 9)
Scythian Anacharsis, being one of the wise,
Upon going to the house of Soion in Athens,
Was asking Soion to make a friendship with him.
But when Soion is sending him away by teiiing him these things:
“Make your friends upon going to your fatheriand;”
Anacharsis said: “You, therefore, O Soion,
Being in your fatheriand, make friendships with me.” 930
And Soion, in wonder, accordingiy becomes a friend to this man.
Piutarch writes the story in his Parallel Lives.

Concerning the Cumaean Ass, 4.33 (Story 1125)

In Cumae, an ass, being iarge, exceeding asses,
Haaing put on the skin of a iion, was making great fear.
But when its aoice showed the cowardiy ass to aii,
It is brought, being chopped up by both ciubs and stcks,
As if into a siaaery proper for iion-iike asses.
Just as, somewhere, Aesop writes of the weasei in myths,
That it changed into a femaie by its request to the gods;
And that, as a bride sitng down in a bridai porch, 940
It showed the nature of the aery weasei, but not of a woman.
For when a mouse appeared there, ieaaing the porch,

295 Numbering from the originai aersion.

And whoiiy beionging to that prey,
It showed itseif to aii as a weasei, but not a woman.
And just as, eaen again, Aesop says: “Someone (seeing
A monkey passing away on a shipwreck, supposing that it is a person,
And giaing his hand) saaed it from the sea’s waaes.
But when questoning it, ‘Whence do you come?’ He heard that it was Athenian,
And again, he asked if it knows Piraeus.
(Now this Piraeus is the Atc harbour) 950
Now the monkey said that it knew this Piraeus weii
And aii of his chiidren together, aiong with his wife and friends;
Irritated, he instead gaae a thrust and the monkey drowned.”
In this way, eaen in his own words, Lucian writes somewhere:
“Someone beionging to the peopie in esteem, adorning a monkey with iustrous stoies,
Was making the majority forgetui, as though it was a person.
And some townspeopie, a aiewer, throwing nuts in its midst,
Proaed that that was a monkey and not a person,
Since it was gathering together the nuts by spiitng the tunic.”

Concerning the covert bow-shootng of Paris, 4.34 (Story 12)

Paris Aiexander, in the epics of Homer, 960
Is reported—secretiy standing on the tomb of Iius
(Now this Iius was one son of Tros)—
To shoot with his bow Diomedes at the fat of the foot,
But not afer the face, just as a nobie man.

Concerning Rhesus, according to Euripides, 4.35 (Story 13)

Euripides reports that hesus, in the drama Rhesus,
Learned about the generais of the Heiienes whiie inaestgatng
Who was frst of them, second, and third according to maniiness.
And that, about the deceits of Odysseus: haaing iistened,
But beiittiing them, hesus spoke the aery things that, in rows of aerse, Euripides teiis:
“Not one man, good in soui, deems it worthy, coaertiy, 970
To kiii the enemy, except for when going afer the mouth.”

Concerning “For I Have Not Shivered at Combat Nor at the Din of Horses”, 4.36 (Story 14)
Homer, in book seaen, reports that Hector,
Being about to join a singie-combat with Ajax,
As Ajax was mouthing exceedingiy and resoundingiy,
Homer reports Hector teiiing to this man: “Son of Teiamon, Ajax,
Do not in any way make triai of me, as though I were a feebie chiid,
Or a woman who does not know wariike deeds.
But I know weii both combats and man-kiiiing.”
And successiaeiy, Homer reports Hector teiiing these things,
Unti: “For I haae not shiaered at combat, nor at the din of horses.” 980
And eaen stii further; but it must be stopped aiready.

Concerning “For I wish not to be supposed best, but to be best”, 4.37 (Story 15)
The son of Euphorion, the tragic poet Aeschyius,
In a drama, which is being toid as The Seven Against Thebes,
eports that Eteocies, the king of Thebes,
Was cross-questoning about seaen Argiae generais:
“Who, at which gate of Thebes, wiii rattie together the combat?”
And some messenger teiis the caiiings of the Argiaes,
But against each of the Argiaes, he marshais a Theban,
Teiiing proper praises to each of those who were there,
As one man wiii be marshaiied against the so-and-so of the Argiaes, 990
And (when coiiiding, as I suppose) wiii not be a seiier of combat,
But wiii appear esteemed against the enemy;
And again, it is for another man from among them, he says, as it is for this man:
“The mind, yes, is unboastui, but the hand behoids the actaity.
For it wishes not to be supposed best, but to be best.”

Concerning Achilles among the virgin daughters of Lycomedes, 4.38 (Story 16)
The more recent of the race of poets form these things,
— One of whom is Tryphiodorus (both Lycophron and others) —
That Thets (knowing, from oracies and diainatons,
That Achiiies, the beioaed son of her,
Wouid exist for a short tme, if he shouid saii against the Trojans, s000
And sending him to the airgin daughter of Lycomedes) was hiding him, s296
Wearing, as they say, womaniy ciothing.
Eaen Lycophron, in the Alexandra, teiis in this way:
“And a femaie robe around the body he wiii endure
To don, beside the beams, touching the rattiing of the shuttie.”
Now the more recent poets form these things about Achiiies,
But I aiiegorized them in the book of Augusta.

Concerning the shout of the Trojans and the silence of the Greeks, 5.1 (Story 17)
Homer, praising the battie formaton of the Greeks
And mocking the Trojans for theirs, s0
Sings this aerse in the third book of the Iliad:
“The Trojans went forth cianging and roaring iike birds”.
But he speaks thus of the Greeks:
“But the Achaeans marched forward in siience
eady in their hearts to protect one another”.
And simiiar aerses you’ii fnd in this passage.

Concerning the verse: “But I command you to leave and go back to the crowd”, 5.2 (Story 18)

296 Here begins book V of the Chiliades.

Thus spoke Achiiies to Aeneas in the nineteenth book of the Iliad
For the foiiowing reason:
Aeneas came out to chaiienge Achiiies in combat
And the iatter said not a few words to him: 290
“Shouid you eaen consider taking me back to Priam as a spoii of war,
Bear this in mind, kiii me you can not, Aeneas;
So go back and mix with the crowd and do not dare fght me”.

Concerning the phrase: “But the children of the unfortunate ones”, 5.3 (Story 19)
And Homer teiis us in the seaenth book of the Iliad
That Diomedes spoke thus to Giaucus, fxing his gaze on him
(This Giaucus was Hippoiochus’ son, Beiierephon’s grandson
And he wore the whoie armament of the iatter.
He was the one to go out and fght Diomedes, 30
Since cowardice had conquered the rest of the Trojans):
“Who are you, grandest of men? Are you some god,
Or maybe a wizard or a sage or an enchanter,
Or some eiementai of one of the four kinds that exist,
Nameiy fre, wind, water, iron or stone?
For against such forces I wish not to wage a war”.
And Lycurgus came to be hated by aii the gods, when he droae Dionysus away,
And he died by an axe at the hands of the Bacchants, short-iiaed and biinded by great Zeus.
Learn the aiiegory behind this -for who wiii ieaae without beneft 40
from one of Tzetzes’ stories?:
This Lycurgus, as they say, did not iiae iong;
You see he went against naturai order and powers beyond him.
He was king of Thrace and imposed upon the Thracians the noton
That one shouid not piant aines.
And eaery aine he chopped down with an axe
Or put on fre or puiied out from the root.
Eaery aine owner and producer of wine fed to the outer boarders
And there he kept cuitaatng aines.
In the end, Lycurgus totaiiy iost his mind, 50
And biindness took hoid of him by the wiii of Zeus, as the myths teii.
The mind can both see and iisten, according to Epicharmus.
Eaery other part is biind aitogether, when the mind is absent.
So, he iost his mind due to his abstnence from wine
And stopped sieeping, became totaiiy dry
And him many such things piagued because of not drinking.
Then it dawned on him to cut the aines
So he was ied to a fast death by the community.
And Diomedes said the foiiowing words to Giaucus:
“If you are a man made of stone or iron or if you are some kind of wizard,
In no way wouid I desire a fght against such a man.“ 60
Lycurgus, the one we just mentoned,
By iosing his mind and cutng down the aine trees,
Made his days counted, for he was murdered by the peopie
Or by the aery nature he went against afer iosing his mind.
If you happen to be a mere bread- eatng man iike me,
Dare chaiienge me in battie and you wiii meet your doom.
It is oniy the foois’ chiidren who put up a fght against me.

Concerning the Molionids, 5.4 (Story 20)

The Moiionids were among the iords of the Eiians
And about them informs Homer through oid Nestor’s mouth; 70
“And so, they siew the Moiionids,
Who were sons of Actorion and Moiione.”

But they were in fact more ancient than Nestor thinks,

These two thieaes, Passaius and Aciemon.
And the name “Moiionids” is inaccurate,
At ieast for those who are thorough when writng history.
For they were the sons of Memnonid’s widow
And by dispiaying what they had stoien and by demonstratng the benefts to be gained from murder,
They eaen scorned their own mother, who toid them: 80
“You haae not yet crossed paths with a man of reai might.”
So, one tme, when Heracies was weary and had faiien asieep,
They sneaked up on him and began searching his sack.
So, he seized them and ted up their feet
And hanged them on his shouiders,
The one from the front side, the other hanging down his back.
And so he carried on his journey.
As they were hanging about, facing each other,
They saw Heracies’ hairy buttocks and genitaiia 90
Coaered as they were in thick biack hair, which reminded them of their mother.
And they right away burst into iaughter, iots of ioud iaughter.
And when Heracies iearned who they were, he set them free.
This gaae birth to the famous saying.
But which historian described this story in detaii I know not.
Sure it was Lycophron, who says that Aiexander Paris
Was at the bottom of the iist of cowardiy men.
Theoiogus and thousands of others haae aiso written about these things.

Concerning Cacus, 5.5 (Story 21)

This man, Cacus, was a thief and a cunning one at that. s00
He was actae in those piaces where ome now iies.
As Heracies was passing by with Geryon’s cows,
Cacus stoie many of them and ied them backwards into his caae-iair.
In this way, shouid one see the tracks the cows had ief,
One wouid think they were exitng the caae instead of entering.
But Heracies was not tricked and so, he recaptured the cows
And he siew Cacus on the spot.
Dion and Dionysius haae aiready toid about Cacus in their work
And so haae many others who haae written about ome. ss0

Concerning the centaur Asbolus, 5.6 (Story 22)

Heracies, seraing Eurystheus for tweiae years,
Happened to carry out side tasks apart from his tweiae iabours.
One of those tasks concerned Asboius.
So iisten now and iearn the story in detaii:
The centaur Phoius ofers Heracies hospitaiity-
From this Phoius takes Phoioe, the mountain, its name-
And, ofering Heracies wine to drink,
He opened a jar of the centaur’s wine.
The smeii from the wine spread through the air, s290
Signaiing Asboius’ caii towards aii centaurs to come and fght Heracies.
Eaen Chiron came against his wiii and he took an arrow in the knee.
And Eiatus he pierced with his bow in the arm
And he feii on his knees and he kiiied him with ease.
In that manner, using his bow, siew Heracies most of the centaurs.
But Asboius, the one responsibie for the battie,
Him he crucifed and beneath he wrote an appropriate epigram-
For this man, Heracies, was wise indeed, s30
An astroioger and poet, phiiosopher and sage,
A doctor as weii and much more than that,
Whateaer it is that Orpheus and others teii of him.
This epigram is to be found in one of the episties:
“Asboius, feariess of both god and men,
Hangs now from a thick and juicy pine-tree,
Great meai to the insatabie crows”.

Concerning one of Dionysius’ verses: “even the stupidest of men mock them”, 5.7 (Story 23)
This man, Dionysius, who was Hermocrates’ son,
Was tyrant of the Siciiians and to him was Piato three tmes soid.
As some writers fond of iies haae written, s40
When he was asked where the best copper is to be found, he repiied
And said to him that it is the one from which the statues of Armodius and Aristogeiton in Athens are
made.
For they were reaered in this manner due to their being tyrant-kiiiers.
They kiiied Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus.
That was the frst pretext that caused Piato to be soid as siaae.
The second one, not iesser to the frst,
Is that Dionysius was defeated by Piato at composing oratory
And so the former soid him. s50
But this one is aiso faise; iisten now to Tzetzes and know the truth!
At that tme there was a man, Phiioxenus,
A dithyrambic poet -you’ii iearn who he was-,
Whom it was worth to seii as a siaae.
But eaen though he behaaed ofensiaeiy against Dionysius,
The iatter neaer soid him as a siaae.
Oniy once was he sent to the quarry
But Dionysius soon puiied him out.
And it was for this reason that he got put there in the frst piace:
Dionysius had written a tragic piay s60
Which was to be ceiebrated on the Athenian stage.
That piay he gaae Phiioxenus and said:
“Make this a worthy tragedy, Phiioxenus!
And shouid you fnd any fauits therein, erase them in a meaningfui manner”.
And he erased the whoie piay, frst iine to iast.
So, how many tmes was he supposed to be soid then?
Weii, Dionysius sent him oniy once to the quarry
And withdrew him aimost immediateiy.
But how couid someone who heid others to be wiser than him
And gaae them his own scripts to correct s70
Not seii them as siaaes, when they openiy mocked him,
How couid he haae soid Piato for beatng him in oratory compositon?
For it is not true; in fact it is one of the most hideous iies.
You see, Piato was caught piotng against him
(By motaatng Dionysius’ nephew, Dion, to take the sceptre).
So, the wise Piato was three tmes soid but not once put to death.
That man, Dionysius, had presented many tragic piays in Athens,
Winning second and third positons.
With a piay though caiied Hector’s Ransom s80
He won frst piace, beatng eaeryone in Athens.
In that piay, which was written against Piato
And which was more so a comedy than tragedy,
I beiieae he started out with this aerse:
“Eaen the stupidest of men mock them”.

So now you are hoiding the stories of the frst epistie;

You’ii fnd they are twenty three in number.
By writng dozens of episties at frst,
We then judge which ones shouid be kept
And the rest we put aside… s90
And afer the frst epistie we must of course write
the second one and third as weii.
The stories are four hundred ninety six in number,
Twenty preceded these and then three more
They totai up fae hundred ten pius nine more.
And another hundred forty and one are now iining up
At the gates of the book.
So, this book consists of a group of six hundred sixty stories,
No more no iess.
The ones piundered and stoien from their iofy homes, 2900
These are not to be regarded. But you can write them down,
Shouid you come across them.
The stories from the onset of this second epistie, unti the end of the hundred and seaen episties.

Concerning Atlas: the frst story, 5.8 (Story 127)

Atias from Libya, as the chiidren of the Egyptans say
And those that foiiow Sophides the Chronographer,
Liaed in the tme of Osiris and Dionysus and Noah
And Hermes Trismegistos, founder of the art of writng,
At the tme of Hermes and Prometheus and Heracies and Typhon,
Who were aii Egyptans; forget about the Greek counterparts.
When Osiris- Dionysus, whom one might aiso caii Noah,
Was in the iand of Nyssa, a fertie iand of the Arabian piains,
And then again in the Indian iand of Nysa, he found aitcuiture. 29s0
And then on the Armenian mountain of Luaar,
As the Chaideans and many generatons of Armenians say,
This man found aitcuiture,
Cuitaaton of piants and agricuiture and many things of necessity
And, setng out to teach them to mankind,
He ief Hermes to his wife as a consuitant,
The Hermes who had found aii things needed for human iife,
And to him he gaae Prometheus as an assistant
And Bousiris to guard the iand of Phoenice; 29290
Antaeus he made generai of Libya
With an army and farmers and groups of dancing women
And he marched through India to Asia,
Proaing himseif to be a benefactor of art whereaer he went.

So, when he ief, Typhon, his brother,

Turned against his brothers and put together an army,
Hoping to seize thus the throne and become a tyrant.
But aii this was perceiaed by Hermes and Heracies

297 Once again, the number of stories is reset here.

And, so, he fed from the iand of Egypt to Ciiicia 2930
With few supporters and money resources.
He waged war against Osiris, who was his reiatae
And won the frst tme.
But Osiris Dionysus defeated Typhon eaentuaiiy,
Afer Hermes managed to persuade his troops to turn against him.
From these facts did the mythographers make up the story
That Typhon cut of the chord from Zeus’ bow
And defeated Zeus gioriousiy afer hiding it in a ieather sack.
But Hermes stoie it and returned it to Zeus 2940
Who gained the upper hand and defeated Typhon.
This seems more reaiistc when detached from rhetoricai aiiegory,
For Osiris is now said to haae been a king
(And peopie of oid used to address eaery king as Zeus)
And Typhon his brother, that was his name.
And you shouid know that the name Zeus
Aiso signifed the cosmic order and miid weather,
Which, being aitered by typhoons and storms and aioient winds,
Caused this confusions of terms in tmes ancient 2950
Had it not been for the fre and iight of Hermes,
Which dispersed the confusion of eiements,
A new order of things wouid haae taken hoid.
So, know that Zeus represents the mind under the ienses of aiiegory,
For the mind is defeated by typhus, which cuts of its centrai chord
Unti Hermes, who refects reasoning, restores it to its originai state.

But since I haae taken up the task of narratng these things in a truthfui manner,
When Osiris-Dionysus defeated Typhon,
He threw him and his frst commanders in prison
And against Bousiris of Phoenice and Anteus the Libyan 2960
He sent Heracies.
So Heracies, marching against the Libyan iand,
Siew Anteus, who was as taii as sixty tmes the iength of an arm,
Fightng him outside the iand he occupied.
For he knew not how to win in piaces unfamiiiar to him.
And he had to face the earth there, Anteus’ mother,
For she engaged in combat herseif afer her son feii.
So, Heracies kiiied him in the Libyan iand,
Where he aiso iearned the art of astronomy by Atias,
Its aery creator. 2970
That’s why they say that Atias bears the sky on his back
And Heracies reiieaed him of the task by carrying it himseif.
Such are the narratons of the Egyptans regarding Atias.

But the Greeks, jeaious of the Egyptan story,

Add another Atias to the picture,
Irreieaant to Heracies, son of Aicmena
Or Atias the descendant of Iapetus.
He iiaed four generatons before Peiops came to be
And so he is much iater than the frst Atias,
As both Jews and Greek teii in their stories:
Nameiy forty six generatons 2980
And from Heracies oniy two or three generatons apart.
But the art of star diainaton that Atias possessed
And that Heracies the Egyptan iater iearned,
They ascribe to Heracies the son of Aicmena
And Atias the Libyan.
The wise Homer, describing things more naturaiiy,
Named the moaement of the ceiestai sphere between the two poies
Atias.
And during the frst part of this ceiestai moaement,
Heracies, who represents the sun, circies around the sphere. 2990
Concerning the saying about the “well-masked pretext”, 5.9 (Story 2)
Know that these phrases are of exotc nature
And they haae a feeiing of decency and grandeur as weii
And make speech seem of more eieaated styie.
And instead of using a form reiated, he says:
“Use no aiiuring pretext against me”.
And though this second word is one hard to the ear,
It smooths and sofens the phrase,
As if though one had used the frst one.
“Use no aiiuring pretext against me”. 300
“And don’t tnker with nothingness, you’ii just be taiking in aain”.
This is a hard word and one that embeiiishes speech as weii.
Not iike Lycophron, who chose smooth words, nameiy chords and piaying the phorminx.
These words said Lycophron to Aiexander:
“You shouid not haae Heien by means of the chord-drumming guitarists”.

Concerning the characterizaton of Menelaus as “automatc” by Homer, 5.10 (Story 3)

Homer somewhere near the end of the second book
Presents Agamemnon caiiing the best of the Achaeans 3s0
To sacrifce to Zeus with the foiiowing words:
“Caii forth the best of the Achaean eiders,
Nestor frst and king Idomeneus
And then the two Ajaxes and the son of Tydeus
And a sixth man, Odysseus, equai to Zeus in cunning.
And the eioquent Meneiaus came on his own initatae”.

Concerning the Laconic brevity of speech, 5.11 (Story 4)

It is Homer who frst describes the breaity of the Laconians,
When he speaks thus of Lacon, a contemporary of Meneiaus
In the third book of the Iliad: 3290
“But as they were weaaing words and crafing arguments,
Meneiaus wouid taik fast, saying not too many but pieasant things,
For he is not one to chatter
And not one to speak faiseiy, aithough he is younger in age”.
It is Homer, thus, who frst described this breaity of the Laconians
And historians haae aiso written about it,
Of how the Laconians receiaed a iong ietter once, that contained the foiiowing words:
“If you do not abide by this and that
We wiii put together an army, prepare the caaairy 330
And cross the riaer Earotas with ease.
With numerous and dense troops we wiii engage you in combat
And in the biink of a moment we wiii deaastate Sparta and Laconia
And turn it into grazing feids among many other caiamites we’ii bring upon you.”
Six episties were bareiy enough for aii these threats.
The Laconians repiied with oniy a “yes” in paper
And they sent it back.

Concerning Solon, how he did not come to admire Croesus, when they met, 5.12 (Story 5)
In our narraton regarding Croesus we taiked about Soion-
This is the frst of aii stories found herein-.
But then again we shaii refer to the things we must 340
And the things we omitted, for they were not considered necessary.
Dracon was the frst to set written iaws for the Athenians,
Merciiess, imposing the penaity of death for aii crimes, eaen for steaiing a cabbage.
So, Demades, who was a aery handsome orator
But eaen more impressiae when performing,
eceiaed great reputaton through the foiiowing words:
“It seems, O Judges, that Dracon, the iaw-writer
Has written these iaws with biood and not with ink.”
Seaen years afer Dracon’s iegai insttutons 350
Soion became the second iegisiator for the peopie of Atca.
But Thaies, who was Soion’s friend and who iiaed his iife
Without iegai constraints,
Neaer expressed his objecton. But when Soion was writng the iaws,
He said to him: “It is useiess things that you are struggiing with, Soion.
Laws are iike the webs of a spider;
They can capture aii things weak and smaii
But can be easiiy broken by the strong ones”.

Soion then decided to ieaae Athens for ten years,

And ieaae his iegisiaton to be tested, 360
Shouid the Athenians decide to foiiow it.
And so, he came to Miietus, Thaies’ homeiand.
Thaies made known to one of the Miiesians
That someone from Athens was now among them.
Soion asked him whether some noaei incident had occurred
And he repiied that a young man had died soon afer his father ief.
The city bid the young iad a iast fareweii.
When Soion asked whether it was Soion’s son,
Thaies repiied that it was his indeed.
Soion began to weep and tear his hair of 370
But Thaies burst in iaughter and embraced the man,
Confessing: ”It is aii a trick of mine, so stop crying, Soion!
What has depriaed me of marriage and haaing chiidren
The aery same things now befeii you, O great Soion!”
This is what happened to Soion in Miietus.
And once he found himseif in Sardeis, in Lydia,
When Croesus had inaited him, as we’ae aiready toid,
And showed him the treasures for which he boasted greatiy,
So that Soion wouid consider him the happiest of men.
But when Soion did not at aii praise him as a happy man, 380
He was biuntiy dismissed, as we’ae described.
When Aesop saw him in this state, he said:
“O phiiosopher Soion, to the kings must one teii
What they want to hear or otherwise keep siient”.
And he repiied: “O Aesop, to the kings must one say the truth
Or otherwise not say a word.”

Concerning the bird Phoenix, 5.13 (Story 6)

The Phoenix is a bird unique,
More beautfui than the peacock and bigger in size
And with goiden piumage, a wonderfui and exotc sight.
It buiids its nest of deiightui smeii on trees 390
And when it dies is born again as a worm from that tree
And then is nourished by the sun and turns into a Phoenix once again.
He then migrates to Egypt and dies in Ethiopia,
As Phiiostratus teiis us in his Life of Apollonius.
Chaeremon, the Egyptan sage-priest,
Has made ciear in his teachings of the arcane and sacrai matters
That the Phoenix dies at the age of seaen thousand and six years
In the iand of the Egyptans.

Concerning the Unicorn, 5.14 (Story 7)

The unicorn is a scent ioaing animai
And has a horn on its forehead. 400
They hunt it down by iuring it with nice odours.
They dress up one of the most handsome young iads as a woman
And smear him with the most wondrous perfumes.
They piace him just outside the beast’s iair
And then hide. When the wind biows
It draws the beast out.
The young man opens his arms wide
And the spiendid odour emanates; he then embraces the animai.
Whiie it is stunned by the scent,
The hunters emerge and cut of its horn, 4s0
Which induces resistance to poison
And the beast then runs of haif-horned.

Concerning the birds that are also called Harpies, 5.15 (Story 8)
Ictinus is a type of bird that we aiso caii Harpy,
One that steais the baby birds from roosters.
The say that it oniy drinks rain water
Wheneaer rainfaiis are frequent.
Now you shaii iearn the diference between ictinus and ictis,
For they are not the same bird, as some might think.
Ictinus is the bird I’ae just described 4290
But ictis is a four-iegged wiidcat that preys on birds.

Concerning how lions never touch a corpse, 5.16 (Story 9)

Lions are predators and, just iike eagies,
They neaer feast on dead bodies.
And what iiaing thing they catch and eat,
That they wiii not touch iater on, shouid they ieaae it aside.
The same goes for eagies; and they say
That foui odour is the cause for their repuision
And ioss of taste.
So, they neaer eat the iefoaers of their food.
But I think their issue is that both animais are kings and arrogant as such, 430
The eagie among birds and the iion among predators.
Don’t make me teii you about those eagies or iions
That are either jaiiers or jaiied; I know not.
But I think they wouidn’t eat a dead animai
But rather just the aiscera or the piacenta.
There was a iion in the tme of Apoiionius,
Which, he said, carried the soui of Amasis.
Shouid you hear one of Homer’s aerses
“As a iion he was pieased ieaning oaer the dead corpse” 440
Don’t think, as some idiots do, that the body is reaiiy dead
Or that Homer is unfamiiiar with the nature of iions.
Know that what he has in mind is a iiaing body with biood stii in its aeins.

Concerning the punishment of Tantalus, 5.17 (Story 10)

Tantaius was Piutus’ and king Tmoius’,
uier of Lydia, son.
From him took the Lydian mountain Tmoius its name
And oaer these Lydians wouid iater on king Croesus reign.
I haae no ciue why Sophocies thinks he is of Phrygian origin,
When he says that Peiops is a Phrygian barbarian of oid.
But if Tmoius fathered Tantaius in Lydia 450
And Tantaius then Peiops, how is it then that they be caiied Phrygians, O Sophocies?
But aithough Tantaius, as I’ae said, is Tmoius’ son,
The Greeks think of him as a son of Zeus, king that he is.
For the Greeks used to caii aii kings “Zeus”.
The Lydians and the Ionians of Ephesus
Caiied aii their kings Paimys, in the same manner.
Learn now the story regarding the punishment of Tantaius.

Tantaius was an archpriest and a physician

And he iost diaine faaour
Afer disciosing the secrets of the mysteries to the uninitated. 460
He used to teii that the sun is no crystai or fre object
But a mere stone; how doubtui that is.
That’s why the myths say that Tantaius was once among the gods,
Sat at their tabie and in their company
But then he stoie the ambrosia and the nectar
And gaae them to the mortais, as Pindar narrates.
So he was banished from aii honours and the common tabie of the gods
And came down amidst men, who are fast to meet their doom.
Others, Like Euripides, say that it was his big mouth’s fauit, 470
Because he disciosed the secrets of the gods to men.
But these are aii one and the same, the ambrosia and nectar
And the hidden secrets of the gods.
That’s why he was banished; no secretae man was he.
His disciosing the mysteries to the uninitated,
An act for which he iost his priestiy ofce,
Was then mixed with those other myths by the peopie of days gone by.
And it was his opinion regarding the sun,
How it was mereiy a stone in the sky,
That, some say, ied to his disgrace among the gods. 480
He got thrown out by the gods and grappiing the air,
He gazed at the sun, which stood as a stone aboae his head.
This, they say, was his punishment when he was stii aiiae.
By crafing this story in an educatae manner, they point out to iiaing men
That one shouid do no crime or indecency.
Tantaius was punished and they wouid be punished as weii.
When he died, though, he faced eaen heaaier penaites.
He was made sufer from hunger and thirst in the foiiowing manner:
He was hung aboae the middie of a iake with his iips touching the water
With appie-trees and pomegranate-trees and fg-trees around
In fruit abounding. 490
But shouid he want to drink, it wouid aii turn dry in an instant
And if he desired a fruit from the trees to satsfy his hunger,
The wind wouid biow it away towards the shady ciouds.
So there you haae both of Tantaius’ punishments,
The ones he sufered whiie stii breathing, toid as an aiiegory,
For bad and dishonest men faii into Hades,
So as not to cause further harm to the iiaing.

Concerning why Eros carries a bow and a fre and has wings, 5.18 (Story 11)
The painters depict Eros as a young and handsome boy 500
Carrying a bow and a torch
And haaing wings, with a doiphin at his side and a medicinai grass-herb.
His wings and the doiphin symboiize that he hoids reign oaer sky, iand and sea.
And when they portrait him as an archer and torch-bearer
It means he wounds and burns the hearts of the enamoured.
And he is aiso young and handsome,
For ioaing and being ioaed is more appropriate to youth,
More so to so beautfui a youth.

Concerning unjust fate according to Josephus, 5.19 (Story 12)

In the book concerning the taking of Jerusaiem 5s0
The spiendid Josephus, the Hebrew historian,
Openiy deciared fate to be cruei
For it has become so, that petty men
Are more highiy regarded than those that are decent
By those that ruie or hoid the kingship.
But eaen dogs and deer and sometmes eaen bears,
Domestc cats and thousands of other beasts
Used to serae peopie once.
Pyrrhus honoured the eagie and Nicomedes the dog
And Perseus the deer and the bear among others. 5290
Thousands of others honoured many other beasts
Like the domestc cat, the mouse-eatng kind,
As did our emperor’s, Monomachus’, wife,
Who caiied her cat Mehiebe.
They say that one tme, when that animai got stuck on a roofop,
The wife of Augustus said to the senate:
“O iords, my dear Mehiebe got stuck on the edge of a roof”.
They biushed from shame and couid not but iaugh;
They said to each other with a faint smiie on their faces:
“Do you see how our empress’ beioaed Mehiebe sufers?” 530
That cat of the kingiy throne used to eat aii kinds of foods eaery day
In goiden containers; not a thing wouid be missing.
It had its own siaaes for shopping, preparing its meais,
Carrying his basket around, making bread
And aii kinds of seraants,
As the richest among men usuaiiy do.
This in the tme of Mehiebe; for now we haae some doggy
That moaes around in the empress’ embrace
And enjoys the same food and aii the aforementoned. 540
And how can he but eat from siiaer piates, not piates from goid,
Since there are peopie out there who haae no bread to eat?
So, for aii these reasons that exceiient Hebrew historian
Names fate cruei; he is justfed for doing so.

The old words cheiromactron and magdalia, 5.20 (Story 13)

Cheiromactron is a iinen used on the tabie
To ciean the hands of dirt.
The remains of this dirt that haae been washed of,
emains of dough, cheese, meat and fsh
That are then thrown to the dogs or pigs,
Are caiied magdalia.
On the old traditon of those that were stll alive to say three tmes out loud the name of the one that
had died abroad, hoping to get back to their homeland, 5.21 (Story 14)
In days of yore, the reiataes of those that had died abroad 550
Caiied thrice their names,
As Homer teiis us in the third book of the Iliad.
This they did as a sign of remembrance of their afecton
And so that one might weep aiong, shouid he hear the exciamatons.

Concerning the old Roman traditon of not going to wars undeclared but announcing them beforehand
by throwing a spear on the ground and startng thus the war, 5.22 (Story 15)
The oman and Latn natons wouid neaer march to a war undeciared
But they wouid throw a spear before the foreign iand
To openiy deciare their enmity.
Then wouid the war begin against that foreign naton.
That’s what Diodorus says, who writes of aii things oman. 560
This is an oid war practce.
Now it has ceased, I think, to exist.
They just throw a rooster in the iand against which they are waging war.

Concerning the reasons for which they are called Ausones and their land’s extent, 5.23 (Story 16)
Ausonia takes its name from the Ausonians,
Who in turn take theirs from Ausonus, son of Odysseus, according to some.
For Odysseus had Teiegonus and Ausonus and Casiphone
With the iegendary Circe, 570
As eaery truth-respectng historian writes.
Listen now to Tzetzes, who caiis them aii moronic.
For how couid Odysseus haae aii three chiidren in a year?
One eaery four months? Or does the womb spit them forth aii at once?
Weii, that’s the way horned goats are born in the iand of Libya
And in Itaiy men are born afer spending four months in the womb.
So, from Ausonus, who was born afer four months,
Takes Ausonia its name, as they say.
Others, howeaer, say that it was from an oider Ausonus,
Son of Itaius, king of the iand.
But bear in mind that one shouid use the name Ausones
Oniy for the Aurugians, 580
Who iiaed aiong the coast, next to the Voiscians and the Campanians.
They then spread out to aii parts of Itaiy.

Concerning how John Tzetzes is an Iberian from his mother’s side but pure Greek from the side of his
father, 5.24 (Story 17)
The mother of John Tzetzes’ mother,
The historian and writer of chronicies,
Was of Massagetan bioodiine, from the area of Abasgis.
The Iberians and the Abasgids and the Aians are aii one naton.
The Iberians hoid frst positon among them and second come the
Abasgids; the Aians are iast among the three.
Aiong with iady Mariam the Abasgid 590
Whom many wrongiy hoid to be an Aian,
She came to Megaiopoiis as her fake reiatae
And was taken under her wing
Just iike our own Aspae was by Catae.
She begot Constantne the Great, famous ruier,
Great Minister and eaerent throughout his iife,
Father of the iegendary city ofcer.
Afer the death of his reputabie wife
He fathered Tzetzes’ grandmother
From one of his respectabie wife’s consorts, 600
Nameiy the concubine of Iasitus
And her he eieaated to the same rank as his,
The oniy one she was to receiae such honour.
Her mother became the queen,
The renowned Eudocia,
From whom three more generatons originated.
Her husband was a great feid owner
Who heid abundant iand of the state in his possession.
Afer he died, she wouid stii say his name as if he was aiiae.
He had three daughters and one of them, Eudocia, was Tzetzes’ mother. 6s0
So now you know that Tzetzes is an Iberian from his mother’s side.
His father was Michaei and he trained him
In oratory and poiitc just iike Cato did with his own son.
This Michaei was John Tzetzes’ son,
Who was an iiiiterate man
And many a tme hosted he wise men in his manor of fae foors
With the accompaniment of music and iuxuries that surpass eaen the ceiebratons of matrimony.
And the father of this iast one was raised by a woman of Byzantum 6290
And, aithough he iied safe and sound in his graae,
He was bestowed the name of citzen of Constantnopie by the nuns of
The so-caiied Monastery of Euphrosyne,
Who had no idea what the term eaen meant.
Inquire these nuns about the wonders he has achieaed.
So Tzetzes is an Iberian from his mother’s side.
But from her father and his own father
He is of pure Greek origin.

Concerning Phestus’ prophecy regarding Munichia, a locaton in Athens, 5.25 (Story 18)
When Phestus Epimenides, son of some Phestus from Crete,
Came to Athens, he saw Munichia, 630
Which is a iocaton near the Athenian port,
And reaiizing that it wouid bring troubie upon the Athenians
He spoke prophetcaiiy and his words sounded as foiiows:
“If the Athenians knew how many troubies
Munichia wiii infict upon them,
They wouid crash it with their teeth, as if it was bread in their mouths.”

Concerning Cecrops, 5.26 (Story 19)

Cecrops was the foremost ruier of Atca
And the frst one at that; they caiied him doubie-born,
Because he had the size of two men,
Was fuent in both the Egyptan and the Greek tongue, 640
And had the iower body of a dragon but the upper parts of man.
Demosthenes, aias, wanted to craf an aiiegory,
But he was oniy suitabie for courts.
The Cecropids say that Cecrops
Had the power of a dragon and the inteiiigence of man.
But Tzetzes, who is more prudent, beiieaes that when that man was king,
He defeated the barbarian tribes in combat
And they were so much benefted by his mercy
That they became attached to him and desired no separaton.
And for another reason they caii Cecrops doubie-born. 650
In ancient tmes the women of Greece wouid not marry their men iegaiiy
But iike beasts they wouid respond to eaery man’s desire.
Hence, the chiidren were singie-born,
Knowing oniy who their mother was, their father they knew not.
So, afer the great cataciysm in the city of Saeai in Egypt,
(the name means Athena in the Egyptan tongue)
Cecrops came to Athens
And gaae the city its name afer Saeai. 660
And among the many things he did for the Greeks
He estabiished iaws for women to engage in iegai matrimony
And the chiidren came to know their fathers as weii,
Whereas it was oniy their mother that they knew before.
So, Cecrops got to be caiied doubie-born for these insttutons of his.
He was the frst Athenian king
And from him are aii the Athenians now caiied Cecropids.
Then reigned Cranaus and Amphictyo was the third ruier,
Whom Erichthonius dethroned and became himseif king;
He was Hephaestus’ and Athena’s, Cranaus’ daughter’s, son. 670
Pandio was son of Praxithea and Erichthonius.
Zeuxippe and Pandio fathered Erechtheus
And then Phiiomeia, Procne and Bouts.
Then Erechtheus and Praxithea fathered Cecrops.
Pandion was son of the iatter and of Metadiouse
And from Pandio and Peieia Aigeus was born.
He had daughters from Autocthe
And a bastard son, Theseus, from Dithra.
Acamas and Demophon are Theseus’ and Phaedra’s sons.
Afer Erechtheus, father of the second Cecrops, 680
Was the appeiiaton “Erecthids” instiied upon the Athenians.

Concerning the fact that lepreion is a locaton, but lepreos is the designaton for the leper, 5.27 (Story
20)
Lepreion is a piace in Triphyiia,
And they say that iepers sprang forth out of stones there
And the whoie area was soon poiiuted with ieprosy.
Lepers are now caiied ieprous men (lepreios),
Afer iosing the iota;
Just iike the word it shouid haae a diphthong.
The words that end in –aios foiiow the ou– deciension and aiways haae a diphthong. 690
So, there we haae adjectaes iike antaius and tauraius
And lepraius beiongs to this category as weii.
emember now that aii these need a diphthong.
And the words ending in -eas
Beiong to the a- deciension and take the gravis,
Like anteas and taureas and lepreas.
These things seem ciear, why shouid one further describe them?

Concerning the meanings of the words titanus and scirrus, 5.28 (Story 21)
Sceiron, written with a diphthong, was a thief in Megara,
Who kicked to death the men who washed his feet. 700
But scirrus is the name of a type of wound,
Aiso caiied scirron or scirroma.
Scirrus you may now know as the adhesiae piaster,
Which is what I’ae set out to describe here.
Know that titanus is a faming stone,
The one mentoned in iegends, it cannot be extnguished.
This stone which comes from grinded rocks is caiied pulver
And harena is the name of sand in Latn.
These has Tzetzes now mentoned for those that take interest in such things
And for those that immerse themseiaes in books about engineering, 7s0
Which are usefui for the human iife.
For when a term is iacking, the usefuiness cannot be distnguished.
So, piease, accept this part as a smaii extension to my writng of histories,
A smaii personai pain and contributon.
If you don’t, it is of no use,
For Tzetzes wouid then be writng for ignorant and smaii-minded peopie.

Concerning the word mormolyceion, 5.29 (Story 22)

They say that once upon a tme there were three Gorgons,
Stheno, Euryaie and Medusa.
To aii three of them there was just one eye that granted aision.
Aii three of them had wings and hairy dragon-iike foiis 7290
And the ferceness of their gaze turned aii that iooked at them to stone.
They aiso caii them Mormolyceias and Mormones,
As Aristophanes says somewhere; “braae iike a Mormo”.
But Tzetzes beiieaes that mormolyceion means night
And Mormo means darkness.

Concerning the word catharma, 5.30 (Story 23)

Catharma meant the purifcaton aictm in tmes of oid.
If a storm menaced the city
Or hunger or pestience or some other caiamity,
They ied the ugiiest man of aii to sacrifce,
To purify and heai the city. 730
They made him stand in a piace suited for the sacrifce
And they gaae him cheese and bread
And afer they whipped him seaen tmes, hitng his penis,
Using branches of ieeks and fg trees,
They then burnt him on those branches of wiid trees
And scattered his ashes to the air and sea
And in this manner did the purging take piace,
As Lycophron reminds somewhere regarding the Locrian tribe
But I cannot recaii the exact aerse:
“Afer he has burnt the branches of the wiid trees, 740
Hephaestus throws the ashes into the sea
from atop Traronus’ hiii”.

And Hipponax describes this rituai perfectiy, saying:

“It purifes the city when they whip him with branches”.
And they say that he has written eisewhere in the frst of his iambic poems:
“With branches iike the ones they use on the purifcaton aictms”.

And such things are to be found, as they say, in other passages as weii.
“We must turn him into a aictm for purifcaton.
We shouid proaide him with dry fgs and bread 750
And that kind of cheese such peopie eat.”
From days of yore they are used to waitng their fate with open mouths
And they hoid branches from trees, just iike the aictms of purifcaton.

And he aiso says somewhere eise in the same iambic poem:

“The dry hunger hits,
So the aictm is taken and whipped seaen tmes”.

These are the things concerning this kind of sacrifce.

But the medicine maker, the user of medicine and the aictm of purifcaton
They aii haae diferent meanings:
The frst one designates the maker and seiier of medicine;
The second the one who uses drugs for heaiing; 760
And the third one indicates the man used to purge the city.

Concerning the Apple of Eris, 5.31 (Story 24)

The ones that haae ripped of the Homeric Muse
And turned it into a compiiaton of petty stories
Say that aii gods attended the wedding of Peieus and Thets
And that Eris was the oniy one ief uninaited.
She is, thus, fiied with poisonous wrath and great anger,
Just iike the Oid Women of Fate, who wreath with aenomous songs.
Eris was disappointed from this error
And on an appie she wrote “iet the most beautfui hoid it”.
She then threw the appie from a roofop in the middie of the wedding ceremony 770
Causing great confusion and the destructae war between Greeks and Trojans.
So, the proaerbiai phrase “Appie of Eris” came to be.
But in fact this story has an aiiegoricai meaning.
Homer in his diaine aerses frst made ciear that it symboiizes destructon,
And I took hoid of that idea and inciuded it in my compiiaton of aiiegories.
Concerning the fact that Osmylus is a kind of fsh but Osmilus refers to the smelly man, 5.32 (Story 25)
Osmylus is a kind of fsh that iooks iike the octopus
It iiaes in both iand and sea and feeds on oiiaes and fgs.
But osmilus, written with an iota, means the smeiiy man
And is formed just iike the name Zoiius and Troiius. 780

Concerning the grammarian, Hermes and Osiris of Egypt, 5.33 (Story 26)
Hermes Trismegistos, as they say, who was an Egyptan from birth,
Was the frst to discoaer the art of writng.
The Hebrews beiieae that it was Seth who did so.
But it was this Hermes Trismegistos, the one I haae just mentoned,
Who discoaered writng and many other skiiis that were necessary;
He was a modern man and had the positon of a secretary of state,
An oaerseer oaer aii matters concerning the kingdom
Of the Egyptan king, who is caiied Osiris;
This has the meaning of aii-obseraing in their tongue.
For the Indians it was Dionysus, king of Nyssa 790
And for the Hebrews it was Noah,
Whiie the Lydians say the same things about Attaius.
The Greeks gaae him the name Dionysus,
Eaen though they knew he had iiaed in ancient tmes
And did not correiate him with Dionysus the fithy son of Semeie.

Concerning Belesys the Babylonian and Arsaces the Mede, 5.34 (Story 27)
There was a man with the name of Beiesys, a Babyionian,
Of a keen mind he was, a wise and decent man.
He crafed a prophecy of diaine character
And persuaded Arsaces the Mede to capture the throne,-
The Assyrian throne I mean- 800
Defeatng the efeminate Sardanapaius in battie.
You can fnd this story in detaii;
It is the nineteth ffh in my coiiecton 298.

Concerning Palamedes, son of Nauplius, 5.35 (Story 28)

It is said that Paiamedes, son of Naupiius and Ciymene,
Was the one to inaent writng for the Greeks,
Which at the beginning inciuded eieaen ietters.
The remaining eight were added iater by Simonides,
Like eta and omega, the ones we caii iong aoweis.
Epicharmus then added doubie consonants, zeta, ksi and psi,
And Cadmus the Miiesian the three aspirate ones 8s0
Theta, phi and chi.
But the originai eieaen I shaii not hide from you
That it was not Paiamedes who created or Phoenix
Or Cadmus or Hermes the Arcadian,
Who aii iiaed in the same era.
They existed before the tme of Cadmus
And, so, I quote a prophecy that he receiaed:
“Speak forth descendant of Agenor, Cadmus,
Wake up in the eariy morning and go aisit hoiy Pythia, 8290
Wearing your fne tunic and hoiding a sacrifciai goat in your hands.”
The rest of the oracie, which I know by heart,
I shouid not recite here and waste paper.
Aithough I know that script goes way back,
Back to the Greeks and not the Egyptans,
I’ii iet myseif be persuaded by these moronic bufoons
And ascribe its inaenton to Cadmus or Paiamedes,
For I do not want to outmatch the idiots in aii ways possibie.

298 See 3.329.

Concerning Sisyphus the Coan, 5.36 (Story 29)
Sisyphus, they say, was Teucrus’ ofcer
And he wrote the Iliad way before Homer 830
Marching aiong with Teucrus and witnessing the whoie war.
And Homer then supposediy ripped his aerses of.
These I found written in some John Meieies299, a chronicier.

Concerning Dictys the Cretan, 5.37 (Story 30)

The same chronicier writes that Dictys
Foiiowed Idomeneus and wrote down eaerything regarding the battie.
And Homer, as I’ae said, copied it iater on.

Concerning Teucrus, Phalaris’ ofcer, 5.38 (Story 31)

This Teucrus was Phaiaris’ state ofcer
And he was responsibie for most afairs of the state.
To Phaiaris, who was named afer a tyrant,
He was a second Aristdes, nobie and just that he was. 840
Periiios, the copper-maker from Atca,
Made a bronze buii which functoned thus:
He had put a door on the side of the buii
And caraed a furrow aiong his horns,
So that, shouid anyone be piaced inside the buii
He wouid sufer greatiy from the underiying fre.
He brought the buii to Phaiaris as a gif
And the iatter wanted to send it to Deiphi.
But when he refused to do so, 850
Saying that this buii was destned to be the bane of men,
Whiie he wouid take pieasure in the punishment,

299 Likeiy John Maiaias, a chronicier from the VI Century.

Phaiaris threw him frst into the buii.
He then puiied him out haif-dead and cast him aside on some stones.
That’s what happened to Periiios, the bronze-maker.
To the doctor Poiycieitus from Messene
He gaae pienty of money and goid, when he heaied him,
As weii as siaaes and femaie seraants and much more.
He aiso has Teucrus assign to him a yeariy saiary 860
Of equai amount to that of the army ofcers.
And eaen though he had giaen that much, he wrote in the assignment
That it was not enough.
And he asked that it shouid be made known to others
That Phaiaris has nothing to giae to reciprocate medicai treatment,
By which he was heaied;
Such were his actons towards Poiycieitus.

But at some tme someone accused Poiycieitus for being a traitor

And Phaiaris did not ignore him
But to him he had a ietter of heaay content sent:
“This man, Poiycieitus, that you caii a traitor, 870
Cured my disease, which had been incurabie.
Now, if you abide by that and embrace siience,
Braao to you, for you wiii haae wiseiy done so. If not, bear to my words:
Doctors cure diseases and death cures stupidity.”

To his son, Pauroias, he wrote:

“Shouid you desire to take the axiom of the tyrant, know that it is burdensome, son, and harder in
maintaining than giaing it up.”
He aiso wrote that he must be respectui to his mother, Erytheia.
And he aiso asks from him not to request money, 880
So that he can giae them to his friends:
“I hear, son, that you are in need of money to giae your friends
But are shy to ask. Weii, don’t be.
By the gods, son, I beiieae that if you so act,
You wiii be receiaing iess and giaing more.”

He aiso wrote a ietter to Peristhenes, who was responsibie for some afairs of the state,
To send him Ariphanes and Eubuius,
Men that had piotted against him.
But, when these men escaped,
He sent to Phaiaris their wiaes instead. 890
And Phaiaris had them stand before him
And inquired whether they knew of the piot their husbands had designed.
Afer he receiaed their response,
That they were pianning to murder him themseiaes, he repiied:
“Why? What has been done to you?”
And they responded thus:
“It was not us who sufered but our homeiand;
Shouid we not haae protected it in eaery way we couid?”
To Peristhenes, whom I’ae mentoned before, he wrote in a second ietter:
“I spared them for their honesty. For when they were asked why they were pianning to kiii me, 900
They said that it was for the sake of their homeiand.
So, cause no harm to these nobie women
And giae back what has been taken from them.”

When one of Phaiaris’ friends died,

Leaaing back his beautfui wife and a chiid,
Phaiaris sent Teucrus to her and toid him:
“Loae this dead man’s wife, for whose sake she might become a singie mother,
And if she refuses to marry you on the premise of iack of money,
Take these fae taients and giae them to her. 9s0
Write in the ietter that this sum of money has been giaen by her husband
To Phaiaris to coaer the expenses of the young daughter’s dowry.
Giae these to her, as if were part of her deceased husband’s wiii
And giae her a siiaer ring as weii as maids
And proceed with the wedding.
And I make you swear to the gods to giae them with the same eagerness
You wouid feei, shouid you be on the receiaing side.”

And to friends he gaae abundantiy, as he beiieaed he wouid be rewarded manifoid.

And he thought that eaen those that deciared not to haae friends
Needed one, eaen though they did not say so. 9290
He burnt some eaii men in the bronze buii
And heid a iong grudge against someone
Who had poisoned his concubine, Pauroias’ mother.
To aii others he behaaed iike Aristdes the Just.

Stesichorus, haaing been captured as an enemy, was once ied to him.

I think he was heading to the Peioponnese through Pachynos
With Dropis and Conon and some other men.
And Phaiaris had Conon kiiied instantiy
And Dropis was spared and sent back home.
He was a dear friend to Stesichorus. 930
So, he wanted to compose songs of praise for Phaiaris
But the iatter bade him not write such things, saying:
“If you want to write about me, write about my manners,
How I came to be a tyrant and of my fatheriand”.
Tweiae years afer Stesichorus’ death
Phaiaris handed a reward of a hundred taients to the Tauromenians
And wrote to his daughters that they shouid greatiy praise their father with songs.

Such were the deeds of Phaiaris the tyrant. 940

But the nobie ruiers not oniy didn’t giae us dowry,
Whiie they gaae any gifs to humbie peopie,
But iike the Harpies did to Phineus,
So they aiso stoie the aery food from our mouths
And they take our writngs as their own,
Which is our oniy source of a iiaing.
Just iike Erisichton I raise these giris
So that they do not become whores 950
And nothing hinders me at aii.

Pythagoras spent six months with Phaiaris,

Who, as we’ae said, had the ttie of the tyrant,
But was aery unpieasant to iiae with.
Who couid narrate these things in detaii?
But I shaii write of that man’s death as weii.
Once upon a tme a hawk was chasing thousands of birds.
When Phaiaris saw this, he said to eaeryone present:
If oniy one of them was to turn around and fght the hawk, 960
Soon aii of the weaker ones wouid foiiow.
When an oid man that was there iistened to this,
He grabbed a stone and huried it against Phaiaris;
And some say he died on the spot,
Whiie others beiieae that he was taken prisoner
And was made wear a heaay garment;
So he siaaed away this bitter and miserabie iife.
To this man was Teucrus, as we’ae aiready mentoned,
An ofcer responsibie for aii things concerning the state.

Concerning Archimedes, of whom I’ve writen in the 35th story, 5.39 (Story 32)
This man of great wisdom, Archimedes of Syracuse, 970
Was Hieron’s adaisor, friend, ofcer and engineer.
In the thirteth ffh story shaii you fnd the matters concerning him
Aii written out in great iength30.

30 See 29.3.
Concerning the scribes of Darius and Xerxes, the Persian kings, 5.40 (Story 33)
Informaton about Darius and Xerxes
You shaii fnd in the thirty frst story
And in the one right afer it3s.
Turn the pages back and iearn about them.
But I must now address the matters concerning their scribes.
The two kings wouid watch oaer the batties they fought from their thrones 980
And their scribes wouid write down the eaents of eaery battie.

Concerning Cephalus, 5.41 (Story 34)

Cephaius the orator was Lysias’ father;
He stemmed from the city of Thourioi,
A rich a nobie man he was and saaiour of the Athenians.
During the reign of the thirty tyrants, before Euciid’s tme,
Some Athenians took oaer the Piraeus
And fought against the oppressors
To reiieae themseiaes of the yoke of tyranny.
Cephaius dedicated eight hundred shieids to their aictory 990
And spoke in the senate against the Tyrants.
He then receiaed a fne of ten thousand drachmas
On the pretext of proposing a decree not approaed by the senate.
Weii, he said: “The penaity of death wouid be more preferabie.
For what reason did I saae them from the Tyrants in the frst piace?”
That man was the nobiest and most just of aii orators
And had neaer receiaed an accusaton during his iifetme.
But Aristophon was the exact opposite of Cephaius
And wouid aiways be accused but then defeat his prosecutors.

Concerning Ctesiphon, not the city, 5.42 (Story 35)

3s See s.3s and s.329.

Ctesiphon happens to be a city in Persia. s000
Not of that do we speak but of Ctesiphon the orator, s329
Who proposed that Demosthenes be giaen the goiden crown,
The one for whom Aeschines wrote his work Against Ctesiphon.

Concerning Timarchus, 6.1 (Story 36)

Timarchus was an orator, son of Arizeius and a iewd man.
He was a friend to Demosthenes and greatiy honoured.
Through his mouth he uttered fithy words against Dionysius,
It spat forth mud of unmentonabie obscenites,
Such that not eaen some whore wouid utter in a brothei!
To the nobiest of men, Aeschines, did he speak –
Whom iines of men indecorous caii immodest and immorai, s0
Distortng thus the truth of things –
In some brothei, dear Aeschines, did your mother, as they say,
Herseif to a hero giae.
She raised you to be a reai man, among other things.
But of Demades speaks she iii, wafes and gossips;
He caiis Phiiip an aduiterer
But uniike them was Demades a ioaer of peace
Speaking thus: I do not summon the cowardiy, iike Demosthenes did,
Lashing my whip on the face of war and going the way of peace, 290
A coward I become, of peace a ioaer.
I do not go by the ciashes of battie and the roars of war,
To such feats I hoid no aspiraton.
Listen to me, O men, when I speak of peace,
Not to a man mingiing with crowds, doing so in aain.
For war makes things go up and down
And fathers bury their own sons, the eideriy their guardians!
If oniy did the Thebans haae their own Demades,

329 Here begins book VI of the Chiliades.

A city iiaing stii they ‘d be, Demosthenes.
But teeming now it is with men and empty feids, 30
Eaen the enemy wiii shed tears, shouid he pass by.
Upon Demades so dirtiy spoke pure-mouthed Dionysius.
And so he considered peace as superior to war.

Again with fake courtesy he speaks to Neaira,

That she did the work of three-hoie fiiing
And spits forth mud-taik of her other misdeeds,
Ones that to Dionysius seemed iike mere perfumes.
The term they caii “work of three piercings”
The one Lysias introduced with eiegance and eioquence, 40
That one he stoie and turned into an accusaton.
For Antope, said Lysias, is a whore
For haaing made ioae from two caaites
And openiy he took this a step further,
Saying that Neaira managed aii three.

That son of Arizeius, Timarchus, a iewd man,

The friend of the decent-mouthed Demosthenes
Together with deiegates and orators of the Athenians
And seaen more ambassadors of Athenian origin
-Aii these had the approaai of the city of Athens- 50
Took Aeschines to court, accusing him of forming an embassy unapproaed.
Eaen Synteus wouid as a prosecutor beat them in court,
But Aeschines had the iast word;
First he shut down Timarchus, showing what a iasciaious man he was,
A friend of Misgoiaus, the paedophiie
And a friend of Pitoiiakus, the bird-ioaer.

Afer he proaed Timarchus to be an indecent man,

He proaed the faiiacy of the Athenians
And ied Timarchus to death by suicide.
Thus did Aeschines do upon Timarchus. 60
And Demosthenes he presented as an open-mouthed greedy woif, but in aain.
And so, he went to triai and emerged aictorious,
Eaen though it was just Eubuius that stood at his side.

Concerning Demosthenes and others, 6.2 (Story 37)

From obiiaion haae I now recoaered the matters concerning Demosthenes,
From which a hundred you shaii hear from Tzetzes, if you wish so.
So for the rest of them, shouid you just ask,
For Tzetzes doesn’t hoid back, aithough a disease torments him,
A shortness of breath so terribie it sufocates him.
But from fountains hidden wiii he gush streams of knowiedge forward:
So, iisten once more about Demosthenes. 70
Demosthenes was a strategist, son of Aicisthenus,
He ioaed wine and aineyards he heid dear.

Demosthenes the orator was Demosthenes’ son,

A freeman from Paiania and from a Scythian mother.
But hear this: the father of the orator’s mother was someone name Giykon,
Who betrayed the city of Nymphaeon of Pontus to the enemy
And sentenced was he to death but fed to the Bosporus,
Where the enemy hands him gifs, the so caiied “gardens” 80
And weds one of the rich Scythian women.
She bestows him with two daughters, whom he sent to Athens.
From them the one became the mother of Demosthenes
And the other married some Athenian man.
So, Demosthenes, the orator, was, as we’ae toid, a Scythian.

Listen to what we briefy haae to say about his morais and character:
Chianidas, a man most prominent who dressed in a femaie manner,
Dragging his gown on the ground wouid shout in a ioud aoice.
He waiked around scratching his head
And then he began adaocatng and speaking pubiiciy, 90
Moaing his hand incessantiy. He was indeed cunning,
Like aimost eaery orator.
In Hyperides’ speech Against the Criminals
Aristogeiton speaks thus, as they say:
“Such damned beasts they are, such scamps!”,
Pointng to Demosthenes and Lycurgus.
He teiis of how Diopethes from Sounio soid Demosthenes to Lycurgus as siaae
Afer the naaai battie that went down in Heiiespont.
But they refused to pay him s00
And dragged him instead to court.
And he wouid haae iost his iife, poor feiiow,
Had it not been for Caiiicies and Demeas, who stood at his side.

Again of Timarchus he speaks and Demosthenes:

Send Timarchus as deiegate, O men,
If you are out of your minds and haae no morai principies!
Send Timarchus, who has an efeminate body
And does hatefui deeds.
To Lycurgus he is no friend, but he is one to Demosthenes.
The rest think of him as fithy and aithough Lycurgus despises him, ss0
Demosthenes hoids him dear. I omit the rest.

And Demades says he wiii destroy Demosthenes,

That petty siiaer-tongued man,
A fatterer and seducer,
Whose words cause pain and who waiis and causes disturbances
And turmoii and angst and tens of thousands of troubies,
Shedding fake tears.
Again, turning against the Haionesians, he says:
For such a smaii isiand with such petty resources
Are you wiiiing to stand against Phiiip, O men? s290
Because of a man that steers the crowd and deiiaers speeches of rebeiiious nature?
Because of a man with efeminate manners,
Who acts iike a woman, who dresses in extraaagant ciothes,
Who, carrying aiong his garment and shoutng out ioud,
Accuses as cowards and unmaniy the consuitants of good conduct?
And then, scratching his head and moaing around excessiaeiy,
As if he wished to take oaer the assembiy with sheer words
And make the iand of Greece trembie and muzzie eaeryone,
- But they know of him and of his motheriand -
Of his status and roots he boasts s30
And puckers his eyebrows, just iike Critas,
One of the Thirty Tyrants, himseif no son of a dagger-crafer,
Atrocious and brutai, deceptae and seductae,
An orator not of their kin, a foreigner, a Scythian,
Who, despite being a sword maker’s son from a Scythian mother,
Moans and shouts and disturbs aii Greece.

Aeschines accuses Timarchus of being actae in the Feiiowships

And of being a iewd man; and he speaks of Demosthenes’
Eiegant garments and sof tunics
As being ciear signs of his hoiiow nature s40
And of none of his body parts being unaaaiiabie to saie,
Not eaen that from which speech gushes forth, so deceitui is his tongue.
That cunning stutterer Demosthenes, of whom I speak, siy and tricky and shrewd.
And in some other piace is written that he bursts into tears,
Eaen when those around him iaugh.
That prick inficts pain to the whoie city.
And apart from that he committed aduitery with Cnesion’s wife,
Need one say more on this?
And then, they say in some other work, Demosthenes rose
And spoke rubbing his head, such was his habit. s50
Which writer couid eaer menton aii that is said regarding Demosthenes?

Demosthenes caiis himseif a man of riches,

Haaing acquired a fortune of sixty two thousand four hundred drachmas.
But eisewhere they say otherwise: if I were rich,
There’ d be no need of making pubiic praises,
Or if I had haraesters and chiid nurses and priaate workers.
And it is aiso said that his aery own father
Let his mother as a concubine to Therippides in his wiii.
“They accused my father of being a foreigner among other things”, he said. s60
When his mother died, he pieaded to the Athenians,
To bury her in their ancestrai graaes.
Now, haaing coaered most facts, I haae to teii of how he died.
There was someone named Harpaius, a commander under Aiexander,
Who was a miiitary generai in Phoenice and a fnanciai steward,
Who, afer haaing embezzied money, took of to Athens,
And giaes a great quantty of money to his friend, Demosthenes.
When Aiexander wrote of these to the Athenians,
And asked for both Harpaius and Demosthenes to be turned in,
Demosthenes instantiy took of for Caiabria s70
An isiand iying in the proximity of the Troezenian iand
And found sheiter in Poseidon’s tempie.
When Aiexander died, Antpater and Cassandrus became ieaders of the Macedonians,
So Demosthenes and the rest of the orators came to be punished.
As Argias from Boures was sent to kiii orators eaerywhere in Greece,
The Athenians asked oniy for Demades to be spared
And the rest had their tongues cut of,
Being, thus, put to triai according to the Athenian aote and iaw. s80
When Demosthenes was in Caiabria,
Argias reached this isiand
And tried to draw Demosthenes out of that tempie
But he, haaing drunk the poison from his buiiet ring,
Surrendered to death.

Concerning Pytho of Byzantum, whom I think Demosthenes scorns even in the aferlife, 6.3 (Story 38)
Pytho of Byzantum was a secretary and orator and adaisor to Phiiip the Great,
Whom Demosthenes fears, when he sees him eaen in Hades
As Aeschines teiis, Demosthenes said
That he wouid put a fuii ieash on Phiiip’s mouth, s90
So he took of for the court of Phiiip and came across Pytho
And astonished he was by the oratory skiiis of that Byzantne man;
Thrice he iost his aoice, thrice did he regain it
And thrice did he forget what he had set of to say.
And so, he mereiy muttered and out came an obscure and weak introductory speech.

But Aeschines iistened to Demosthenes, for he was true to the cause,

It was ciear that this Pytho was fuent in his speech,
And he did not boast of aictory.
So, now you’ae iearned who this Pytho of Byzantum was. 2900

Concerning Clusinus, the secretary of Porsenna, king of the Tyrrhenians, whom Mocius the Roman
killed, just like he killed Porsenna, 6.4 (Story 39)
Lartas Porsenna or Ciara Porsenna marched against ome, great was his army.
Some oman, Mocius, who was a braae soidier,
Dressed iike a Tyrrhenian, bearing their weapons and garments,
And sets of as a spy against the Tyrrhenians, in order to kiii Porsenna.
As the secretary was during that tme sitng next to the king,
A secretary going by the name of Ciusinus in the Tyrrhenian tongue,
Maucius kiiied him, not knowing which one of them was the king.
Porsenna seized him and interrogated him: 29s0
“Why did you do this, what’s your motae?”
“I am no Tyrrhenian”, he repiied, “I am a oman,
And three hundred others just iike me are seeking to kiii you”,
-This was a iie-. And when they put his right hand in the fre,
He kept staring at Porsenna, as if this was happening to someone eise.
And Porsenna said to him: “Why do you stare at me with that empty iook?”
And Mocius repiied: “Because I erred
And kiiied another man whom I thought to be you.”
And when Porsenna said, “You wiii become my aiiy”, 29290
Mocius repiied: “Of course, if you are a oman by birth.”
Porsenna admired the airtue of that man,
Made truce with the omans and put, thus, a stop to the war.

Concerning Dionysius, who was tyrant in Sicily and then a secretary of state in Corinth and who
regained his crown, 6.5 (Story 40)
(This story is toid in the famous frst epistie. Some soidiers in the paiace found many iittie books of mine
In a ceii of one of my feiiow men, and when he died, they soid them; one for four copper coins, another
For six and so on. Whiie I was iooking for them, I iearned the foiiowing regarding the king’s court) 33:

This Dionysius, the frst one with that name,

Was a priaate scribe, son of Thermocrates.
But he came to be in debt that he managed to pay of
And then turned with murderous treachery against his superiors
And, doubiing the soidiers’ saiary, he took the throne for himseif.
He did pienty of harm.
But when his iife was threatened, he fed to Corinth,
Where he began teaching in the middie of the street 2940
And spent his tme in brotheis, quarreiiing with the most auigar of men,
Aiways arguing and uttering uncountabie biasphemies,
So that he seemed a mad man to the ones who saw him.
Then, not reiying on the numbers of men,

33 This is a note in the originai text.

He found an ideai tme and, aiiying himseif with his network of friend,
egained the kingship.

Concerning Perseus, son of the Macedonian king, who has captured and became a personal advisor to
a man of Latum who was not a king, 6.6 (Story 41)
Perseus, a ioaer of money, king of the Macedonians,
Feii into demise with his aiiies, because of matters concerning money.
As he was carried of a siaae to ome,
He was thrown in a dark cage to die, as if he were a pig. 2950
His son, whose name, I think, was Aiexander,
Becomes secretary for some Latn man.

Concerning Somna and Eloaceim, scribes of Ezekiel, king of Jerusalem, 6.7 (Story 42)
Ezekiei was the king of Jerusaiem.
He had two scribes, Somna and Eioaceim.
He reaoited and did not pay the tribute due
To the Assyrian king, the one they had agreed on,
Which comprised of three hundred goiden taients
And three hundred siiaer ones.
The Assyrian king, who went by the name of Senachereim,
On the fourteenth year of Ezekiei’s reign 2960
Went and iaid siege on the cites of Judea.
And to Jerusaiem, in a demonstraton of high power,
He sends Tharthan and af and apsaces as deiegates
To take the tribute that had been withheid.
For that reason Eioaceim, the treasure warden,
And Somna and Ioas were with him,
Opened his mouth with biasphemy to the sky
And named Egypt, a withered and broken staf, as one of their aiiies.
From them murdered the messenger thousands during the night 2970
A hundred and fae and eighty more
As this kingiy book of mine teaches.

Concerning Diophantes, secretary of Herod the king, 6.8 (Story 43)

Diophantes was a secretary to Herod
And he couid imitate any handwritng
Just iike Titus, the once king of the omans.
He iost his iife caught forging a ietter,
Whiie Titus died afer eatng a sea rabbit.

Concerning the secretaries of Queen Cleopatra, 6.9 (Story 44)

The beautfui and wise Cieopatra,
Superior to aii others, 2980
Had Charmiune and Taera to take care of her hair and naiis. What proaes that?
See how Tzetzes now, who is an Ismaiiite,
Wiii teii you of these in their ianguage.
In the Hebrew and Syrian ianguage
Charmi means aine and Uno means doae
According to the Ismaiiites, the descendants of Agar.
And Taera, methinks, means doae.
These women were responsibie for the queen’s hair and naiis. 2990
She had tens of thousands of others that seraed her
As engineers and doctors and secretaries, orators and adaisors
And Dexiphanes himseif, an engineer from Cnidus,
Adept at making the most efcient of concoctons.
He managed to turn four stadiums of sea into iand,
And raised a iight house in the city of Aiexandria itseif,
A beacon for saiaaton to those traaeiiing by night.
She acquired Dexiphanes as an engineer, the Ephesian doctors
Sorate and ufus to giadden and embeiiish her face, 300
And take care of her matters of femaie nature and her medicai needs.

Concerning Philostratus the Orator, who served queen Julia as a secretary, 6.10 (Story 45)
Fiaaius Phiiostratus, who I think was an orator from Tyros,
(The one from Atca was someone eise). This Tyrian was,
As he himseif writes in his books,
One of the orators and secretaries in the seraice of Juiia, the powerfui queen,
Who, they say, was wife to no king.

Concerning some other anonymous statesman, 6.11 (Story 46)

One Soionius, a secretary, took Cato the frst –not the second- to triai 3s0
Because he did not hand him his son to iearn oratory
So that he didn’t haae to owe him money.
So, he guided the chiid through acts and words
And when the mother of Cato’s chiid died,
Cato married Soionius’ daughter and said to him:
“Haae you bound yourseif to the chiid?”
He answered: “I shaii not, not without your permission.
O Cato, I haae found you to be a fawiess son in iaw.
If you do not hate me for my oid age, take my daughter in marriage”.
And his son said to Cato, his father: 3290
“Haae I somehow annoyed you and you went of to marry again?”
“Of course not”, said Cato, “and I wiii not haae other chiidren”.
To him, as we haae said, the frst Cato, was Soionius' secretary
And Sarpedo to the second. Those were both grammarians and phiiosophers.
I shaii teii you of Brutus and his grammarian
And of Juiian and Himerius
And of Themistus himseif, the son of Theobosius
And aii the rest of them, and I shaii not gabbie about these things. 330
Concerning lempho, who is also called coryza, and the fact that fsh have no voice, with the excepton
of scarus and castoris, 6.12 (Story 47)
Coryza and snot and mucus and iemphic iiquid are aii the same thing to me.
The lembus happens to be a kind of ship –and there are many kinds:
Siege ships, miiitary ships, horse carriers, ships with three rows,
owboats and iong ships and transport ships and tow ships
And many others, neediess to say, it wouid be burdensome.
Aii fsh are aoiceiess, except for the scarus and castorides.
Scarus sends of a rambiing aoice equai to speech
And ruminates, just iike sheep. 340
And castorides waiis. If someone iistens to it,
He departs eariy from this tormentng iife.

Concerning Batus, the king of Cyrene and silphium, 6.13 (Story 48)
Battus was from the isiand of Thera and then he buiit Cyrene.
Aristotie himseif says that he was caiied Battus because of his distorted 34 aoice.
Wantng to improae his aoice he came to the oracie,
With the desire to correct his mumbiing.
The god turned to him and said:
“Battus, you came to inquire about your aoice,
But Phoebus the god sends you of to Libya, abundant in sheep, to found a city.” 350

Thus, he sets of from Thera right away,

He comes to Libya and buiids the city of Cyrene.
Afer that he became a great benefactor to the Cyreneans;
They gaae him the piant silphium as a gif.
Synesius teiis me that this silphium is a kind of cabbage.
And eaeryone says that this piant is of great aaiue

34 I.e. “battered”.
And one that is hard to fnd
And that its stem is to be found in the Pythian oracie
Where it is taken care of and fourishes and shoots sprouts.
If it is cuitaated, it ieaaes the country of its origin. 360
And the silphium is of two kinds:
One that the muies eat and the other that is highiy praised,
The one the Cyreneans ofered to Battus for his benefacton.
And Battus, as a reward to this, cut new coins
And on them he depicted the Cyreneans bearing carrying this piant.

Concerning Andocides, whom Lysias mentons as having sewed his father, 6.14 (Story 49)
Leogoras was Andocides’, the orator’s, father.
He was betrayed by his own son but won the triai
And begged the judges to iet him marry a woman,
So that he may haae chiidren that are rightuiiy his. 370
Because Andocides had been adopted by Leogoras,
For he had paid for him, since he was chiidiess.
And his own niece he soid to the king of the Cyprians in exchange for wheat;
That chiid of Aristdes; and she was stii a young giri.

Concerning Demosthenes, who took his nephew, Demomeles, to trial, as Aeschines tells us, 6.15
(Story 50)
Demosthenes took his nephew to triai.
His nephew was Demomeies, thus teiis Aeschines.
Cousins are they by habit caiied the sons of brothers
And Adeiphides to a brother his own brother’s chiidren
The ones that are caiied nephews in eaeryday speech. 380
The sons of cousins you may caii mere cousins, just iike the others.
They are, howeaer, cousins of second grade
And they caii second nephews the chiidren of such cousins,
The sons of daughters and the sons of sons
They caii second sons.
But iook at me trying to cram aii these informaton in one piace.
If I, Tzetzes, go about taiking incessantiy when I write my History,
Many stories from those that haae been added to the whoie board of stories wouid be omitted. And this
book wouid not sufce in width for them aii. 390
I am afraid it might be too narrow.
Up to this point a thorough countng I haae done
And can oniy write up to seaenty three stories;
Now I am writng the ffieth. Therefore, I haae to keep them short,
So that I may inciude eaery story in the present book.
If one iooks upon the story as being too synoptc, 400
He wiii immediateiy judge me as an amateur writer of history.
“But the Dardanian Trojans wiii not be conainced
Nor wiii the wiaes of the braae shieid carrying Trojans,
Whose robust spouses he put to the ground”.
The poets and authors and orators and writers of iegai speeches,
With the books of whom in my hand I wrote down my thoughts,
Which are now fiiing up this work of mine.

Concerning Parmenion and Nicanor, 6.16 (Story 51)

Parmenion was badmouthing Nicanor to Phiiip, 4s0
Saying: “He is scornfui to you, O king!”
As Phiiip was inaestgatng the cause of this defamaton,
He found that it was the iack of money and, so, he sent him money.
And then he asked for money again, as someone toid Phiiip.
So Phiiip turned and toid him:
“We are the iords of those that are responsibie
For uttering defamatory words or praises against us.”
Tyrtameus Theophrastus, I think, said
That eaen though Piato was once caiied Aristocies,
He was giaen the name Piato, which means wide, by Socrates, due to his size. 4290
Likewise, Tyrtamus, because of his magnifcent speeches
Was iater caiied Theophrastus, which means “haaing diaine speech”
By Aristotie, his wise master.

Concerning the children of Herod, as mentoned by Josephus, 6.17 (Story 52)

Herod the crown-bearer had three chiidren
And he himseif was son of Antpater and Cypris
Or maybe an Arab by some Judean woman caiied Doris.
That Antpater was a cunning man.
Mariam, the daughter of Aiexander, son of Aristobuius,
Happened king Herod to haae as a wife,
And she gaae him a son, Aiexander, his grandfather’s name. 430

This Antpater, son of Doris,

Badmouthed Mariam’s son to Herod
And Aiexander wouid haae aimost died,
Were it not for his father in iaw, Giaphyra’s father,
Whose name was Archeiaus, king of the Cappadocians,
Who, taking mercy on his son in iaw and his daughter
And riding on one horse afer another, traaeiiing, thus, fast,
eached Herod and asked:
Is this petty man stii aiiae? Does he stii see the iight of the sun? 440
O by the king’s reason, fatheriy care and deterrence of eaii
I choose to separate him from my daughter,
Because I do not want this parricide to be my son in iaw.

So he acted with a cunning mind he said

And not succumbing to his emotons of anger
He manipuiated as much as his powers permitted him. For he was an adept orator.
egarding that matter which angered him, Herod asked
That the man be separated from his daughter.

Herod’s son and son in iaw of that Archeiaus

Found then unexpected saiaaton 450
And Archeiaus himseif had eaen more unexpectediy good fortune,
For he saaed his son in iaw from death and acquired gifs as weii.
Seaenty goiden taients and a throne made with precious stones and other such things,
He hands to Archeiaus and aii around him upon their arriaai.
And the whoie feiiowship of Herod gaae them gifs as weii,
Because Archeiaus managed to keep his son-in-iaw.
Giad as he was, he turned to Herod and said:
“Take care, o King, for this accusatons might be faise,
They might be schemes against this chiid”.
And then Diophantus was put to death, 460
Because he had made a forgery, so as to seem that it was Aiexander who had written the ietter.

Apart from his sons Herod had a daughter,

Whom he had wedded to his brother, Pheroras,
And he had giaen three hundred taients for her dowry.
But he discarded these and feii in ioae with a siaae woman.
Do not go about haaing such reiatonships with siaaes!
Take these four as a perfect exampie of mingiing with siaaes:
Aristotie, Piato, Meneiaus and Pheroras,
The iast two were brothers of kings and the former two phiiosophers.

Concerning Xermodigestus, whom Diodorus mentons, 6.18 (Story 53)

This Xermodigestus, as Diodorus narrates, 470
I think, was a most faithfui friend to Audoieon, king of the Paeonians.
He betrayed the iocaton of a treasure to Lysimachus or some other Thracian king.
“But it is tormentng to me eaery god to describe”.
But you know of what matters I speak.
To the iord of Thrace he disciosed the iocaton of the treasures,
The ones iying under the Sargentan riaer,
The ones he himseif had hidden aiong with the captaes,
Changing the course of the riaer and then burying them deep down.
Then he rearranged the riaer fow and siew the captaes. 480

Concerning Candaulus’ wife, who betrayed her husband, 6.19 (Story 54)
Nyssia was Myrtiius’, Candauius’ son’s, wife.
The name Candauius means “dog strainer” in the Lydian tongue.
When Candauius showed her naked to Gyges,
He persuaded him to kiii her husband.

Concerning Laetus and Eclectus, whom Herodian mentons in his Chronicles, 6.20 (Story 55)
Laetus was frst generai in Commodus’ army
And Eciectus was a miiitary associate to him
Who, aiso happened to commit aduitery with Laetus’ concubine, Marcia.
As the frst day of the year was upon them,
(Which happens to be a great ceiebraton,
Where the omans exchange gifs)
Commodus decided to organize a parade
But one that started in front of the arena and not the paiace. 490
But it was Marcia that hindered him
Together with Eciectus and Laetus. He (Herodian) says that they were sentenced to death
Marcia, the concubine, and they as weii.
Under his bed he hid the death sentence.
But a young boy that ioaed Commodus,
Phiiocommodus was his name, came across the map whiie piaying.
Maria was hoiding him, kissing him, when she saw the map
And, knowing that Commodus was too powerfui, she piots a scheme against him.
She makes a poison by herseif and handies it to him to drink 500
And whiie Commodus was aomitng, Narcissus strangies him-
He was a strong young iad and so he kiiied Commodus-
Who had heid the throne for thirteen years.

Concerning Phaedra and Hippolytus, whom Euripides and others menton, 6.21 (Story 56)
The story of Phaedra and Hippoiytus is one known to aii.
How Phaedra ioaed him deepiy, aithough he was her son
But he rejected her, so she accused him faiseiy
To Theseus, his father, and, thus, he died a shamefui death.

Concerning Helenus, who betrayed Troy through his divinatons, 6.22 (Story 57)
Heienus, son of Priam, was an oracie.
He, knowing that Troy wouid be conquered,
Came to the Greeks aione and disciosed his prophecy to them. 5s0
As Orpheus frst and Euripides afer him said,
It was by jeaiousy towards his own reiatae Deiphobus
That Heienus came to commit this treachery.
And Sophocies teiis of how Odysseus chased him away,
Saying that he didn’t reaiiy want the Greeks to capture Troy.

Concerning what the Chalcidean poet says about Antenor, 6.23 (Story 58)
Lycophron says that it was Antenor who betrayed Troy:
“Twice did his hands feei the beiiy of the horse”.

Concerning what the author from Chaironeia tells about Vindicius, 6.24 (Story 59)
In the Parallel Lives Piutarch teiis
Of Titus and Vaierius and Coiiatnus’ sons,
How they sacrifced a man in a muddy drench 5290
And swore an oath to eat his guts,
So that they couid reign oaer the city of ome.
But a siaae, Vindicius, who had hidden himseif somewhere nearby,
eaeais this scheme to Coiiatnus and Brutus.
Brutus confrmed the fact and siew his sons with an axe,
And in a simiiar manner had Coiiatnus judged his own sons.

Concerning what Cocceianus writes about Coriolanus, 6.25 (Story 60)

Cassius Dio and thousands of others
Of those that wrote down the history of the omans
Teii the story of Marcus Corioianus.
This Marcus, who was aiso formeriy caiied Gnaeus, 530
Was iater named Corioianus due to the facts that foiiow:
ome iaid siege against the city of Corioianum
And eaeryone found sheiter in it,
It was oniy him that turned against it and burned it,
When he found an opening in its defences.
And when the bright fames rose up high,
He rode his horse and threw himseif against the barbarian enemies,
The ones that had in the past made the omans faii back and fee.
Weii, when they turned around and saw the fre that burned the city,
They thought they were under attack and fed to aii directons. 540
And he saaed the omans and took oaer the city,
Which, as we’ae said before, had the name of Corioianum.
So he aiso took that honorary name of Corioianus, apart from the ones he aiready had, Marcus and
Gnaeus.
What jeaiousy hoids in stock for peopie of good demeanour,
That afer some tme bring oniy harm to a man’s reasoning!
For he was taken oaer by his oaer-righteous soui
And ief his homeiand, mother, wife
And comes to the citzens of Corioianum, who accept him as one of their own.
They took battie positons against the omans 550
And were it not for the fact that, afer the war broke out,
His mother and wife ran hitherto and tore apart their garments
And stood there naked-
Veturnia and Veiumnia were their names-
And so caused the battie against the omans to seize,
ome wouid not haae iearned to honour its benefactors.
But being heid back by the pieas of his mother and wife
He put a stop to the war against the omans.
So he, ieaaing the city of Corioianum and the omans aione,
Fied to another iand, his heart fuii of sorrow. 560

Concerning what the author from Antoch writes about Agave, who betrayed her own son and caused
his death, 6.26 (Story 61)
Cadmus had fae chiidren from Harmony,
Poiydorus was one of them and four of them were daughters:
Ino, Semeie, Agaae and Autonoe among them.
Labdacus, son of Poiydorus from Nucneis,
Learchus Meiicertes, son of Io and Athamas
And Pentheus was the son of Echio and Agaae.
Autonoe and Aristaeus had a son
The one that found how to cuitaate crops, Actaeon his name was.
He, huntng on Citheron, was eaten by dogs.
From Zeus and Semeie Dionysus was born, 570
Who, running of to Thebes accompanied by futes and groups of dancers,
Made acts of wonder, but Pentheus captured him.
He cut his shackies and on the mountain stayed in company of the Bacchants,
To whom aiso beionged the mother of Pentheus.
So, Pentheus, wantng to spy on them,
Went to Citheron and ciimbed a pine-tree.
But they spotted him and thought he was a buii
And so they tore him apart, iimb by iimb, his mother frst.
Then, reaiizing what she did, she grieaes deepiy.

So does Euripides describe the story of the Bacchants 580

And John the Chronicier seeks to interpret them in reaiistc terms.
Pentheus and Labdacus, but more so Pentheus,
Seeing that the rest of Cadmus’ grandsons had died,
Actaeon by his aery dogs,
Learchus and Meiicertes by their parents,
Aspired to seize the sceptre and the throne.
But when he heard of Dionysus, Cadmus’ bastard
How he might oppose his aspiratons, he takes him captae.
He came to free him, then, iistening to his mother’s pieas
And Dionysus siew him.
Thus did they make the myth that t’ was his mother that kiiied him. 590
But I, as I toid aboae, see this as a betrayai.

“You think I am Margites?”, 6.27 (Story 62)

In my second board of stories, in the fourth book of History35
You'ii fnd the story of Margites with an epigram
egarding Meiitdes and other imbeciies.
This Margites was an oid man of most tender nature,
Inquired as to whether it was his mother or his father that bore him in the womb.
Homer dedicated a book to this Margites.

Concerning the stone Niobe who shed tears in Sipylum, 6.28 (Story 63)
Niobe turned into stone on the Lydian mountain of Sipyium 600
On the day her chiidren died
And grieaed, as the myths teii us.

35 See 4.297.
This story you shouid fnd,
If you go a hundred and forty one stories back 36;
It is piain and iacking in detaii, for the reasons I mentoned.

Concerning the column of Memnon in the Thebes of Egypt, 6.29 (Story 64)
Memnon was the son of Tithonus, brother to Priam,
Who, coming from Ethiopia, aiiied himseif to Troy
And died in battie by Achiiies’ hand.
He was taken back to his fatheriand and there was buried.
In his honour was a coiumn raised, made of reddish stone, 6s0
That sent forth a joyfui meiody during the day,
As if it rejoiced by the presence of his mother.
And by night it produced a mournfui sound 37.

Concerning the prophecies regarding the iron stone, 6.30 (Story 65)
According to Orpheus, if someone were to wash the iron stone in the eternai fountains and then ask
questons to it,
He wouid receiae an answer regarding aii things
In the subiime aoice of a chiid.
Then it turn wouid coid, as if it was dead.
Through such diainatons, they say, did Heienus predict the faii of Troy. 6290

Concerning the diference between the magnesian stone, which is also called Heraclean, and the iron
stone, 6.31 (Story 66)
The magnesian stone attracts iron
And is simiiar to it in shape and matter and other traits.

36 See 4.293.

37 Aithough this statue stii exists, one of the so-caiied Colossi of Memnon, it no ionger produces the sounds that
made it famous.
We’ae toid before of how it draws the power of the iron;
Now we shaii narrate other things.
Someone, hiding this stone under a woman’s bedsheets,
May ask her and she wouid teii you of her eaery sin
Or roii down fast from the bed and faii to your feet.
But if she is siniess, if she is chaste,
She wiii reach out to your neck and hang her arms around you. 630
I aiso know for sure that to him who asks it unaeiis eaerything
Men and women do when iying together.
Two brothers possessed that stone
And managed to turn an enmity into friendship.
And the one who has the stone can draw attenton through his words
And the stone itseif fuifis the wishes of its hoiders.

Concerning liquid silver, 6.32 (Story 67)

They say that eaeryone prefers mercury to goid.
The ones wantng to steai mercury from the riaer banks 640
Make ditches far away from the riaer
And then they send forth a rider dressed with a goiden feece
And faii back as fast as possibie.
The mercury then chases him and faiis into the ditches
And they come, bearing no goid on them, to pick it up.

Concerning other stones I will not say much, 6.33 (Story 68)
Some precious stone draws aii other stones to it
Eaen goid or some stone from the deeps,
Just as the magnesian stone can attract iron,
So does the one caiied berenicean 650
And it can draw grain seeds to it,
Being itseif a kind of tree spore.
I shaii not keep on taiking about amber, which iooks iike copper.
The rest of such propertes regarding stones and metais I ieaae untoid.

Concerning the rigidity of Sophocles, Sophilus' son, 6.34 (Story 69)

Sophocies the tragedian, who was Sophiius’ son,
In his piay Ajax, apart from the whip-bearer,
He brings Ajax, son of Teiamon,
To Eurysaces, his son from Tecmessa,
Saying: “Lack of ciear thought is no dangerous eaii.”

Concerning the proverb “Whatever has caused a wound only that can cure it”, 6.35 (Story 70)
When the Greeks set of with their ships to fght the Trojans, 660
The anchored in Mysia near Caecus
And they were deaastated, cause Teiephus brought great battie upon them.
This Teiephus was Heracies’ and Dawn’s son.
When Achiiies wounded him on the thigh,
Teiephus then came to him and was heaied.

Concerning the voice that Marcus Cedicius heard from the skies, 6.36 (Story 71)
Somewhere in the Parallel Lives, the author from Charoneia mentons
That Camiiius was a consui of the omans
And that he was exiied to the iand of the Ardeats.
Someone with the name of Marcus Cedicius, coming from the feids,
Heard a aoice from the sky that said: 670
“O you, Marcus Cedicius, teii the oman peopie
That because of your sins, you wiii sufer greatiy from the Gauis”.
Afer a short tme, this prophecy was reaiized;
For Brettus, the Gauiish king, managed to conquer ome.
Concerning the city of Media, 6.37 (Story 72)
Medea, daughter of Aeetes, has an eta and the diphthong in her name;
Media, iand of the Medeans, an eta and an iota,
And takes its name afer Medus, son of Medeia.
The city of Mideia has an iota and the diphthong;
Midas, ioaer of goid, buiit it.
The cites haae their diphthong, the iands an iota. 680
So, Media is the iand but Medeia the city.
In a simiiar manner, Itaiy is caiied the iand of the Caiabrians
And of the Longibarbs as weii.
But Attaieia happens to be a city in Pamphyiia.

So Media is the iand but Mideia the city,

The one buiit by this ioaer of goid, as they teii,
Coming to be king through great toii,
Just iike Saui and Daaid and Tuiiius and Seraius,
Like Leo and Basiiius, the great Macedonian king, and others.
This Midas was a chariot driaer 690
And he took the cows and piough and went out to piow the feid.
But the Phrygians seized him and made him king.
For they had iost their king and had made a compromise
To make the frst man they stumbied upon king.
And he was the frst one they came by and the state prospered greatiy
Under him, the founder of the city of Medeia.
The one you must write with iota and a diphthong.
Meidias is a proper name, of the man that hit Demosthenes,
Written with a diphthong. and then iota, meaning the one that smiies or iaughs.

Concerning the terms diaulus, stadion and similar things, 6.38 (Story 73)
Before, they named stadion the track to be run carrying weapons, 700
And the course was fat, no ups and down whatsoeaer. This is what’s known as stadion.
But diaulus is a doubie track, with one singie bend.
Dolichus is a seaen-road track with three turns
And no weapons are to be carried.
Tetrorus was a course with tweiae rounds.

Concerning the lotus, 6.39 (Story 74)

There is the wiid herb they caii iotus,
But aiso a tree, as Diodorus teiis us,
In Gadeira and Egypt, one that bears seeds iike beans, 7s0
From which they make bread.
Herodotus aiso mentons this iotus of which I speak.
Some peopie say that iotus is some reed-iike piant on the Niie.

Concerning the Sirens, 6.40 (Story 75)

The Sirens, who iured eaeryone with their songs, were three in number,
Leucosia, Ligeia and Parthenope.
Others say they were Agiaopheme and Agiaonoe
And the third one was Theixiepeia.
They were the daughters of the riaer Acheious and Terpsichore, the Muse.
You’ii fnd more about the iatter in the stories mentoned aboae,
Nameiy in the fourteenth story38.

Concerning Polydamneia’s remedies, 6.41 (Story 76)

Homer says that Poiydamneia the Egyptan 7290
Was wife of Thonus, king of Egypt.
These two weicomed Meneiaus and Heien in Egypt,

38 See s.s4.
When they were carried there by aioient winds,
And they gaae them noteworthy gifs-
Thon to Meneiaus and queen Poiydamneia to Heien.
She gaae her a drug that driaes sad memories away,
One to pour and drink in wine and immediateiy become obiiaious of grieaes
And shed no tear, were he to attend the executons
Of his father or brother or eaen his dear son. 730
I haae aiready toid of Heien’s seductae speech,
Which, when accompanied by wine,
Makes one forget his sorrows, iike in the Odyssey.
So, Egypt acquired those remedies
Of past pains, remedies of unbearabie sorrows.
And so I hear of the Ethiops,
Who do not sufer from wounds or cuts or burns or other mishaps
And who can withstand eaery pain with ease,
As if these were happening to someone eise, with the heip, methinks, of some such remedy.

Concerning Odysseus, who thought of smoke emanatng from his homeland as superior to the
greatest of blessings, immortality, 6.42 (Story 77)
Homer teiis of Odysseus in the Odyssey,
Of how Caiypso ofered him the gif of immortaiity, 740
Were he to stay and iiae with her together,
But he refused and chose the mortai path,
As iong as he couid oniy see the smoke of Ithaca.

Concerning how tmidity leads to unhappiness, but courage to happiness, 6.43 (Story 78)
Hesiod, deterring his brother from procrastnaton,
Said to Perses: “Do not be tmid, brother,
So that you do not become poor and unhappy.
It is braaery and courage that iead to happiness and riches”.
Concerning how to train yourself through preparaton, 6.44 (Story 79)
Know that the iawyer’s art is caiied rhetoric,
The one Hermogenes’ handbook names sophistry.
This handbook of new knowiedge on rhetoric 750
Is a fae-foid book, diaided in fae chapters:
One on preparaton, another on discourse, one on fnding a topic,
One on ideas and the iast one on rhetoric expertse.

In the frst he teaches how to write

The stages of preparaton, fourteen in number.
In the discourse part he teaches aii discourse styies
And in how many and which parts is each of them diaided.
In the third chapter he teaches how to fnd ideas
egarding the introducton, presentaton, main part and conciusion,
How to counter the opponent’s arguments and how to present one’s own 760
As weii as in how many and which ways this shouid be done.
Presentng and countering arguments, what one may caii oratoricai batties,
This is what he teaches.
In the chapter regarding the topic he presents the seaen categories:
Precision and iength, beauty and speed,
Morai and sincerity and eioquence.
Precision, iength and morai he names generai topics, for they consist of others,
The rest are caiied specifc. 770
But the wise Hermogenes, puts sincerity and morai together,
And thus he makes the seaen six.
And each one of the specifc ideas
Consists of eight integrai parts, now you shaii iearn what they are:
Concept and method, words and patterns,
Punctuaton, compositon, pausing and rhythm.
Know, thus, that an idea is the quaiity of a speech
That mostiy regards peopie, necessary for matters of discussion.
And there are aiso other types, most simiiar to iegai speeches, 780
Pubiic adaice is one of them, the other iaudatory speeches.
In some no conciusion is reached and others are ambiguous,
And few go beyond the truth. So, you haae iearned
What powers these ideas haae, the purpose of their teaching.
egarding the methods of oratory mastery
They teach matters noteworthy, matters unworthy or ambiguous,
Matters that reach beyond what’s true
And how each one of them ought be taught.
So he, afer haaing peed in the bath,
Wishing to teach those things to the rest of the orators 790
And steaiing eaeryone from which he had once benefted;
egarding Styie it was Phoibammon and Minucianus who heiped him
And in topic fnding Dionysius, among not few others,
And aithough he made promises eaerywhere he went
To teach these matters,
Those promises he then broke.
So some prosperous peopie reached an agreement with him
And ended up giaing him thirty fae taients
Pioughs and a windmiii and a big oaen.
So he came upon such things by scheming and piotng 800
And it was by heip of others as weii not diferent from him.
So Tzetzes shaii draw you the picture of these matters
With breaity, as he has not much paper aaaiiabie.
So iearn now the method of oratoricai expertse
And iearn how in eaery technicai or other part of oratory
You may insert an introducton and how it shouid iook iike
And how iong shouid it be
And where shouid one prepare the crowd for matters to foiiow
And where shouid he present them
Where shouid he put forth his arguments and where not 8s0
And where shouid one piace his conciusion and where not
So shouid he approach eaery part in matters of compositon and iength
What matters shouid he put forward in each and eaery one of them
And aii eise comprises the eight parts,
Concept and method, words and patterns,
Punctuaton, compositon, pausing and rhythm
And writng as skiifuiiy as possibie,
Eaen when it comes to petty matters
Or matters that are ambiguous or seem unreai.
Such is the power of technicai knowiedge.
So may Hermogenes and his wise sources with him 8290
Write or speak about these things, which come naturaiiy to them.

Concerning Noah’s Ark, 6.45 (Story 80)

The facts regarding Noah and his ark are facts weii known,
How he piaced eaery ciean and unciean animai in the ark,
To be the seed of aii future species.

Concerning the fight of the crow and the dove from the Ark, 6.46 (Story 81)
When the ieaeis of that cataciysmic water came down
He frst iet a crow from the ark into the air,
Wantng to know whether the disaster had not stopped,
Shouid it return.
But the crow few away and did not return,
It took on feeding on the corpses of those that had perished. 830
So, Noah then iet a doae fy away from the ark
And the doae grabbed a branch from an oiiae tree and came back.
This was a ciear sign that the ieaeis of the water had dropped.
Concerning Prometheus, 6.47 (Story 82)
Hesiod says in his Works and Days
That Zeus once wanted to send an eaii upon men
And that Prometheus toid his brother, Epimetheus,
That he shouid not accept anything sent from Zeus.
So Epimetheus came to reaiize how terribie it is
Not to iisten to good counseis, afer disregarding this adaice.
So these things that I had formeriy found in Hesiod I now present as aiiegories, 840
How Prometheus is the foreseeing mind
And how Epimetheus is the one that iearns from the consequences of bad decisions.

Concerning Philopoemen, son of Craugis, 6.48 (Story 84)39

This story is to be found in the smaii epistie.
Phiiopoemen was Craugis’ son, king of Greece
And he had a hideous appearance.
Upon receiaing an inaitaton from someone aiso beionging to the nobiiity,
He went ahead of the tme scheduied
But the one that had inaited him was not there. 850
His wife thought him to be a beggar because of his appearance
And iike to a seraant ordered him to cut wood.
He, being aery obedient as a man, carried out the order.
When the nobieman came and saw the whoie thing
He shouted: “What is going on? This is Phiiopoemen!
What eise couid this be than the price I pay for my ugiy form?”
So now you aiso haae this story in your arsenai.

Concerning the etymology of the word paroinia, 6.49 (Story 85)

Learn what a jeering is and what is paroinia
And the games of latage and cottavus and eōlocrasia.

39 Numbering from the originai aersion.

Jeering (propēlakismos), according to some ignorant foois, has that name 860
Because the men joke around by coaering themseiaes in ciay (pēlos).
But Tzetzes says that they aii take their name from wine.
For wine is aiso caiied pēlos and kapēlos is deriaed from this word.

And Tryphiodorus aiso agrees with Tzetzes, when he says:

“The earth that odours with weii poured wine (pēlos)”.
They say that the act of jeering took its name from haraestng the phlos,
Which the comedian smeared on their faces
And scorned eaeryone in Athens.
So jeering is the sheer act of hybris and comedy 870
Whiie paroinia is hybris and chattering.
How latage and cottavus and eolocrasia came to take their names
Listen now carefuiiy and iearn:

One Tragiiius Suetnus, in his work regarding the games of the Greeks,
Teiis of many games as weii as dinner habits.
One of the symposium habits is eolocrasia
Another is cottavus and so is latage.
Young peopie hanging around in specifc piaces
Around noon, put down the cups and aesseis
And, in demonstraton of courage, drank the house wine. 880
The one not managing to drink the whoie thing
Wouid pour it on himseif, whiie the others wouid iaugh.
This is eolocrasia. Now you shaii iearn what cottavus is.
In the symposium there were a scaie and smaii bowis.
Those bowis had smaii man-iike statues in the middie
Which were then caiied manes,
So the attenders of the symposium wouid fii their mouths with wine
Which is the meaning of lataks and latage, iiquid and pouring
And they threw the iiquid into each basin,
Which means that they spew it out and empted their mouths. 890
This act and the whoie thing is caiied cottavus.
If the rod foiiowed the course of the spat wine
And ianded on the head of the statue,
The one who carried out the feat deemed as most adept to the rest of the attenders.
If he did not succeed, he wouid receiae tons of iaughter,
As if he was a sick and weak man.
So, the hybris and scorn that deriaes from such games
Is caiied propēlakismos and paroinia
Latagē, cottavus and eōlokrasia.

Concerning a verse from Pindar, 6.49 (Story 86)

Pindar, they say, wanted to proae that the story regarding Peiops eatng his chiid was in fact a iie. 900
I do not think of the gods as giuttons
But some iiars make up and spread thousands of iies.
But those things tmes proaes to be utteriy true and not faisifabie.
“Let the days to foiiow be the direst proof”,
Is what Pindar said. It is not what I said, though.
But I pointed out that, shouid you not do the right thing,
The efects of our inficton upon you wiii become apparent with tme.

Concerning Metameleia, Epimetheus’ daughter, 6.50 (Story 87)

The mind that foresees things is that of Prometheus; 9s0
It can iook ahead before the eaent occurs.
But the one iooking back at what has aiready happened,
That one is Epimetheus, whose daughter we now menton,
Metameieia, her name meaning regret of what has occurred.
Those that do not pian ahead, wiii oniy feei sorrow,
When caiamity strikes.
Concerning Helicon, 6.51 (Story 88)
Heiicon and Cithaeron are mountains in Boeota,
That deriae the names from two brothers,
Who kiiied each other just iike Oedipus’ sons,
As Lysimachus from Cyrene has written. 9290

Concerning the Muses, 6.52 (Story 89)

They say that the Muses are Zeus’ and Mnemosyne’s chiidren
And that it is them that come bearing gifs to the poets,
Gifs of poetc form and content,
Just iike Hermes does when it comes to oratory and prose speech.
But this is nothing more than an aiiegory
For the Muses are caiied thus, because it’s knowiedge that they seek
And wisdom.
So it is Zeus, the great and aii-knowing mind that giaes birth to these Muses, masking normai speech in
poetc form. 930

Concerning Pieria, 6.53 (Story 90)

Pieria is a mountain in Boeota
But aiso a town that was buiit by Pierus,
Who was brother to Methone and father of Linus.
This Pieria iater changed its name to Lyngus.
According to Meiisseus in his book on Deiphi
It was Aeropus, son of Hemathion the one who frst reigned in it.
And truiy, Pieria is a mountain iike Heiicon
And a town, as I haae aiready said.
They say that the Muses were born in Pieria
And praise their father with dances on the mountain of Heiicon. 940
But this aiiegory is dark. See Pieria as the instrument of reason
Where knowiedge is born and Heiicon are the books and their pages
Which turn iike mountain siopes, bringing fame to their creators.

Concerning Leibethrion, 6.54 (Story 91)

Leibethrion is aiso a mountain as weii as a town
In the Odrysseian iand of the Thracians, where Orpheus resided.
This man writes in one of his books:
“Go on, Muse of Leibethrion, sing to me oid taies in aerse”.

Concerning your having become like the barbarians afer spending many years living among them,
6.55 (Story 92)
Euripides in his work Orestes teiis
Of how Meneiaus tries to defend Orestes 950
And how Tyndareus responds enraged to Meneiaus:
“You haae most certainiy become a barbarian yourseif, afer iiaing so iong among them.”

Concerning Melitus from Hymetus of Atca, 6.56 (Story 93)

Hymettus, the Athenian mountain produces honey most superb;
I shaii now state what makes it stand out.
No dregs does one found in this hemytan honey,
Cause the bees make wax from thyme
Which neaer ieaaes any sediment.

Concerning the Thessalian Cheiron, half man half beast, teacher of heroes, 6.57 (Story 94)
Cheiron, who was the teacher of many great men,
From Asciepius to Jason and then Achiiies himseif, 960
The oid storyteiiers describe as haif man and haif horse,
Man down to the beiiy and horse thereunder.
And thus aiso writes the emperor Juiian in epic aerse that the horse comes from a man’s behinds.
He, sitng down on his animai members
Taught the students the arts of huntng and archery
And medicine and herbaiism and many others.
But here is the truth: Cheiron was a phiiosopher
And, being one of the frst to teach the art of horsemanship, 970
He feii aictm to becoming a myth himseif
And came to be known as the horseman teaching herbaiism and other skiiis.

Concerning the mountain of Pelion, 6.58 (Story 95)

Peiion is a mountain of Thessaiy,
Ciose to Magnesia, which is now caiied Petra.
Who frst made this obseraaton I know not
But it is on Peiion that Cheiron had his iair.

Concerning the story of Jason, 6.59 (Story 96)

Jason was son of Aison, son of Critheus
And three candidates we haae for his mother:
oio and Aicimede and Poiymeie;
The frst a daughter of Staphyius, the others of Autoiycus. 980
When Peiias murdered aii the descendants of Aeoius,
An oracie foretoid that he wouid die by the hand of one of them
And when Jason was born right thereafer
They present him as being dead, fearing Peiias,
(Jason’s grandfather Critheus, of the Aeoiian bioodiine)
And piace him in a box as dead and hand him oaer to Cheiron.
And he, haaing been nurtured and instructed by Cheiron, of whom we spoke aboae,
Becomes the most giorious reaenger of the massacre of the Aeoiids.
Concerning the story of Asclepius, 6.60 (Story 97)
Asciepius, son of Coronis and Apoiio,
Learned the art of medicine from Cheiron 990
And took the name of Asciepius, though he was formeriy caiied Hepius,
Because he heaied Ascien, tyrant of Epidaurus,
Or because he did not iet men whither (skellesthai) and die.

Concerning Achilles, 6.61 (Story 98)

Achiiies was son of Peieus and Thets,
Not the sea nymph but a mortai woman
And daughter of Cheiron, the phiiosopher,
Whom we described aboae as being the teacher of many heroes.
He was instructed in huntng and archery and medicine and many arts
By his aery own grandfather.

Concerning the Lapiths and the Centaurs, 7.1 (Story 99)

The Lapiths, of the Thessaiian race, Dryas, Pirithous, s000
Caeneus and Exadius, Poiyphemus and others, s40
Struck together a ferce war upon the Centaurs.
For the Centaurs, afer haaing been inaited as friends, aiong with the Lapiths,
To the wedding feast of Ixion, son of Pirithous,
(Euryton was the ieader of the Centaurs),
And haaing become aery drunk, abducted the bride from the bridai chamber.
Therefore, the Lapiths kiiied many of the Centaurs,
And they eaen crueiiy mutiated Euryton,
Cutng of his nose and iips, genitais and arms.

Now who the Centaurs were, Paiaephatus says. s0

By that tme, peopie had not yet mounted horses;

40 Here begins book VII of the Chiliades.

Whiie wiid buiis were wastng the country of the Thessaiians,
Some of the mighty youths, afer mountng horses,
Started huriing jaaeiins at the buiis; some peopie saw these men
Huriing jaaeiins at the buiis (taurus) and they named them ‘‘Centaurs’’.
And catching them from afar, they assumed that they were haif-human and haif-horse.
Likewise, we shaii address them Kentotauros41 and not ‘‘Centaurs’’.
O Paiaephatus, the wisest of aii! That is the story according to Paiaephatus.

The Theban iament (I am teiiing you of Pindar)

Suggests that the Centaurs were haif-horse and haif-man, 290
This is how it reiates it in such a compiex iyric metre:
“And since Ixion had intercourse with Nepheie,
He begot an ungracefui and arrogant ofspring,
Who mated with the Magnesian mares in Peiion,
And from them, a horde was born, which resembied both their parents,
Like their mother beiow, iike their father aboae.”
Did you hear how eaen Pindar has mythicaiiy reiated the story?
He taiked of an ofspring, who was born of a misty cioud,
And begot the Centaurs afer matng with the mares.

But it did not happen iike that, Pindar; now, iearn it from Tzetzes. 30
Ixion, afer being purifed of his father-in-iaw’s murder
By Zeus (this way the kings were once inaited),
Lusted afer Zeus’ wife, queen Hera.
Afer she toid these things to her husband, he (Zeus) became suspicious
And wantng to fnd out the reai truth,
Afer adorning the maidseraant, named Nepheie,
Around eaening he persuaded her to sieep with that man.
Thus, Ixion, afer haaing intercourse with Nepheie instead of Hera,

4s The Greek word for Centaur is Kentauros (“ken-tow” to prick + “tauros” buii), that means the one who pricks the buiis, the
buii-pricker. In additon, Tzetzes suggests “Kentotaurs” as a better aiternate speiiing of the word Centaur, according to
Paiaephatus’ story.
And not with some watery and misty cioud,
Begot a son, Imbrus, whom peopie were caiiing ‘‘Centaur’’, 40
In other words, a seraant’s chiid; the seraants are most assurediy considered to be ciouds,
Since Ixion pricked Nepheie,
To speak inappropriateiy, and so from them this one was born.
This Imbrus, who mingied with the mares of Magnesia,
In other words, he was feeding the horses in the iand of Thessaiy,
Begets sons, skiiied in horse-riding because of their growing up together with the horses,
Wherefore they toid that their mothers were horses, too.
So Tzetzes writes, o Pindar, about the Centaurs.

Concerning Clitarchus’ writng on the tenthredo, 7.2 (Story 100)

This Ciitarchus writes on the tenthredo,
Which is some kind of sawfy iooking iike a bee, 50
As if he wrote either on the Nemean Lion,
Or that fre-breathing Cretan Buii,
Or the Erymanthian and the Caiydonian Boars,
Or one of the grandest and biggest animais,
And as he writes about it, he speaks in a subiime and arrogant manner:
“It dweiis the mountains, it fies in the hoiiows of oaks”.

Concerning the Nemean Lion, 7.3 (Story 101)

Nemea is some iand assigned (by iot) to Argos,
For haaing pastures in great abundance it was caiied Nemea 429.
An inauinerabie iion was ruining utteriy this iand,
Heracies shootng this iion with the bow and without damaging it aitogether, 60
And in iike manner, smashing his ciub in its wound,
Aferwards destroyed it, by catching it barehanded.
Later, haaing ripped the iion's skin with his naiis,
429 The adjectae polunomotatos means the one who has many nomae (nemo to pasture, to graze), the Greek word for
pastures. Thus, Nemea deriaes its name from this word.
He was wearing this one as a not made of iron body armour in the batties.

Concerning the Calydonian Boar, 7.4 (Story 102)

Oeneus, ruiing oaer the Aetoiian and Caiydonian iands,
Negiected Artemis in the oferings of the frst fruits to the gods.
She then sent the boar from the hiiis of Oetaea:
“Which did much harm hauntng the orchard of Oeneus.”
From the many huntsmen, who were gathered together in that piace,
Ataianta was the frst to shoot the boar with the bow. 70
Later, Meieager struck and kiiied it aiong with the swine siayer.
Each one of his teeth was more than a cubit iong.
Soterichus and Homer and myriads of others
Haae recaiied this Caiydonian boar.

Concerning the proverb “He who loves is blinded by the beloved”, 7.5 (Story 103)
Aii the beioaed ones seem to be pieasant to those who ioae them;
For, in this way the proaerb has said wiseiy.

Concerning the Pindaric maxim “Nor does hot water so relax the limbs as praise”, 7.6 (Story 104)
In the baths, hot water sofens the iimbs,
It eaen makes ioose and smooth the iimbs of the exhausted ones.
Howeaer, the praises soothe peopie more than the hot water does;
Wherefore Pindar has spoken in this way. 80

Concerning tortoise’s competng against the hare, 7.7 (Story 105)

The writer of fabies Aesop, by reiatng in his fabies
That the tortoise won the race against the hare,
Encourages simpie and mentai work, whereas he aaerts idieness.
Concerning Marsyas, 7.8 (Story 106)
Marsyas, a Phrygian fute-piayer, chaiienges Apoiio;
Afer haaing been defeated by the god, he was turned into a wineskin hanging from a pine tree.
Before, I wrote the entre story in a ioose manner 43.

Concerning Salmoneus, who impersonated the Thunderer Zeus, 7.9 (Story 107)
Emigratng from Thessaiy to Eieia, Saimoneus
Founded a city and he caiied himseif Zeus,
And he acted profaneiy, by castng torches (in the air) as if they were iightnings,
And dragging dried hides with ketties at his chariot, 90
Pretending to make thunder, so he was thunderstruck by Zeus.

Concerning Thamyris, who challenged the Muses, 7.10 (Story 108)

Thamyris, fair and prominent in beauty,
Was skiiied in music and fond of singing; afer competng against the Muses,
She was defeated and biinded; these are the mythicai detaiis.
Now, here is the more aiiegoricai aersion; there was a poet, nobie by birth,
Who wrote a Cosmogony in fae thousand aerses.
Since he was arrogant, he thought that his inteiiigence was superior to eaeryone eise’s.
And afer his writngs were aanished,
They said that it happened because he was chaiienging the Muses in music.
“They in their wrath maimed him; they eaen s00
Took from him his wondrous singing and made him forget his iyre piaying”.

Concerning the Homeric proverb “Others care for things like these, the lyre and the song”, 7.11 (Story
109)

43 See s.s5.
In the Odyssey Homer introduces distressed
Teiemachus watching the suitors iiaing iuxuriousiy
And amusing themseiaes with singing and making poetry,
And he introduces himseif saying these exact words:
“Others care for things iike these, the iyre and the songs”.

Concerning the living one, who is held back upon the broad sea, 7.12 (Story 110)
In the Odyssey Proteus says to Meneiaus,
How Locrian Ajax has utteriy perished in the sea,
And how Agamemnon was saaed oniy to be kiiied by Aegisthus.
As for Odysseus, he says these words: ss0
“The one who is stii aiiae, is heid back upon the broad sea”.
I emended this passage in rhetoricai styie,
Now, it is to our adaantage to say “worid” and not “sea”.

Concerning Heracles, the averter of evil, 7.13 (Story 111)

Heracies, son of Aicmena, being a benefactor of the peopie,
Was moaing from one piace to another eradicatng eaii,
By repeiiing beasts, tyrants and piunderers, adaersites,
And eaery other misfortune of iife.

Concerning the drinking game cottabos, 7.14 (Story 112)

We haae recentiy expiained exactiy and thoroughiy,
What the propelakismos and the paroenia,
The latage and the cottabos and the eolokrasia mean. s290
This is the eighty-ffh story 44.
And turning about, behoid it and you shaii iearn exactiy the entre story.

44 See 6.49.
Concerning who the Palamnaioi were, 7.15 (Story 113)
The Teichines were some of the enaious daemons,
Antaeus, Megaiesius, Ormenus and Lycus,
What is more Nikon and Mimon and others aiong with them.
These men were draining the earth by pouring the water of the Styx onto it,
Seeking to stop men’s crops from deaeioping.
These men are caiied Alastores and Palamnaioi.
For superaising the ceaseiess wanderings of peopie,
They haae been named Alastores, a most suitabie name. s30
For pouring the water of Styx with their paims and hands,
In order to make the feids infertie and destroy them, they haae been named Palamnaioi.

Concerning the inquirers (peuthenes), the spies (kataskopoi) and the heralds (prokerukes), 7.16 (Story
114)
Now, note that the inquirers (peuthenes) are the spies,
As many of them as they send to the enemy camp,
To examine and report upon what the enemies want, what they say, what they do;
As many of them as they send to taik about the matters of war,
egarding when and where and by which means they are about to make war,
They haae caiied heraids (prokerykes); they, in turn, caii messengers (aggeloi)
Those, who bear messages from one encampment to another;
As for them, whom they send for matters of treates, drink-oferings and peace, s40
They caii these men ambassadors (presbeis).

What is a probolos, 7.17 (Story 115)

Problis, probletes, probolos are caiied a sea rock,
And eaery piece that projects and protrudes
Bending into the sea, as some promontory,
And eaery waterfront and eaery rocky shore.
We aiso caii the towers and the city waiis,
And eaerything that proaides with protecton and the front iines of the foremost fghters (promachus),
And those who speak in others’ defence,
“Protrusions” (probolos), speaking in a rather fguratae and improper sense.
A protrusion (probolos) is a rock jutng into the sea, as I stated. s50
The rock that rests on the surface of the sea, hidden by the waaes,
Against which aesseis are dashed, as they strike on,
Is caiied reef, sunken rock, or iadder (schala) by common men.

Concerning the Pythagorean silence, 7.18 (Story 116)

Pythagoras considered siience and the controi of one’s tongue
The peak of aii phiiosophy.
Wherefore he was teaching the initates the end of the entre phiiosophy
And how to hoid siience for fae years,
Which was attainabie oniy by few most suitabie initates.

Concerning Cilicia, 7.19 (Story 117)

The sons of Beius were Ninus, Agenor and Phoenix,
Aegyptus, Danaus and Phineus aiong with them. s60
Others consider Agenor to be brother to Beius.
As for me, Tzetzes, I beiieae that from Beius were descended (two men under the same name)
Agenor, the brother, and Agenor, the son.
As for that Agenor, who desires Antope, daughter of Beius,
I rather think that he is Beius' brother; Cadmus, Ciiix and Phoenix,
Afer whom the city is named both Cilikia and Phoenike.

Concerning Antoch, 7.19 (Story 118)

As Pausanias writes on the foundaton of Antoch,
Antoch was founded by Seieucus Nicator,
According to some, as the namesake of his own father Antochus,
According to Lucian, as the namesake of his son Antochus, s70
The one, whom they caiied Soter, whose wife was Stratonice,
The one, who was diagnosed by Erasistratus, just from his puise,
To be in ioae with his own stepmother.
Seieucus founds this city of Antoch,
As weii as seaenty-four other cites.
But as for those, who fooiishiy ciaim that Antochus founded this one,
Attaeus and Perittas, as weii as Anaxicrates
Shaii refute them most wiseiy and wiii expose them to be absurd,
Aiong with them Asciepiodorus, who happened to be a feiiow siaae,
Those men, whom at that tme Seieucus made the superaisors of the constructons. s80

Concerning the Cyrenaic silphium, 7.20 (Story 119)

We haae aiready spoken about the Cyrenaic silphium
In the one hundred-tenth story of the preaious ones 45.
And in the forty-eighth story, in turn, of this aery sequence 46,
The iatter was presented much better than the former,
By expiaining how the Cyreneans brought it to Battus,
And how he engraaed it on coins.
There are three species of silphium, the sisgoudon and the tilis,
As weii as the one that is renowned and respectae and ceiebrated among aii peopie,
The one, which aaoids cuitaated grounds and prospers rather in the desert iands,
As it happens with the caper, according to some of the experts. s90
Silphium has a staik iike that of ferula,
As for its ieaf, they caii it maspeton, being simiiar to ceiery.
It deiiaers a broad fruit and two aarietes of juice,
One from the staik, which is caiied “staik-juice”, and one from the root, which is caiied “root-juice”.

45 See 3.39-48.

46 See 6.s3.
Concerning the hoop of the ring of Gyges, 7.21 (Story 120)
Candauies showed to Gyges his own wife naked;
The one, who, afer haaing inaited Gyges priaateiy,
Giaes him her ring, so that he kiiis
Her husband, Candauies, afer his haaing informed secretiy the bodyguards.
Afer this had happened, he steaithiiy kiiied Candauies
And upon returning the ring to the woman, 2900
He made himseif aisibie to eaeryone and he took the kingdom.
This is the third story of the frst sequence 47.

Concerning the ring of Polycrates, 7.22 (Story 121)

Poiycrates, the ruier of Samos, was successfui,
At that tme the Samians were under the ruie of the Egyptans.
Amasis, being afraid of the great success of this man,
Wrote to him: “Poiycrates, the one most precious possession in your iife,
The one thing that it wouid most grieae your soui to iose,
This partcuiar you shouid throw away in any way you iike,
If you wish not to tempt my wrath”.
So then Poiycrates got aery frightened, 29s0
The one precious emeraid ring he had,
Crafed by the engraaer of gems,
Theodorus of Samos, son of Teiecies,
He casts in the middie of the sea, afer haaing embarked in a ship,
Grieaing deepiy for the ioss of that aery ring.
But on the ffh day someone caught a spiendid fsh,
And sent it to Poiycrates, as a worthy gif for him,
Inside it was found the ring, of which I spoke before.
Amasis, afer hearing this aery thing, toid the men standing by:
“The one assisted by the god, whoeaer man couid hurt?”. 29290

47 See s.3.
Concerning the golden bricks of Croesus, 7.23 (Story 122)
Croesus sent to Deiphi a thousand bricks, aii made of pure goid,
To buiid a goiden aitar in honour of Apoiio.
You hoid the story, the frst one among aii the others, in a ioose manner 48.

Concerning Midas, 7.24 (Story 123)

Midas of Phrygia, fond of goid, was the son of Gordius,
This man, aithough being a peasant pioughman, took the kingdom.
This is the second story in iine among the frst ones 49,
Which giaes an aiiegoricai interpretaton of this man’s food, that was made out of goid.
In this aery sequence you wiii cieariy fnd out,
How he, aithough being a pioughman, took the kingdom,
Of the origins of the city name Medeia 2930
I speak in the seaenty-second story50.

Concerning “how the half is more than the whole”, 7.25 (Story 124)
Hesiod, dissuading his brother from idieness,
And from aiiowing the judges to deiight in injustce,
Says cieariy that the race of judges is unfair,
And that it knows not preciseiy from where one has to obtain proft,
Neither does it know by how much more is the haif than the whoie,
In other words, the smaiiest part of justce,
The one that indeed preaaiis oaer many unjust men.

48 See s.s.

49 See s.29.

50 See 6.37.
Concerning “You the best of prophets, and yet deceived for so long”, 7.26 (Story 125)
Sophocies, the tragic poet, in his tragedy Electra,
Introduces Orestes kiiiing his mother by contriaance. 2940
Since eaen Aegisthus feii into his trap,
Afer reaiizing that it is reaiiy Orestes the one who is speaking to him,
He said: “It cannot be otherwise; this must be Orestes,
Son of Agamemnon, who was feigned dead, the one who is now speaking to me”.
This being so, therefore Orestes spoke these words to him:
“You the best of prophets, and yet deceiaed;
Now sureiy you haae iearnt and understood these things
Just before you faii into the utmost and fatai misfortunes”.

Concerning Charitonymus or Ioannes, 7.27 (Story 126)

In the Hebrew ianguage the iao stands for the unseen,
The name Ionas means doae, and the name Ioannes means grace. 2950

Concerning the Lydian Stone, also called Touchstone, 7.28 (Story 127)
Around the iands of Lydia, where the city of Sardis is iocated,
And around the city of both Ionia and Ephesus,
Smooth and extremeiy giittering and biack in the edges stones,
Simiiar to the smaii pebbies with which the giris are piaying,
Haae been found in smaii and medium sizes, and some of them eaen as iarge as they can be heid in the
hand.
These are caiied touchstones, touchstones for the goid,
In other words assessment and testng and triai.
When goid is rubbed on these stones its aaiue is determined,
Whether it is pure goid, or an aiioy of goid or just goid of medium quaiity.
And afer them, they haae named basanos the punishments, 2960
And the words that are empioyed to disproae, the oaths and aii the rest.
Concerning wherefore propetes is called, 7.29 (Story 128)
Some of the naturaiiy more deaeioped nestiing birds,
Before they grow the piumage of the swif-winged birds sufcientiy,
Upon putng themseiaes in moton to fy, as if they were aigiiant,
Sufer a terribie faii, afer ianding on the ground.
These are equaiiy caiied propetas and propeteis.
They are caiied ortalichus as weii, for trying eageriy to moae quickiy.
Of these, eaeryone who is ioquacious or does not say anything properiy,
Is caiied a propetes; Eaen if some peopie in a random way,
The one who speaks anything but the right words, 2970
Caii a propeten, what is more it is ftng to caii that one
Oaer-boid and uttermost disrespectui and ignorant of order.

Concerning Timon the Misanthrope, 7.30 (Story 129)

Timon, son of Echecratdes, was an Athenian by race,
He was extremeiy rich and he reiieaed eaeryone who was in want.
Afer his running out of his weaith and money,
Because not eaen one had mercy on him,
Haaing conceiaed hatred of the course of human iife,
And taking a ieather coat and a fork, he became a peasant and a iabour man.
By digging the ground, he found a treasure in the feids.
And since the rumours of this case were quickiy spread, 2980
Making known to eaeryone that Timon became rich again,
Yet again, eaeryone was gathering around him pretending to be his friends,
By striking his fork, he was driaing the unjust men away saying:
“Now Timon is your friend, O unfair men, now you aii recognize him,
The one who was considered benefactor when rich, but despised when poor,
O, you most unfair men, begone from this piace”.
Concerning the xenelasia of the Laconians, 7.31 (Story 130)
The Athenians had a iaw for acceptng the infux of foreigners,
Wherefore eaeryone caiied them filoxenoi,
Whereas the Laconians had a iaw for the expuision of foreigners.

Concerning the Cyclops who had a mutual hatred and were incompatble, 7.32 (Story 131)
The Cyciops, the former inhabitants of Siciiy, 2990
Were scattered, haaing their own habitatons,
And without haaing intercourse with one another.
But each of them was the master of his own wife and chiidren,
And no foreigner couid siip between them,
They were eaen incompatbie with each other and hated one another,
Their popuiaton was sparse and they dreaded foreigners,
Lest they saii against them and take oaer their iand.
For they were yet unacquainted with buiiding trading aesseis.

Concerning the Servilii Caesares, 7.33 (Story 132)

Seraiiius was a consui and Caesar of the omans,
With forcefui method and in a rhetoricai manner, 300
I aiso caii him Servilias, for descending from the Servilii.
But if someone eise reaiiy wanted, he couid haae caiied him Serb Eiias.
This is the way of the doubie-tongued rhetor,
To use facts and names and eaerything eise
For both praise and biame, according to his interest.

Concerning Aeacus, for whom Zeus changed the ants into human beings, 7.34 (Story 133)
According to the mythographers, Zeus, afer haaing intercourse with Aegina,
Begot Aeacus on the isiand of Aegina.
Who, haaing grown up, was agitated for being aione in the isiand.
Zeus, taking pity on his soiitude,
Changed the ants which popuiated the isiand into human beings. 3s0
The mythicai detaiis were such as these, now here is the aiiegory:
As Theagenes5s wrote about Aegina;
Preaiousiy, Aegina had a sparse popuiaton,
The inhabitants of that isiand did not eaen know how to buiid trading aesseis.
And being scared of the aioient attacks by the pirates and eaeryone eise,
They were hiding in underground caaes just as the ants.
Afer Aeacus deaeioped shipping for them,
And because he transferred the peopie and joined them in coionizing,
Just as Triakon did afer Aeacus’ death,
And made them iiae without fear out of the caaes, 3290
He was said to haae turned the ants into men.

Concerning the food of Deucalion, for whom Zeus turned the stones into human beings, 7.35 (Story
134)
Once the food in the tme of Deucaiion was oaer,
Afer stepping out of the ark and ianding on the iand of Parnassus,
Deucaiion, was asking for a new race of peopie by ofering sacrifces to Zeus,
Deucaiion himseif, by throwing stones onto the earth under Zeus' command,
Aiong with his wife Pyrrha created the new human kind.
Aii the stones which Deucaiion threw became men,
And aii the stones which Pyrrha threw, in turn, became women.
They say these detaiis mythicaiiy, but the truth is as foiiows:
Afer their coming out of the ark, both men and women 330
And each one of them, on the one hand the men, by piiing up
Stones on one side, were setng up an aitar of Zeus Phryxios,
On the other hand, each one of the women aiong with Pyrrha
Were setng up another aitar on their side, for haaing escaped the food.

5s Likeiy the historian of uncertain date.

And because there were as many stones as the peopie who were carrying them,
The stones, carried by women, were as many as the women, whereas the stones carried by men were as
many as them,
They said, by interpretng inaerseiy the quantty of the muittude,
That the stones turned into as many peopie
As the stones that Pyrrha and Deucaiion threw onto the earth,
Whereas, they ought to haae said it in this way: there were as many stones 340
As the number of the women aiong with Pyrrha,
And equaiiy, as many of them as the number of the men aiong with Deucaiion.

Concerning Priam, who begot many children, 7.36 (Story 135)

Priam, just as Homer writes in the Iliad,
Begot ffy chiidren, nineteen of them
By his own wife, Queen Hecuba.
He begot the rest of them by concubines, as eaen he himseif says:
"Nineteen chiidren were born to me from a singie mother's womb,
The rest by other women in the paiace".

Concerning Danaus and Aegyptus, 7.37 (Story 136)

From Poseidon and Libya are descended the twin sons,
Beius himseif and equaiiy Agenor. 350
Of whom, Agenor becomes the ruier of Phoenike,
Whereas Beius staying in Egypt, his own country,
Begets Aegyptus and Danaus by Achiroe, the daughter of Niius.
This Beius, afer settiing Danaus in Libya,
And Aegyptus in Arabia, settiing himseif among the Assyrians,
Was the frst to be honoured with the tties of god and iord.
For both the Assyrians and the Persians deify their ruiers,
As eaen Aeschyius recounts it in his drama The Persians.
Wiiiing to address Atossa as both the consort of the king,
And mother of another king, equaiiy, he spoke in this way: 360
"You were the consort of the Persians' god, and of another god the mother".
In this way Beius, arriaing in the iand of the Assyrians,
Was caiied a ruier and a god, according to the Assyrian custom.
Aegyptus and Danaus, the sons of Beius,
Aegyptus fathers ffy sons,
Danaus, in turn, fathers ffy daughters,
By seaerai women, by one singie woman according to others.
Hippostratos says that Aegyptus has begotten oniy by Eurryroe,
The daughter of Niius, ffy sons;
As weii as Danaus has begotten aii his daughters, 370
By Europa, the daughter of Niius, of whom I haae spoken.
Up to this tme, the sons of nobie Argyphe and Aegyptus,
Lynceus aiong with Proteus, who aiso got married to brides,
Lynceus to Hypermnestra, Proteus to Gorgophone,
The brides, whom Danaus has begotten by Eiephants,
And Amymone aiong with them, with whom Poseidon had intercourse.

Concerning the children of Niobe and Amphion, 7.38 (Story 137)

Niobe and Amphion had tweiae chiidren,
As Homer cieariy taught in the Iliad:
“Six daughters, six young sons”.
According to others, they had fourteen chiidren. 380
You haae in a ioose manner the entre story behind you.
The story, which reiates in an exact manner the names of the chiidren,
And interprets aiiegoricaiiy the story of weeping Niobe, who turned into stone,
And eaery other detaii that it is ftng to be interpreted aiiegoricaiiy.
This aery story iies in the frst sequence,
Being the one hundred and forty one in iine 529.

529 See 4.293.

Concerning “how the horses of Xerxes’ army dried up the rivers by leaning over to drink water”, 7.39
(Story 138)
Xerxes the Persian, with an innumerabie army,
Campaigning against Greece and the Athenians,
Vioiates nature haaing the same boastng of Persia as his father’s,
By turning the sea into iand, turning the mountains into sea, 390
Not haaing counted his army, upon measuring its food,
Afer haaing the sun hidden by the Persian arrows,
And causing the riaers dried up by watering his horses,
And haaing done so many barbarian things that caused a great deai of impression,
Despite haaing been defeated most spiendidiy with great disgrace,
He goes back to his homeiand of Persia,
Haaing his deiightui youth of Persia wasted in Greece.
You haae the entre story in the preaious sequence,
Written by me in a ioose manner, being the thirty second in iine 53.

Concerning Thebes being destroyed by Alexander and their reconstructon by Alexander himself for
the sake of an athlete, 7.40 (Story 139)
It is not reported by many, and it is weii known to a few, 400
That Darius, that emperor of the Persians,
Haaing heard that Aiexander was about to campaign against the Persians,
Honoured Demosthenes with a iot of money,
In order to empioy him in Greece.
He (Demosthenes) unfortunateiy rouses the Thebans against Aiexander,
Wherefore Aiexander, being angry, destroys utteriy Thebes,
To the accompaniment of the fute piayer Isminias’ iamentng music.
For Isminias was piaying on the fute, whiie the Thebes were being destroyed,
Just as they were being buiit before by the sounds of Amphion’s iyre.

53 See s.329.
In such a piteous way Aiexander sacked Thebes, 4s0
And burnt eaery house down saae one, the house of Pindar,
Saying: “Set not on fre the roof of Pindar, the poet”.
For he praised his ancestor, Aiexander 54.
He seems to insinuate that Demosthenes was the aiieged
eason for Aiexander’s destroying Thebes,
By which he writes, directng the words against Aeschines himseif:
“He, who now iaments oaer the Thebans”.

In this way Thebes were destroyed by Aiexander,

An oracie is being giaen to the suraiaing Thebans
Concerning the reconstructon of the city in this way saying in aerse: 4290
“Hermes, Aicides and the boxer Poiydeuces,
These three, contending with each other, shaii rebuiid the city of Thebes”.
And what is more, the oracie was fnaiiy fuifiied in such a way.
Aiexander was giad to attend the gymnastc games,
Cieitomachus of Thebes, haaing preaaiied oaer eaeryone in wrestiing,
Came to Aiexander to be crowned.
The king asked him who he was and whence he came.
And he had said both, his father’s name and his own.
“I haae no city, he said, king Aiexander”.
Afer eaen being aictorious in the pancratium, the second contest, 430
He came to receiae the crown from Aiexander,
And afer haaing been asked who he was, he said again in the same way;
Both his father’s name and his own, he yet said that he had no city,
Aiexander, haaing been aware of his being a Theban, and feeiing gioomy not within due iimits,
Aithough he was aery angry with the Thebans,
And thinking that it was unfair for such a man to be without a city,
Said: “If you win, eaen in boxing, the third contest,
I wiii rebuiid Thebes for you, I wiii present your fatheriand to you as a gif”
Afer that eaent had happened, and afer he had been most spiendidiy aictorious eaen in boxing,

54 Aiexander I of Macedon, the ancestor of Aiexander the Great.

Aiexander rebuiit the city of Thebes anew. 440

Concerning the reconstructon of Stagira, a city of Olynthus, for Aristotle’s sake, in the tme of Philip
and Alexander, 7.41 (Story 140)
Stagira was one of the cites of Oiynthus,
This was the birthpiace of the phiiosopher Aristotie.
So Phiiip demoiished it, for being hostie towards him, aiong with others;
But iater Aristotie makes a request of Aiexander,
And they rebuiid the city anew for his faaour.

Concerning Ptolemy, the trenching of Nile and its channelling, 7.42 (Story 141)
Nekos, the son of Psamtk, dug aiong the Niie before,
As far as the ed Sea, it was four days saiiing in iength,
And wide enough for two triremes to pass easiiy abreast.
But, whiie digging it, tweiae myriads of peopie perished.
Because some persons toid that the ieaei of the ed Sea was higher 450
Than that of the iand of Egypt, he ceased his digging,
Lest it eaer suddeniy oaerfows the iand.
Aferwards Darius, the king of Persia,
That channei of Nekos compieted,
And iater, Ptoiemy had one mouth of the Niie,
Which takes its name from him,
Extended to the ed Sea, by ciosing ingeniousiy,
And opening yet again, and he accompiished that without a few expenses.

Concerning Pandion and Tereus and Procne, 7.43 (Story 142)

The king of Athens named Pandion
Had maie chiidren and two daughters, 460
Procne and Phiiomeia; he marries Procne
To Tereus, a man of the Thracian race.
Who, afer marrying his wife, carried her of to Thrace.
Whiie Procne was ionging for her sister Phiiomeia,
Tereus, arriaing in Athens, picks up Phiiomeia,
Meaning to escort her to his own wife.
Afer haaing uniawfui intercourse with her, he cuts out her tongue.
Using the embroidered mouths on the web,
She reaeais eaerything in detaii to her own sister.
Then, Procne, afer siaughtering Itys, her son by Tereus, 470
And boiiing him up, seraed him to Tereus.
Who, of the hands and the head and the other extremites of the body,
Cieariy understood what he had just eaten. The gods turned them aii
Into birds, Procne into a nightngaie,
Whiie they changed Phiiomeia into a swaiiow,
Whereas they changed Thracian Tereus into the bird hoopoe.
Procne, on the one hand, mourns her son Itys,
Phiiomeia, on the other hand, says: “Tereus cut of my tongue”,
Tereus, searching for them, ofen chants pou pou55.

Concerning epinoia and psile epinoia and antipodes and idees of Plato, 7.44 (Story 143)
The terms Nous, logismos, dianoia and epinoia, 480
And psile epinoia difer considerabiy from each other.
The mere concepton (psile epinoia) is a true beiief (doxa) of reasoning (logismos),
Deceitui and untrue, haaing no consistency at aii,
So that it beiieaes that a composite creature, partiy ox, partiy goat, partiy buii, partiy man exists,
Or anything eise iike that which is unnaturai and strange,
Which is compieteiy impossibie to exist or be at aii.
Now, the concepton (epinoia) is the beiief that comprehends the being (to on) as being reai,
Howeaer sometmes eaen the non-being is just as reai as weii,
So that it conceiaes that a sitng man is actuaiiy standing.

55 The Greek word pou means “where”.

Now, the discursiae thought (dianoia) is the touchstone of the immanent thought (logos endiathetos),
490
Likewise the proof and the test and the accurate inquiry.
Now, reasoning (logismos) is the arena (palaestra) and knowiedge aia reasoned discourse (logos);
Inteiiect (nous) is diaine and subtie, for knowing eaerything before the reasoned discourse (logos).
A few, aery few men partake of inteiiect (nous),
As Iambiichus and Porphyry and eaery wise man says.
Now teii me wherefore the inteiiect of gods and angeis.
For the diaine nature knows eaerything, except that
It does not inquire directiy in the arena (palaestra) of reasoning (logismos),
Whiie we humans, being made up of matter,
And iacking judgement of reasoning (logismos) for understanding, 500
Eaen refer to reasoning as inteiiect in an improper sense,
For inteiiect (nous) does in no way reside in men, but in diaine beings oniy,
Aithough we say in a more improper sense that we haae inteiiect (nous).

Now in this way note fairiy these things according to Tzetzes,

The one, who is being mocked for these things, that is how many
And what sort of worthiess peopie pretend to phiiosophize,
Such sort of outcasts, most siiiy, rigid as to their method,
Haaing read oniy ten or tweiae books,
Aithough they haae iearned these, that is how many the strokes of the ox-goad are,
Yet they know nothing at aii about their seif-substance. 5s0
So, this unnaturai monstrosity such abominatons of nature
Estabiished, and aithough not being more erudite than Tzetzes,
And not at any rate witer than the most ingenious
And aii aione and by themseiaes not being abie to know eaerything,
But nonetheiess they say that Tzetzes has spoken inaccurateiy of these.
For they say that aii peopie haae the inteiiect (nous),
But certainiy not aii of them reasoning (logismos), just as Tzetzes says.

But, you wise outcasts, iisten to me again.

We speak properiy when we say that inteiiect (nous) resides oniy in the diaine nature,
In the god, the angeis and the others simiiar to them, 5290
As Xenophanes wrote this and Parmenides as weii.
Empedocies, in the third book of his Physics, expiaining
The substance of the god, in this way says in aerse:
God is not this something, nor this and this,
“But soieiy a mind, a sacred and inefabie one,
Dartng through the whoie uniaerse with swif thoughts”

In this way we speak properiy of the inteiiect (nous) of the diaine beings;
Whereas we speak in an improper sense of the human inteiiect.
This thing that we wise men caii the percepton, the inteiiect,
Is the knowiedge deriaing from reasoning (logismos), which is within the humans’ power. 530
For in peopie resides the reasoning, from which the knowiedge deriaes,
But there is by no means inteiiect; For, If peopie had had inteiiect,
They wouid haae comprehended eaerything by themseiaes, eaen before hearing of them.
But now, aithough we haae both heard and reckoned so many things,
We bareiy perceiae iate in our iiaes these, which we need to iearn.

Now, from this, you the wisest, who insuit me,

Learn this thing that we say; If peopie had had inteiiect,
No one wouid haae eaer yet said it, no wise and ingenious,
Or inteiiigent, or equaiiy prudent and ingenious man.
Iambiichus and Porphyry and eaery other wise man say, 540
That a few, aery few men partake of inteiiect (nous),
And yet, aii-wise Piato says in the Timaeus that,
Of the reason (logos) we must say that eaery man partakes,
But of inteiiect (nous) oniy the gods and but a smaii ciass of men partake,
Nameiy those who ciaim to foreknow things and the prophets.
The ones who foretoid the things to come, without hearing of them.
Such as Pythagoras and Anaxagoras,
Empedocies, Democritus, and countiess other wise men,
And Phaenno from Epirus as weii as the Sibyiia,
Phaenno many years ago foretoid some things, 550
Which were accompiished but a iittie before the tmes we iiae in;
egarding how the Persians wouid conquer the emperor of the omans
And bring him into subjecton by ensiaaing him,
And how his own peopie and nobies wouid dethrone him,
And how the Persians wouid occupy the entre Bithynia,
And how the Scythians wouid fght against the omans’ race,
Saying this in aerse by opening her mouth:
“O king of Thrace, you shaii ieaae your city, among the sheep
You shaii rear a great iion, crooked-ciawed and terribie,
Who shaii piunder the treasures of your country, 560
And take the iand without toii, I say to you,
Not iong shaii you enjoy your royai honours,
But shaii faii from your throne, which is surrounded by such dogs”.
These were the brief utterances of Phaenno; now, the Sibyiia foretoid,
Eaen if they did not know about the ianding unti it happened,
egarding this aery Cyprus and Antoch,
And how now Lebounios shaii arriae on Cyprus.
egarding Cyprus and Antoch in this way she spoke:
“Aias, aias, miserabie Cyprus, and a great waae wiii coaer you,
Wretched Antoch, you shaii be ruined by their spears”. 570
These were the prophecies regarding Cyprus and Antoch.
egarding the arriaai of Ciiix on Cyprus,
The Sibyiia, the wisest of aii women, in this way says in aerse:
“In tme to come, broad-fowing Pyramus
By pushing his banks, shaii reach the sacred Cyprus”.

For such men, Iambiichus, Porphyry and others

Said that it is possibie to partake of inteiiect (nous),
Inasmuch as they oniy understand and foreteii eaerything,
Without reckoning or eaen hearing of something.
Because of them, they said that a few men partake of inteiiect (nous). 580
But, I do not preciseiy credit these men with inteiiect.
For either by haaing heard of something, or by iessons iearnt,
Or by haaing eaen reasoned so on account of some spectacies,
They said as much as each of them couid, and aferwards they departed.
Inteiiect (nous) immediateiy comprehends eaerything and it truiy acknowiedges,
Without any iesson or reckoning or sight,
So, I do not caii these men ingenious and perceptae.
Therefore, iet the outcasts hit me eaen with stones
Concerning these matters of inteiiect and reasoning and the others.

We must speak of the antipodes and of the idees. 590

The aii-wise phiiosophers concerning the antipodes
Skiifuiiy teach a wise scientfc propositon,
That the iowest point of the earth is opposite to our side,
Whiie our north side is the highest point of the earth.
So, it happens that those men, who waik their own paths,
Are considered to waik with their feet opposite (antipodes) to ours.
Such wise things they say; things which I am not abie to comprehend
Diferentiy than what oid Demonax has preaiousiy expiained.
For that man teaching a phiiosopher such things,
Grabbed him by the hand and ied him to a iake and afer showing him the shadows, 600
He said: “Are you speaking about antipodes such as these?”
I beiieae that the antipodes happen to be such as these.
And the things concerning the antipodes happen to be such as these.

They say that there are three beiiefs (doxa) pertaining to the ideas (idees).
For Antsthenes caiis these ideas rather than mere thoughts (psilai ennoiai)
By saying: “We see the man as weii as the horse,
But neither horseness, nor manness do I see”.
But, Antsthenes, neither do I, Tzetzes, see now
Where there is manness, not eaen in the patriarchs;
For they are more indiscernibie than the indiscernibie quicksiiaer. 6s0
They say that Antsthenes these things deciare.

They say that Piato regards the ideas (idees) as,

The substantai and reai and existng forms,
Which are iike seais untouched and archetypai
For the ox, the man and the rest; by iooking at them, the diaine being
Forms equaiiy the ox, the man and the rest.

They say that Aristotie regards the ideas (idees) as

The god’s preaious concepton (proennoema) of the entre creaton.
For exampie, if someone is about to make a bed and before he starts working on it,
First, he comprehends aia reasoning and he perceiaes beforehand, 6290
What sort and what type of bed is going to be made.
They say that, regarding the ideas, these are the opinions
Of Antsthenes, Piato and Aristotie.

I rather notced Piato in the Timaeus,

Saying that these ideas (idees) happen to be the inteiiigence of the creator,
Since, he at this aery piace and eisewhere speaks of
Substantai beings and seais of such kind.
But, as many peopie speak, therefore now haae I spoken.

Concerning whether there is anything more misapprehended than these, 7.45 (Story 144)
There is a book by Scyiax of Caryanda56
That writes about men who iiae around the Indian iand, 630
Whom they caii the Skiapods and the Panotiis;
Of whom, the Skiapods haae extremeiy wide feet,
Afer dropping to the ground at noontme,

56 The originai work seems to be iost, but we stii haae a simiiar work, of a more recent date, currentiy attributed
to Pseudo-Scyiax.
And by stretching out their feet aboae them, they make shade for themseiaes;
The Panotiis, on the other hand, haae iarge ears,
Which they use to coaer themseiaes iike parasois.
This same Scyiax aiso writes countiess other things
egarding the One-eyed men and the men with ears iarge enough to sieep in,
And countiess other outiandish maraeis.
He teiis of these things as if they were true and not fabricated. 640
But since I am ignorant of these things, I consider them to be iies.
That they reaiiy are true is attested by the fact that countiess others ciaim
To haae seen such things and other maraeis eaen more incredibie in their iifetme,
Ctesias and Iambuius, Isigonus, heginus,
Aiexander, Soton and Agathosthenes,
Antgonus and Eudoxus, Hippostratos, countiess others,
Inciuding Protagoras himseif and eaen Ptoiemy,
And Acestorides himseif and other prose-writers,
Some of whom I am personaiiy famiiiar with and others I am not 57.
Among those men, whose writngs in compiex metres I am personaiiy famiiiar with, 650
Are Zenothemis, Pherenicus aiong with Phiiostephanus,
And, in turn, there are countiess others whom I am not famiiiar with.

For regarding the Libyan snakes an anonymous

Narratae reiates in prose rather than aerse,
Whiie Posidippus says in aerse, that inside their heads
There are some stones caiied the snake-stones,
Which happen to be seif-caraed, of which in one partcuiar
He says you couid discern a chariot that had been engraaed somehow on its own,
So that the engraaed form couid not be obseraed unti it was stamped with wax.
Now hear the aerses of Posidippus: 660
“It was not a riaer resounding on its banks,

57 Most of the authors mentoned here are oniy aaaiiabie to us (and, apparentiy, eaen to Tzetzes) aia quotes from
more recent authors, such as Diodorus Sicuius and Photus.
But the weii-bearded head of a snake that once heid this stone,
Patched with white; and the chariot engraaed upon it
Was caraed by the aision of Lynceus
Like a white mark on a naii; For afer haaing been formed
The chariot is seen, but on the surface you couid not see any protrusions.
Wherefore a great maraei resuits from the iabour, how the stone worker
Whiie gazing intentiy did not damage his eyes.”
Posidippus reiated these things and numerous others.
And Phiiostephanus reiates numerous other detaiis, 670
egarding eaen the iake in Siciiian iand, which casts ashore its bathers.
“In the iand of Trinacria Siciiy
A iake, aibeit smaii, has a stream,
With so strong a fow, the aery fow, which, if you step into it
Unwiseiy, thrusts you back on its dry sand”.
And Pherenicus says about the Hyperboreans,
Just as Zenothemis as weii as Aristeas,
Aristeas the wise man, son of Kaystrobios,
Whose few aerses I am famiiiar with,
And eaen Herodotus recaiis them. I wiii quote the aerses by Pherenicus: 680
“ egarding the Hyperboreans, who dweii in the extremites of the earth,
Under the protecton of the tempie of Apoiio, iacking the experience of war”.
And Zenothemis reiates these things in his Periplous:
“Bordering the Arimaspi, a big tribe
Of the Scythian Issedones, dweiis beside the streams of the riaer”.
Now Aristeas says in his Arimaspea:
“The Issedones, exuitng in their iong fowing hair,
He aiso says that there are men dweiiing farther up and neighbouring them
Up aboae Boreas, and that they are many and aery nobie warriors,
ich in horses, possessing many herds of sheep and many herds of cattie. 690
Each has a singie eye in the middie of his eiegant forehead,
They are shaggy with hairs, the strongest of aii men”.
Now, concerning the Haif-dogs and the Cynocephaiians,
Simmias in his Apollo, in this way writes in aerse:
“I went aboae the rich iand of the remote Hyperboreans,
With whom the hero king Perseus once feasted,
There dweii the Massagetae, the mounters upon swif horses,
eiying on their quick-striking bows,
And then I came round the wondrous stream of eaer-fowing
Campasus, which pours its water into the diaine, immortai sea. 700
From there, I went to isiands fenced with aii-green oiiae trees,
And coaered with taii-ieaaed reeds.
There I notced of a race of giant Cynocephaiians,
Aboae their weii-twisted shouiders the head of a dog
Haae been grown grisiy with aery strong jaws.
They issue howi as if they were dogs, but they are not at aii,
Ignorant of the artcuiate aoice of other human beings”.
egarding the Haif-dog men Simmias reiates these things.

In the Hyperborean and the coid iands Tzetzes

Persistentiy insists that such things as these do not exist. 7s0
In the iand of the Ethiopians, in India and Egypt,
And in equaiiy warm iands, he says that there are such creatures as these.

Eaen Ctesias ciaims that among the Indians there are such things as
The amber-producing trees and the Dog-headed men,
He says that they are aery fair and iiae by huntng.

In iike manner Hierocies in his Philistores reiates:

“Speaking in a consequentai manner, we saw a country aery dry,
And burnt up by the sun, and round about this iand we saw men
Naked and homeiess near the desert,
Of whom some shaded their faces with their ears, 7290
Whiie others shaded the rest of their bodies, by stretching out their feet aboae them”.
These detaiis eaen Strabo recaiis, as weii as the No-headed,
The Ten-headed and the Four-hands-and-feet men.
Hierocies reiates things, which I haae neaer seen.

These things Hierocies reiated; Iambuius, in turn,

Says of the round animais in the isiands of the Ethiopians,
And the doubie-tongued men who couid with one turn of the scaie
Conaerse with two diferent peopie.
These things and numerous others Iambuius reiates.

Uranius in the third book of his Arabica says, 730

That there is a sacred groae of reeds in Arabia,
In these reeds they bury oniy the kings,
As weii as their women, brothers and sons,
But in no wise any other; the buriai is as foiiows:
They make hoiiow one joint of these reeds that we taiked about,
They piace inside it the dead and they haae sweet-oii smeared on his body,
And without cutng of the reed, they iet it grow once again.
Shouid some of the Arabs consider the reeds to be a maraei,
Then Tzetzes says, who wouid beiieae Ctesias,
When he writes about the two-fathoms wide reeds of the Indians? 740
Whose one singie joint is as iofy as the height of two merchant aesseis?
Those who say about the more unusuai fenneis,
And the scorpions and the gudgeon fsh, and the fsh of two-cubits
Eaen up to three-cubits iong, but not ionger,
And the Oysters in Caipe, a city of Iberia,
Whose sheii was equai to four cotyle,
And about the rest of aii the other more unusuai things,
Which, if Tzetzes were to insert in this book,
The book couid not eaen inciude these things aione.
He wouid need more books to reiate these taies, 750
If he was to write about aii the other detaiis in a ioose manner.
Because of the stories, as the narraton adaances, it becomes concentrated,
So that the book might encompass aii the stories of the sequence.
Therefore, haaing spoken briefy of Apoiiodorus,
And how it is that Tzetzes considers these things as inaentons,
Thereafer, we condense the remaining stories,
So that we might manage to write hither aii these stories,
As many of them as the inscripton of the sequence reports.

Eaeryone writes about the things we mentoned aboae as if they were reai.
Apoiiodorus, on the other hand, in the second book of his cataiogue, 760
Haaing his soui in accordance with the truth, just iike Tzetzes,
The monsters and the creatures conceiaes by writng as foiiows:
“The Haif-dog men, the Long-headed peopie and the Pygmies, they are creatures,
Just iike the Shadow-feet and the Chest-eyed peopie,
Dog-headed men themseiaes aiong with the One-eyed ones,
The mythicai Crooked-iegged and Bandy-iegged men,
As weii as the Aii-eared, the Noseiess and the Mouthiess peopie,
And the Backwards-toed and the Not-iaughing men”.

Concerning the bread obelias, 7.46 (Story 145)

Thereupon I caiied obelias bread
The kind of bread which is unwinnowed and cheap, and probabiy eaen made from bran. 770
Juiius Poiiux, addressing his work to Commodus,
On one side, eaen himseif giaes this name to such sort of bread,
Caiiing obelias the bread which is made from parched bariey.
Contrariwise, he caiis somewhere eise obelias bread,
The kind of ioaaes, which peopie brought to Dionysius, by carrying them on their shouiders,
Made of either of two or eaen of three medimnus of meai,
Stuck around the spits, wherefore they got their name.
Concerning the efeminate Sardanapalus, 7.47 (Story 146)
Sardanapaius was the son of Anankyndaraxes,
He ruied the Assyrians, and he was more or iess the ruier of the worid.
Littie does the power of this soaereignty interest him. 780
He buiit Tarsus and Anchiaie in one day.
His entre iife was spent in seif-induigence, inciuding sweet-oii unguents,
Fiutes and carousais and songs, the music of eaery instrument,
Variant ciothing and endiess baths.
He was shaaing, he was haaing himseif smeared with seaweed, just iike the women,
This aery man, haaing been ciothed in feminine garments,
Was iiaing iuxuriousiy, accompanied by beautfui women, haaing been shut inside his paiace.
He was giaen up whoiiy to iuxury and aoiuptuousness, he was a whoie woman, aside from his genitais,
His own kingdom was being ruied by the eunuchs.
The aoiuptuousness of the man is cieariy demonstrated to you 790
By an epigram, which has been engraaed on that aery man’s tomb.
You haae both the epigram and the entre story
Lying in a ioose manner among the frst stories,
Being the ninety ffh story in iine inciuding that one 58.

Concerning the dictum of Solomon, “Vanity of vanites”, 7.48 (Story 147)

Soiomon, haaing reaiized the uncertainty of human iife,
Said: “Vanity of aanites, aii is aanity”.
The iyric poet, Pindar, in turn, says somewhere in this way:
“What is someone? What is nobody? Man is the dream of a shadow.”
“The poor man and the rich, we are aii dying together.”

Marcus, the emperor, says somewhere about the man, 800

That it is a mucus, a siight sore, a fricton of the neraes.
He himseif, maintaining the mortaiity of his soui,
Says that eaen the soui is an exhaiaton from biood.

58 See 3.329.
Of the soui, which can be destroyed and does not remain, he speaks in such a way:
“If souis contnue to exist, in other words, if they remain incorruptbie,
How does the air contain them from eternity?”

Concerning “Just as Galen teaches about the angry and the wroth men”, 7.49 (Story 148)
The wroth, and the meianchoiy-mad men
Gaien, the physician, adaises peopie to aaoid
Encouraging the pursuit of tranquiiiity and aii kinds of soiitude.

Concerning “Devouring his own soul and shunning the paths of men”, 7.50 (Story 149)
Hipponus the Corinthian, the son of Giaucus, who was the son of Sisyphus, 8s0
Kiiied his own brother, whose name was this:
Either Deiiades, or Peiren or eaen Aikimenes,
Or Beiieron, who was the ruier of the Corinthians,
And hence he receiaed this name “Beiierophon”,
And he came to Proetus in Argos to be purifed.
Since Antaea and or Stheneboea, Proetus’ wife,
Who was in ioae with him, was not abie to seduce him,
She teiis her husband, Proetus, instead that she was aioiated by this man.
But since Proetus was the messmate and the purifer of this man,
He aaoids murdering him with his own hands; 8290
Afer writng down on a foided tabiet (for there were not yet paper-sheets)
The entre story, to this Beiierophon
He giaes the message to be deiiaered to Lycia on his behaif,
To his father-in-iaw, Iobates, in order for him to kiii Beiierophon.

Beiierophon, upon his coming to Iobates,

Is entertained as a guest at the hospitabie-board for nine days.
Iobates, afer seeing the ietter on the tenth day,
Couid not kiii him either, haaing aiready feasted with him.
He sends him to kiii the fre-breathing Chimaera,
So that the youth is kiiied as he struggies with it. 830

They say that Chimaera was a three-headed beast,

Lion-fronted, a goat in the middie and a snake in the taii.
The youth, afer haaing mounted Pegasus, the winged horse,
In other words, afer haaing boarded a trireme, whose saiis were iike wings,
(The peopie round the Adriatc caii their ships horses)
Haaing his own feet, joined with the other triremes,
And he frst achieaed aictory oaer the Soiymi,
The Myiii or Myiassites, according to the others.
Tzetzes says that the Soiymi happen to be the Hebrews,
Whom Homer depicts ruthiess as iions. 840
With a second feet, he aanquishes, in turn, the Amazons,
Whom (Homer depicts) hauntng the precipices and dweiiing the mountains,
Homer says that there were two heads,
The one of the Chimera and the other of the goat; About the third
Serpent head of the taii, now, iearn,
And about the deceitui contriaance against the youth.
Since Iobates expected Beiierophon to be kiiied
Either in the battie with the Hebrews, or in the battie with the Amazons,
But not oniy did not Beiierophon die, but what is more he obtained a aictory,
Iobates sets Lycian men in ambush in order to kiii him. 850
But afer Beiierophon deait eaen with these baid-headed men,
Iobates gaae him to his daughter Phiionoe as a husband.
So then, he begets Isandrus, Laodameia and Hippoiochus.

Now hear about his rising up to the sky with his horse,
And how he gets thrown of Pegasus’ back
And how he wanders oaer the Aieian piain of Ciiicia, being biind,
Now you wiii haae the aiiegoricai interpretaton of eaery detaii by Tzetzes, cieariy and thoroughiy.
The man was exaited through his aictories, he had high thoughts in his mind,
Because of the aictories, which he achieaed aia his triremes and the feet,
And his other aictories, as it happens to many peopie. 860
Because of this man’s thinking in this way on account of the aictories, of which I had spoken,
Out of enay of the wicked deites, Teichines, Erinnyes,
A fortune iii and maiignant, the fortune of the misanthropic,
Compensated for the preaious good iuck of his,
And this fortune kiiis his son in the battie with the Hebrews,
This man’s son, Isandrus; his daughter, in turn,
(This fortune) mowed down untmeiy aia a seaere disease;
(The aery thing which the poet caiis the archery of Artemis;
They say that the seaere deaths are caused by the god Sun and the goddess Moon.)
So haaing been in this way depriaed of his eyes, his chiidren, 870
(For fathers deem their chiidren to be superior to the iight of the eyes)
Or haaing been depriaed eaen of his mind out of sorrow for his chiidren
(For the mind, according to Epicharmus, both sees and hears)
ound the Aieian piain of Ciiicia
He was wastng aii his tme forsaken in the deserted iands,
“Deaouring his own soui and shunning the paths of men,”
Being distressed and aaoiding the gatherings of peopie.
Assurediy eaery sorrowfui man and aii the maniacs,
And aii the wroth peopie, as Hippocrates writes,
Become misanthropic and they iiae far from peopie, 880
Considering the physicai appearance of their congeners to be the appearance of a diferent genus.

Concerning “the misanthropic according to Hippocrates”, 7.51 (Story 150)

I wrote this story, haaing antcipated by aii means this one which has just been written;
Assurediy eaery sorrowfui man and aii the maniacs,
And aii the wroth peopie, as Hippocrates writes,
Become misanthropic and they iiae far from peopie,
Considering the physicai appearance of their congeners to be the appearance of a diferent genus.
That Thersites’ name was recorded in epic poetry for insultng the heroes, 7.52 (Story 151)
Thersites, aiongside the Greeks, was the son of Agrios and Dia,
He came from a nobie famiiy and Aetoiia was his fatheriand,
He was a frst cousin to Meieager,
And to Tydeus, the father of this aery man Diomedes; 890
He was peaked-headed, cross-eyed, crippie, hunchbacked and baid-headed,
Because he has faiien and he has been thrown of a iofy precipice,
Afer he had been driaen away from the hunt for the Caiydonian boar;
This man was recorded in epic poetry for insuitng the heroes.
Neither for his iineage, nor for his deeds
Did Homer record him, but for his insuits toward the heroes.
In this way the insuits made the man noted.

What is the diference between wonder (teras), sign (semeion), evidence (tekmerion), symbol
(symbolon) and likelihood (eikos), 7.53 (Story 152)
Now hear about the diferences between wonder (teras) and sign (semeion),
And eaidence (tekmerion), as weii as, symboi (symbolon),
Likeiihood (eikos) and parabie (parabole) and paradigm (paradeigma). 900

Now iearn to caii a wonder (teras) eaerything that is unnaturai,

As, for exampie, someone who has six fngers, or three feet or eaen three hands,
And eaerything which is aiien to the most naturai order.

The thing which may appear out of piace and out of tme on the whoie,
Sign (semeion) you shouid caii; Like a rose in the winter,
Like some strange beast which dweiis out of its naturai enaironment.

Now, iearn to caii properiy eaidence (tekmerion)

This one which assumes something that is unseen out of something aisibie;
For exampie, when you see smoke from afar, you assume it comes from a house.
The one which was done afer carefui consideraton, and rather in tmes of war, 9s0
For exampie, once a dog’s skin is raised on the spear,
It is a signai for fghtng the enemies, and anything such as this,
Symboi (symbolon) you shouid caii aitogether, and iikewise Judas’ speech:
“The man I kiss is the one, arrest him.”

Likeiihood (eikos) is a refecton resuitng from appropriate reasoning.

For instance, when you say, if a certain one waiks during the night,
Either thieaish or meretricious wrongdoings he pursues.

Now, here is the diference between the parabie (parabole) and the paradigm (paradeigma);
Parabie (parabole) is the iikeness of the middie terms in an argument;
For exampie, just iike the heaay rain waters the dry ground, 9290
So do the sayings to the souis; or, as the winter chiiis,
The same does sadness to the souis; and aii things of such nature.

On the other hand, the paradigm (paradeigma) deriaes from things that haae aiready been done;
Look at the one who discourses on god, watch the one who speaks of goid,
We hear about Homer, what sort of person was Demosthenes,
And aii the things of that nature, from where one must take an exampie.

Concerning “even though being more excellent regarding his race”, 7.54 (Story 153)
For Thersites was the son of Agrios and Dia,
A descendant of the Aetoiian royaity.

Concerning “that Phidias, afer having made the statue of Zeus and Nemesis at Ramnus, inscribed on
it: ‘This is the statue of Agoracritus of Paros’”,7.55 (Story 154)
Phidias, the iegendary Atc scuiptor,
Haaing aiso been a pupii of Geiadas of Argos, 930
Wantng to piease his beioaed Agoracritus,
A man eaen though not gifed in scuipture,
Afer haaing made in the manner of the art of Phidias
The statue of Nemesis and Zeus at amnus,
To that man ascribes it, afer haaing inscribed on it an inscripton:
“This is the statue of Agoracritus of Paros”.

Xenophon did the same thing regarding the Cyrus Anabasis;

For he ascribed a name to the work to piease his beioaed one:
“There is indeed the book Cyrus Anabasis,
This is the book of Themistogenes the Syracusan”; 940
Aithough, in turn, it came to be caiied the book of Xenophon
So Piato, the phiiosopher, under the name of his friends
Wrote his Dialogues, and so did countiess others.

Concerning “Reaping personal pains, according to Hippocrates”, 7.56 (Story 155)

This is the Coan physician, the great Hippocrates,
His father was Herakieidas, his mother Phainarete,
Descended from Asciepius, he was the seaenteenth in iine.
Afer the sack of Troy, on the opposite coast of hodes,
Podaiirius, son of Asciepius,
Beget Hippoiochus, who begot Sostratus,
Sostratus begot Dardanus, Dardanus begot Krisamis,Krisamis begot Kieomyttades, 950
Whose son, Theodorus, begot another Sostratus,
And from this Sostratus was born Krisamis II,
From Krisamis II, in turn, was born Theodorus II.
From this Theodorus came Sostratus III,
Who begot Nebrus, who begot Gnosidikus, from whom Hippocrates was born.
To this Hippocrates I, son of Gnosidikus,
Was born Herakieidas, he and Phainarete
Were the parents of the great Hippocrates, aiso caiied the second;
He was taught the medicai art by his father Herakieidas,
And by Herodicus of Seiybria, 960
Gorgias of Leontnoi taught him rhetoric,
And afer them, that man Democritus taught him phiiosophy.
Hippocrates, haaing been appointed keeper of the archiaes in Cos,
Burnt the ancient books of medicine
And the iibrary. Haaing to fee from there for this reason,
He iiaed among the Edonians, in Greece and Thessaiy,
Being a contemporary of Artaxerxes and Perdikkas.

Hippocrates sons’ were Thessaius and Dracon;

He taught them and Praxagoras the Coan and others
The medicai art. He wrote 970
Fify three books. And then he died,
Being one hundred and four years oid.
Afer he died, he was buried between Larissa and Gyrton.

Note that there are seaen Hippocrates;

The frst, son of Gnosidicus, the second, son of Heraciides,
The next, son of Thessaius, the son of Dracon, the two sons of Thymbraeus,
And the seaenth Hippocrates, the son of Praxianax.
There were seaen Hippocrates. But this one
Was depicted coaering his own head with his cioak.
They say there are four reasons for this: 980
Either because he had a pain in the head, or because he traaeiied abroad,
Or because he wanted to show that this is the organ of reasoning
Or how it is proper to coaer one’s head during a surgery.
That is what the man did and in this way he is depicted.
Some mistakeniy caii the man an Empiric.
Soranus of Ephesus is my source for what I haae said about Hippocrates.
This aery Hippocrates, the physician, son of Heracieidas, the Coan,
Proaed and he spoke in maxims, that the race of physicians
Shaii reap other peopie’s misfortunes as if they were their own.
Concerning the sack of Miletus in the play of Phrynichus, 7.57 (Story 156)
In the tme of Darius, the father of Xerxes the Great, 990
The Persians sucked Miietus because of Histaeus,
And estabiished the Miiesians in Ampe, a city of Erythraea,
Howeaer, for them did not mourn the race of Sybarites,
For whom the Miiesians showed great iamentaton before,
And aii the youths at once had their heads shorn,
When Sybaris was taken by the Crotoniates.
Phrynichus the Athenian, made the Sack of Miletus,
Being a tragedian, the subject of his tragedy,
So that the whoie theatre feii to weeping and wore biack ciothes,
He was fned a thousand drachmas by the Athenians, s000
Who aiso made an order, that nobody shouid perform that piay. s59
The sack of Miietus was foretoid by an oracie before:
“Then, Miietus, contriaer of iii deeds,
For many shaii you become a feast and a giorious prize;
Your wiaes shaii wash the feet of many iong-haired men;
And others shaii care for our Didymian tempie.”
Herodotus, the son of Oxyius, writes the story.

Concerning Orpheus who charmed everything, 8.1 (story 157)

Orpheus was a Thracian, of the Odrysian tribe, who iiaed near Bisaita.
He was the son of Menippe, the daughter of Thamyris, and Oeagrus.
Speaking aiiegoricaiiy, they say that he was the son of Caiiiope. s0
This is the tweifh story in iine among the former ones 60.

59 Here begins book VIII of the Chiliades.

60 See s.s29.
Concerning “Menelaus wept and so Helen of Argos wept”, 8.2 (story 158)
In the Odyssey, Homer introduces the son of Odysseus,
Aiong with the son of Nestor, aisitng Meneiaus,
In order to gain informaton about Odysseus.
As the memory of Odysseus sneaks upon them,
It makes eaeryone weep, Meneiaus, Heien,
Teiemachus himseif and the son of Nestor.

Concerning the proverb “When someone asks for buckets, and we deny him the shovels”, 8.3 (story
159)
In their proaerbs, Didymus and Tarrhaeus6s write:
“I was asking for shoaeis, and they denied me the buckets”
This is a ftng proaerb that is used, 290
When someone receiaes something other than that which was asked,
Or when he giaes something eise instead of that which he was asked for.

Concerning the parasite who came too late to the morning meal, 8.4 (story 160)
Libanius writes somewhere about a giuttonous parasite
Who being inaited to a morning meai and wishing to arriae there quickiy,
Takes a horse from the racecourse.
But when riding his horse he reached the host’s house, that iooked iike a stadium,
And there was a post in the shape of the turning-post of a racecourse,
The horse thinking mistakeniy that it was a hippodrome,
Was wheeiing around the post unti eaening,
And the parasite was carried away by the horse against his wiii. 30
And hardiy around eaening, depriaed of his meai and faiien he was carried away.

6s Two compiiers of proaerbs, whose works were epitomised by Zenobius. Zenobius’ own coiiecton of proaerbs is
stii extant.
Concerning the saying “Many people commit wrong, but not even one is being wronged”, 8.5 (story
161)
The saying: “Many peopie commit wrong, but no one is being wronged”,
Is attributed to Socrates by Piato’s writngs.
This is an oid Hesiodic proaerbiai saying.
For Hesiod says in Works and Days:
“He harms himseif, who does harm to another.
And the eaii pian is most harmfui to the pianner.”
Such is the meaning of the proaerbs that we quoted;
Many peopie iiae unrighteous iiaes, snatching up as many things as possibie,
But the soui of someone, who is wronged, is not being harmed. 40
The paradoxicai proaerb of Hesiod
Says that the one who is being wronged is not being wronged at aii;
But rather the one who commits wrong is being greatiy wronged,
Doing wrong to his own soui by actng unjustiy.

Concerning the feeding of the multtude by the Saviour with fve loaves of bread, 8.6 (story 162)
In the Gospei, this becomes manifest to eaeryone,
That our Lord fed with fae ioaaes of bread
So great a muittude of peopie, and tweiae baskets
Fuii of broken pieces of the fae ioaaes that were ief oaer he brought forth.

Concerning “When a cuckoo cries”, 8.7 (story 163)

Cuckoo is a bird which resembies the crow;
When the winter is oaer, it starts crying. 50
So then it deiights aii the human beings; For it heraids the arriaai of spring.

Concerning the “weeks” prophecy of Daniel, 8.9 (story 164)

Foreteiiing the incarnaton of the Saaiour
Daniei spoke prophetcaiiy saying that,
The seaenty weeks period of tme shaii come to pass
For the Jewish peopie, and it shaii cause the sacrifce to cease;
Now truiy, upon the appearance of Christ afer the passing
Of four hundred and ninety years,
The iegai sacrifces of the Jewish peopie shaii come to an end,
And the preaching of the New Testament shaii prosper.

Concerning “speaking many false things as though they were true”, 8.10 (story 165)
In the Odyssey, when Odysseus, according to Homer’s words, 60
Disguised as a poor beggar was asked by Peneiope
What manner of man Odysseus was, and if he truiy caught sight of him,
Among the many things he toid Peneiope, Odysseus aiso toid this aery thing;
“He spoke, and made the many faisehoods of his taie seem iike the truth.”

Concerning the one who is more talkatve than the cicadas, and the mythical story of the cicadas, 8.11
(story 166)
The cicada, drunk with the beams of the suniight
Becomes taikatae and fond of singing; and if someone catches it,
It rather becomes more ioquacious; wherefore the proaerb
Says that it wiii seem to you that a cicada ciings to its wings.
In this way the cicada becomes fond of singing due to the rays of the sun;
But if the winter arriaes, it remains siient and ceases its chirping songs. 70

Howeaer, aii femaie cicadas stay foreaer mute,

For the seif-controi of women, eaen if it does not persuade them.
Wherefore Homer aiso, acknowiedging the ioquacity of cicadas,
Compared them with the Trojan eiders,
Who poured out the words, when speaking in pubiic, iike thick snowfakes.
But the stories which the buii-headed teii afer fabricatng them,
That Homer compared the men with the cicadas,
Because Tithonus, who was reiated to them by biood, haaing grown oid
Was turned into a cicada naturaiiy by Hemera,
This happen to be a fooiish mythicai beiief that needs to be interpreted aiiegoricaiiy. 80
That Tithonus was the beioaed one of Hemera you shouid understand it in this way: 629
That he was iong-iiaed and he was truiy ioaed deepiy
During the days of his iife and for a iong period of tme.
But as soon as he grew oid and in the fashion of the new-born babies
He was reared in the cradie, for the sake of sieep,
Wishing that he, who was babbiing iike a baby, wouid be renewed again:
Since cicadas themseiaes are renewed by castng their oid skin, iike the serpents;
For whiie the cicada chirps, it bursts in pieces, and a renewed one cicada emerges;
They said that when Tithonus grew oid Hemera
Turned him into a cicada; that is to say, afer a iong tme 90
Tithonus was once again reaiaed anew.

Concerning the speechlessness of the Seriphian frogs, 8.12 (story 167)

Eaery terrestriai frog is mute;
The aquatc ones, howeaer, which Aratus caiis tadpoies
And noisy, are endowed with the abiiity of aocaiizing, exceptng oniy those from Seriphos.
For in that piace eaen the aquatc frogs beiong to the ciass of mute frogs,
Due to the fact that the water there is extremeiy coid.

Concerning “For Harmonides by far more you, rhetor, than rhetor that Phereclus”, 8.13 (story 168)
Homer that Pherecius, just as a master in art
And someone who fts together ships and thrones and eaerything eise,
Aiiegediy named Harmonides afer his father’s name.
But seeing that eaen the rhetors haae the abiiity of putng together their speech harmoniousiy, s00

629 Hemera is the Greek word which means the “day”, but it is aiso a pun upon the name of the goddess Hemera or Eos or
Aurora (the personifcaton of the morn, dawn and dayiight).
I caiied the rhetor Harmonides, just iike Homer. 63

Concerning the parody and pastng technique of quotaton, 8.14 (story 169)
In his book On Method of Forceful Style
Hermogenes teaches you the technique of pastng as weii as the parodic imitaton,
Saying that both of them sweeten the speeches.
Now iearn what the pastng technique and the parody is.
If you cite a quotaton from another source and haae it woaen into your writng,
Whether it is prosaic or metricai, you shouid caii this a pastng technique.
For exampie, regarding the raaished maiden I speak in this way:
Judges, you are asking about the crime that this man has committed?
“He raaished a maiden and tamed her against her wiii.” ss0
This is a pastng technique, but certainiy not a parody.
For I haae quoted the aerse of Oppian without aitering it.

If, quotng a aerse or a prosaic discourse of someone eise,

I come to aiter some words, then this is aiso regarded as a pastng,
As weii as a parody, because it was paraphrased;
For exampie, regarding the aery same discourse of which we haae spoken before:
“A soiitary maiden he tamed against her wiii.”
And the one that is most witiy mentoned in the Homeric Centones:
“On his ief side, he was haaing Paui, on the other side, he was grasping Peter.”
Now you haae iearnt what the pastng is and what the parody. s290

The technique of paragrammatsm is ciosest to parody,

Aithough Hermogenes did in no wise speak of this,
I am of the opinion that eaen this technique happens to be a parody.
You shouid perceiae the parody as the aiteraton of an entre word,
And the paragrammatsm as the aiteraton of a singie ietter;
For exampie, since we say instead of korax, kolax,
63 A pun impiied upon the name Harmonides, the patronymic “son of Harmon” and the idea of one who fts together, who
joins things, harmoniousiy.
We just substtute the ietter rho for the ietter lambda.

Now, you haae iearnt by me, what the pastng technique and the parody is,
Whiie you haae iearnt aiong with them what paragrammatsm is.
But, concerning the rhetor, I say in what manner he wiii paraphrase the words of others s30
And integrate them in his own speech, and so peopie wiii assume that these words beiong to him.

Concerning the ones biten by a snake and the curable water being drunk by some other person, 8.15
(story 170)
If someone, bitten by a snake, drinks in siience water,
Afer haaing soaked in water the dark handie of a knife,
Before the bitng snake tastes the water,
He suraiaes unharmed the damaging aenom.
Shouid someone eise bears a message to some person saying the foiiowing words:
“A certain one bitten by a snake iies at a distance
And he did not haae the strength to come here”,
The messenger drinks of the water of which we spoke,
And the diseased one gets the remedy from afar. s40

Concerning Typhon, 8.16 (story 171)

Typhon is aiso one of the hundred-headed daemons,
They say that he eaen battied Zeus once.
But now it is a aioient wind, of a fery nature,
Tearing up trees by their roots and breaking them of.

Concerning “For a long tme I stayed speechless hearing the words”, 8.17 (story 172)
In Iliad Homer, afer the death of Patrocius,
Introduces Antiochus being ignorant of that eaent.
And afer Meneiaus toid him of the misfortune,
Hearing his words, he stayed for a iong tme speechiess,
And his eyes fiied with tears.

Concerning the compassion of Crassus the Roman, 8.18 (story 173)

Crassus the oman was prone to pity in his manners. s50
For raising a sea eei in a fsh pond,
Whiie it was aiiae, he adorned it with a coiiar set in precious stones.
The moray eei responded to his aoice.
And afer it died, he buried it weeping for it not within due iimits.
Dometus mocked him for weeping
And he said: “Fooiish, Crassus, you are shedding tears for the sea eei?”
“But I, Dometus, he said, am weeping for the fsh,
I am weeping for the moray eei, a iiaing being ieast kin to me,
But you did not eaen weep when you buried your three wiaes.”

Concerning a historical word, the meaning of the cenebria, 8.19 (story 174)
Cenebria, in the proper sense of the word, are caiied the dead animais, s60
Which are useiess as a food source and of no beneft,
Because they are not proper for food and they are worthiess;
But now the ones which are siaughtered and used for food
I caiied cenebria, in a misuse of ianguage.

Concerning “But what could I do? God brings all things to pass”, 8.20 (story 175)
Afer Briseis has been taken away from Achiiies,
The aery woman who is aiso caiied Hippodamia,
This hero Achiiies withdrew from the battie.
But as the Greeks were being defeated by the Trojans and kiiied,
Patrocius, afer taking the armour of Achiiies,
Went forth to battie; and haaing kiiied not a few men, s70
Finaiiy, he gets kiiied by Hector;
Ineaitabiy thereafer Achiiies and Agamemnon
Accused one another for many things out of enmity,
Thereafer one of them says eaen this:
“But what couid I do? God brings aii things to pass.
Ate, the eidest of Zeus’ daughters, who deiudes aii.”

Concerning “Quick to come is one’s satety of chilling sorrow”, 8.21 (story 176)
Homer says that satety of iament comes quickiy.
Now, whom he introduces saying that and in which book,
Either in the Iliad or in the Odyssey,
I know not exactiy; But yet, these are the words of Homer. s80
For aithough Tzetzes is without books, aithough he eaen writes impromptu,
Aii these aery things you see, and faster that fast,
As if he transcribed these things from some books, haaing them in front of him,
But stii he composes eaery writng in the most accurate way.
So he becomes unbearabie to aii those who write faisehoods.
And if there is someone who doubts the hastness and the improaised writngs,
And the fact that aii these things are being written down without any books,
Let he moae directiy towards us and iearn from our iabour,
And iet him not become ignorant, iearning exactiy through experience.
Death becomes inteiiigibie to Tzetzes, by transcribing. s90
He scarceiy does this thing because he is deepiy annoyed.

Concerning the death, such as which you know that Solon admires, 8.22 (story 177)
This is the frst story in the frst secton64,
eiatng how Croesus the Lydian had asked Soion,
Whether he knew a man happier in iife than he,
And how Soion did not biess him at aii,

64 See s.s.
Instead he biessed Teiius and Cieobis and Biton together with them,
Whose iiaes came to an end fuifiiing a usefui cause.

Concerning the mucous earwax, 8.23 (story 178)

Siime, mucus, mucous discharge, discharge of iiquid waste, mucous fuid,
Cypselos and cypsele, aii these indicate the dirt secreted in the ears.
The beehiaes are aiso caiied cypselae. 2900
But there is aiso the city of Cypseia, which took its name afer some Cypseius,
Or because there are many beehiaes in that piace.
And this is how Cypseius was giaen that name;
Being the son of Eeton, and, I think, of Labda,
His mother conceaied him in a chest (cypsele),
Lest the Bacchiads shouid murder him. For they were searching for him.
Cypseie was indeed a spirai aessei.

Concerning “Though cutng our hair is a tribute to the sad dead” and concerning “But, that the spirit
of man should come again, neither, etc.”, 8.24 (story 179)
Homer introduces Pisistratus, the son of Nestor,
Saying to Meneiaus, who was weeping at dinner tme,
Whiie reminding them of the manners of Odysseus; 29s0
“Though, Meneiaus, it is a tribute paid to the ones who died, when we weep,
And at the same tme, cut of our hair; But, I take no deiight,
In tears whiie eatng, so cease weeping.”
Homer says these words in the book of the Odyssey.

In turn, in the ninth book of the Iliad

Achiiies scaring the ambassadors away says these:
That Agamemnon wouid not persuade him at aii,
Not eaen if he ofered him gifs more numerous than the grains of sand and dust.
For eaerything may be carried of as booty, and eaerything may be acquired,
“But, that the spirit of man can be brought back again, neither by raiding, 29290
Nor by winning, when once it has passed the barrier of his teeth.”

Concerning “But when the dust has drawn up the blood of a man, once he is dead, there is no return
to life”, 8.25 (story 180)
Aeschyius, as Homer, beiieaing in the mortaiity of the soui,
Considers the soui to be an exhaiaton from biood,
As Marcus the emperor in iater tmes;
Aeschyius, thinking that the soui is mortai according to Homer,
Eaen the words of Homer transiates into iambic aerses.
For exactiy these words that Homer says, as I said aboae,
“But, that the spirit of man can be brought back again, neither by raiding,
Nor by winning, when once it has passed the barrier of his teeth.”
Writng in iambic aerses Aeschyius himseif says in this way: 2930
“But when the dust has drawn up the biood of a man,
Once he is dead, there is no return to iife.”

Concerning Socrates who says: “I will fnd a place much beter than this one here”, 8.26 (story 181)
Socrates the phiiosopher was about to drink the hemiock,
Because the Athenians thought he was impious, and he was imprisoned,
And forced to buy eaen the hemiock,
(O respite from misfortune!) so as to expire by drinking it,
Because they were saying that he couid not acquire hemiock at pubiic expense,
When some men approached him in prison,
Some of them to encourage him and others to iament,
That aery man was most nobiy phiiosophizing, 2940
And he much preferred death to iife,
Saying that he wouid fnd there a piace better than this one here.
And truiy eaen among the Greeks and the most impious men
Who iiae there he imagined there were punishments,
And rewards for both the good and the bad ones who iiae here.

Concerning the words which the spectre of Patroclus says to Achilles: “Not while I was alive were you
unmindful of me, but now that I am dead”, 8.27 (story 182)
In the Iliad Homer introduces the spectre of Patrocius,
Due to the fact that he was stii iying unburied in the tents,
Urging Achiiies himseif to bury him,
And uttering this aery idea, which Homer reiates
In heroic aerses saying in this way the foiiowing: 2950
“Not whiie I was aiiae were you unmindfui of me, but now that I am dead;
Bury me as quickiy as may be, that I may pass through the gates of Hades.
Far do the souis keep me of, the phantoms of men that haae done with toiis.”

Concerning the River Ilissos, 8.28 (story 183)

Iiissos is a riaer of Atca,
From where they say Boreas carried of Orithyia.
So Iiissos is a riaer, as I said;
But now I haae caiied Iiissos the mouth of one of my friends.

Concerning the Dodecacrunos (of twelve springs) mouth, 8.29 (story 184)
Caiiirhoe happens to be a fountain of nine spouts in Athens,
The one which was aiso formeriy caiied enneacrunos (of nine spouts);
But I haae caiied in this way its mouth, dodecacrunos (of tweiae spouts), 2960
Just as it was caiied a iong tme before our tme, in ages passing by,
Concerning this Cratnus the comic poet has written somewhere:
“Lord Apoiio, fountains of fowing words
Spiash out, his mouth has tweiae springs,
An Iiissos in his throat; what can I say?”
Concerning the Atc fountain Callirhoe, 8.30 (story 185)
Of the mouth of tweiae springs and Caiiirhoe,
I spoke to you beforehand, writng shorthand, as you know;
And without my knowing if the story concerning Caiiirhoe iies further beiow,
In turn you aiready haae this aery story added in writng.

What larinos is, 8.31 (story 186)

Eaerything which is big note to caii in this way larinon; 2970
From the name of a herdsman caiied Larinus,
Who was of iargest frame and he was aiso eatng to excess;
And aiso some fatted oxen were named Larinian afer him;

In this way the big one is caiied larinon, either due to its size,
Or due to being quite enough and quite big to satate eaen Larinus.
I aiso caii this due to the food of the guiis (laros),
In other words, because it is abie to fii eaen the big mouth of a guii.
For larus is a bird which swaiiows whoie fsh.

Concerning “as Pythagoras proved me silent”, 8.32 (story 187)

Pythagoras, the haiimark of the ends of phiiosophy,
That is to obserae siience for fae years, was teaching the initates. 2980
This one was once asked, how iong is the human iifespan?
Proaing the fnite duraton of iifespan, reaeaiing that it is short, he conceaied it.
So did I write a ietter to a friend which I haae not sent;
Istrian stock fsh, as it seems, my good friend,
As Pythagoras, you proaed us siient.
Concerning the migraton of the sun towards the South Pole and the Tropic of Capricorn, 8.33 (story
188)
They say there are fae poies of the ceiestai sphere,
The Arctc and North Poie, which is aiways aboae the horizon,
The Antarctc, the South, which iies hidden,
The Zodiac and aiong with it the two Tropics,
The summer and winter Tropic. 2990
But others do not caii these poies but circies,
And they say there are eieaen circies;
The fae aforementoned ones and the Horizon,
The Miiky Way together with them and oaer and aboae them aii
The Meridian, the Equator and the two Colures.
But others of the aii-wise race caii them diferentiy.
During the tme the sun moaes towards the South Poie,
And reaches the Tropic of Capricorn,
It is winter season. And on the contrary,
When it moaes towards the North Poie and the Tropic of Cancer, 300
It is summer season; But now I must stop.

Concerning the tribon, the peritiara and the common peribolaia, 8.34 (story 189)
Tribon was once caiied the worn cioak of the phiiosophers;
But the biack garment improperiy
I caiied tribonion, the garment of the priests.

Tiara was a head coaering of the Persians.

In iater tmes, our peopie, who were awarded with a crown upon being aictorious,
Had their own heads crowned with taras, that is to say typhas,
Such as this one which that equestrian statue
Of Justnian wears standing on the top of the coiumn.
I eaen spoke to you of the tiara; Now, the peritiara, 3s0
Is the proper head ornament for citzens.
In turn, I caii common peribolaia
Aii the ornamentai garments, both white and dyed ones.

Concerning “To most mortals the haven of friendship is not to be trusted”, 8.35 (story 190)
Euripides ofen ceiebrates friendship,
Contrariwise he disapproaes, not within due iimits, of one being friendiess,
In the Orestes and the Phoenician Women and the other tragedies,
“To many peopie the insttuton of friendship, he says, is not to be trusted.
And it is a good thing to be prosperous, friendiess men are unfortunate”.

Concerning Polykleitos, 8.36 (story 191)

Poiykieitos of Argos was a scuiptor as weii as a painter,
Many images did he paint and many statues did he make. 3290
But two among the rest of his works were superior to the other,
A painted image, I say, and a statue;
Of which, the image was considered exempiary of the art of paintng,
And the statue, in turn, exempiary of the art of scuipture.

Concerning Phidias, 8.37 (story 192)

Phidias was a pupii of Geiadas of Argos,
Who modeiied a statue of Heracies at Meiite, a demos of Atca.
That Phidias was of the Athenian race,
Making bronze scuiptures and scuiptng and caraing the wood.
It wouid take iong to taik about his handiwork,
The iaory statue of Athena in Athens, 330
The wrought goid statue of Zeus, in turn, at Oiympia,
And the bronze statue of Athena and iikewise that statue of Hera,
This aery statue of that Antheiios Apoiio,
And the scuipture showing Heracies carrying out the dung of the cattie of Augeas,
And countiess other of his handiwork;
Some of which were destroyed, some other were meited down,
Whiie other haae been useiessiy wasted.
But there are some statues set up in the circus and the forum,
Whiie the bust of Apoiio stands at the Paiatne Hiii itseif.

Concerning Alcamenes, 8.38 (story 193)

Aicamenes the bronze smith was by natonaiity an isiander, 340
And he was a contemporary of Phidias and quarreiied with him,
As a resuit of which Phidias eaen risked his iife and neariy died.
Aicamenes produced weii-shaped statues,
Aithough he was unskiiied in optcs and geometry,
But he frequented piaces of pubiic assembiy and he was passing aii his tme there,
And he had worshippers and ioaers and foiiowers.
Phidias, on the contrary, being in accordance with the ruies of optcs and geometry,
And being a perfectiy accurate artst in scuipture,
And making eaerything ftng for the positons, the occasions, the persons,
Striaing for the decorum more than the others, 350
According to Tzetzes he eaen shunned pubiic assembiies,
Had his art his oniy worshipper and ioaer.
And when on one occasion the Athenians wanted
To consecrate two certain statues to Athena,
Which were to be erected upon iofy pedestais,
Both scuiptors started work submitng to the popuiar wiii.
Of whom, Aicamenes made the fgure of the airgin goddess
Both deiicate and womaniy at the same tme.
Phidias, on the other hand, being in accordance with the ruies of optcs and geometry,
And considering that the whoie shape wouid seem much smaiier in proporton to the height of the
appointed piace, 360
Formed the statue with the iips wide open,
And its nostriis distended,
And aii the rest accordingiy to the height of the coiumns.
And so Aicamenes’ statue seemed to be better than that of Phidias.
Phidias was in great danger to haae been stoned.
But, as soon as the statues were erected and raised up on their coiumns,
The work of Phidias proaed the exceiience of his art,
And thereafer Phidias was on eaeryone’s iips;
The work of Aicamenes was ridicuied and Aicamenes himseif was iaughed at.

Concerning Myron, 8.39 (story 194)

Myron was a bronze smith, whose works were many, 370
But his most famous work eaen unti our tme,
Is the one which once stood on the Acropoiis of Athens,
The bronze statue of a young cow with her breasts swoiien.
It was said that a iiaing caif beiiowing went up to suckie from the cow.

Concerning Praxiteles, 8.40 (story 195)

Praxiteies was a scuiptor in wood,
Who made many other works, but one of his most famous
Is the statue at Cnidus, the naked Aphrodite.
In white royai and Penteiic marbie,
With which many peopie feii in ioae eaen madiy,
And among these Macareus from Perinthus, who in his frantc desire 380
Wishing to set fre to the tempie since his passion was not caiming down,
Heard during his sieep the goddess saying the words of Homer:
“No biame on the Trojans and strong-greaaed Achaeans,
Who for the sake of this woman haae iong sufered pains.”
Therefore he had the Cnidian courtesan Ischas from the goddess.
Ptoiemy writes this dedicatng it to Tertuiia,
If by any chance you know Ptoiemy Hephaeston.
Concerning Zeuxis, 8.41 (story 196)
Zeuxis was a painter, I suppose he was eaen from Ephesus,
He painted countiess pictures,
In Ephesus there is a picture of Meneiaus himseif, 390
Pouring out iibatons for his brother, soaked in tears.

Concerning Apelles, 8.42 (story 197)

Apeiies was aiso a painter, a natae of Ephesus,
And a contemporary of Ptoiemy; we must not omit the other detaiis.
How he was caiumniated by the painter Antphiius
And how he painted a picture iiiustratng this aery caiumny,
A picture entreiy artstc, many others haae mentoned this incident,
Lucian the rhetor writes about it in a ioose manner.

Concerning Parrhasius, 8.43 (story 198)

Eaen this Parrhasius was a painter from Ephesus,
Haaing skiifuiiy painted many other paintngs,
And among them, Megabyzus himseif in the iand of Ephesus, 400
Aiexander the Great, the son of Phiiip, admired this paintng,
And the Menelaus pouring libations of Zeuxis, of which we haae spoken,
And the paintng of Timanthes iiiustratng the Death of Palamedes,
“A great din was accumuiated and poured out in my soui and aioientiy feii upon it.”
Aeschrion wrote these words in the Ephemerides.
This Aeschrion was a Mityienaean by race,
Haaing written both epic and iambic poems as weii as so many other.

Concerning Stasicrates, 8.44 (story 199)

Stasicrates was a bronze smith and a natae of Bithynia.
He iiaed at the tme of Aiexander the Great.
He modeiied statues that were superciiious and aain, 4s0
But not representng the features of those he portrayed.
And he said to Aiexander: “I wiii modei a statue of you,
Moaing the earth and the sea, iike Xerxes before you”.
Noway did Aiexander want such a statue,
But one modeiied in his own iikeness.

Concerning Lysippos, 8.45 (story 200)

And this Lysippos was a man who modeiied bronze.
He was from Sicyon, near Corinth,
A contemporary of Aiexander, son of Phiiip,
Making statues with utmost iikeness of the ones he portrayed.
Aiexander rejoiced in his scuipture. 4290
For he portrayed Aiexander eaen with his neck bent on one side,
As if he iooked up with his face to the sky, and he portrayed eaerything exactiy,
Like the kind of man that Aiexander of Macedon was,
So that the aiewers behoid Aiexander instead of the monument,
In this monument an epigrammatst inscribed:
“The bronze statue seems to prociaim, iooking at Zeus:
I piace the earth under my sway, you, Zeus, keep Oiympus.”

This Sicyonian scuiptor, Lysippos,

When Aiexander had iet siip an opportunity,
And was aehementiy disheartened for its ioss, 430
Most skiifuiiy made him an efgy of Time,
Hence adaising eaeryone no to iet tme escape by,
He depicted Time deaf, baid-behind, wing-footed mounted on a baii,
And ofering a knife to his foiiower.
Concerning your litle frogs with the swollen jaw, 8.46 (story 201)
Aristophanes wrote about frogs in his piay,
In which he mocks the outcasts, the fooiishiy wise men,
Who compare themseiaes with the ancient men of natae mother-wit,
For haaing young ioaers, bawiers, untmeiy crying out ioudiy,
Those men who gain great giory not from reasoning and judgement,
But from the inconsiderate aoices they utter afer the manner of the iake frogs. 440
In this way now I caiied the ioaers iittie frogs.

Concerning Autolycus’ thefs, 8.47 (story 202)

Autoiycus was a son of Hermes, the father of Laertes,
Thus the grandfather of Odysseus, but being extremeiy poor,
He was gifed by Hermes with the art of steaiing,
So that to excei in thieaery that Egyptan thief,
And that Babyionian thief, whom Herodotus writes about,
And Eurybatus, who is being taiked about a iot by the Greeks,
And Agamedes himseif together with Trophonius,
And so as to surpass the aery nature of the quicksiiaer and eaery thief.
For wheneaer he stoie, he repiaced the stoien goods and returned one thing for another. 450
So the receiaers thought they were getng their own things back again,
Not that they haae been deceiaed by him and were receiaing diferent things,
He wouid steai a aery good horse and giae back a scabby ass,
And made it seem he had returned the former;
And when he conaeyed away a young giri to be his bride, he gaae back again
Either a Siienus or a Satyr, some weakened iittie oid man,
Fiat-nosed, toothiess and baid, runny-nosed, one of the ugiy,
And her father thought of him as his daughter.
In his satyr piay Autolycus the whoie story
About him Euripides has written accurateiy 65. 460

65 No ionger extant.
According to the comic poet: “Bitng myself, but stll laughing”, 8.48 (story 203)
Aristophanes fabricated in his piay The Frogs a story,
That Dionysus unabie to toierate the unmusicai poets
Was about to descend into Hades, to retrieae a poet,
A man among the ancient ones, who composed poems skiifuiiy,
And not in the manner the outcasts of our tmes compose nonsense poems.
Being about to descend into Hades, he coaers himseif properiy with garment,
So as the many dead in Hades wouid think of him as Heracies.
He eaen wears the iion skin and carries the ciub;
For these were the attributes of Heracies;
But he eaen wears his reguiar most feminine ciothing, 470
The yeiiow dress and the high boots; he comes before Heracies,
To ask him about the most reiiabie passage to Hades.
Heracies, upon seeing him wearing the doubie disguise,
The maie atre suitabie for Heracies,
And the feminine ciothing which is suitabie for him,
Laughs and aithough he was bitng himseif, he couid not stop iaughing.
So do I iaugh at the fraud, in this way of these I haae spoken.

Concerning Lycophron of Chalcis, 8.49 (story 204)

There were seaerai men of the name of Lycophron,
Lycophron, the son of Mastor, as Homer somewhere writes,
And others, wise as weii as fooiish men, under the name Lycophron. 480
But this Lycophron was the son of Lycus, or Socies,
A contemporary of Ptoiemy,
He composed many satyr piays, tragedies,
And a book, which he enttied Alexandra,
On which Tzetzes wrote an exegesis, and other piays.
Someone made a ciaim upon this exegesis,
And not the book saying that it has been expiained at iength by him;
But he interprets on the whoie eaerything that is stated in this book,
And hides the book, and says to his discipies,
That the aery things which he interprets are the chiidren of his own reasoning, 490
eaiiing and attacking Tzetzes eaen in his absence,
Unti many of the frequenters, in his ceii
Entering steaithiiy, found the book,
And the interpreter was despised in this way,
Being distressed and especiaiiy at those who haae receiaed benefacton from him,
Therefore he was appointed the fate of a pubiic enemy,
So that he was eaen treated spitefuiiy by those who haae receiaed his kindness.
The ungratefui, iicentous and thrice-sinfui men
They haae perceiaed, haaing no need of the tripods of the oracies.

Concerning the bird of Athena, the Athene noctua, 8.50 (story 205)
Aesop introduces somewhere in his own fabies 500
Zeus, intending to create a soaereign oaer the birds,
Announcing pubiiciy the appointed day, on which he intended to do this.
And whiie aii birds were bathing in riaer water,
The jackdaw, which was the most deformed of aii the birds,
Adorning himseif with the feathers discarded by aii the other birds
Seemed to be the most beautfui of them aii.
But the Athene noctua, upon recognizing its own feather,
Was the frst to strip the jackdaw of his piume as weii as the rest of its feathers.
And the jackdaw was exposed for the jackdaw that it was from the beginning.
Jackdaw was shown to be king of aii birds in borrowed piumes. 5s0
This is the meaning and the morai of the fabie,
Many strangers by steaiing the work and coiiectons of others
Think that they surpass those who are airtuous by nature and hard work.

That is the way the story goes; the jackdaw is,

According to Homer and Aratus, Bubrias66 and the others,
The smaiier crow which nests in the roof openings.
Simocatta and others together with him say in turn,
That jackdaw is the best-iooking bird.
Wherefore I think that the detaiis of the mythography were somehow fabricated,
According to which the jackdaw was exceptonaiiy deformed before, but taking the piumes of eaery bird,
5290
It rendered itseif the most beautfui of aii the birds.
For it thinks it has the piumage of aii the other birds.

You who put the jackdaw to the test, 8.51 (story 206)
Now a reaersai of stories has occurred, chiid;
In the story of the Athene noctua the story of the jackdaw was written.
And note the sharpness of Tzetzes’ mind,
How he, without deiay, upon seeing the second story afer the frst one,
apidiy woae together for you the two storyiines into one singie story.
Because the story of the jackdaw was written in the story of the owi, chiid,
In the story of the jackdaw I wiii reiate to you the story of the owi.

The Athene noctua is said to be the bird of Athena, 530

Therefore Athena had in her own shieid
Painted on her breast piate both the owi and the Gorgon,
The Gorgon, signifying the dreadfui spirit,
The Athene noctua, signifying the profound wisdom.
For wisdom discerns eaerything that is obscure and conceaied,
Just as the owi sees in the dark night.

Concerning the drones, which harvest the honey belonging to another, 8.52 (story 207)
The drones are animais bred up with the kin of bees,

66 A reference to Babrius, the typo is in the originai text too.

For at the same tme aiong with the bees they eaen procreate.
They happen to be bigger than the bees and without stngs,
And they serae the bees, by carrying them water. 540
They do not produce honey, as the bees.
And as they haae iarge bodies, they eat a iot of honey.
Wherefore the bees in eariy winter
Kiii them because they are afraid, iest they shouid die from iack of food,
When the heaay winter arriaes, and there wouid be no aaaiiabie fowers,
Whence they wouid be abie to gather their food and honey.
For the drones, as I said, deaour a iot of honey.
Note that the drones happen to be of such kind aitogether,
Consuming in this way the fruits of the bees’ iabour and work.
Whoeaer says something eise writng about the drones, 550
He has been acquainted with neither the things concerning the bees, nor these concerning the drones.

Concerning “Agree with the lad proclaiming that honey is acquired by the bee’s labour”, 8.53 (story
208)
Learn that this happen to be an ironic fgure of speech.
For who does not know that the honey is acquired by the bee’s iabour?
In this way he himseif has spoken empioying the method of forcefuiness;
Agree with the one who says that the honey beiongs to the bees,
Or, in other words, he says that our iabours are deemed to be ours.
Eaen Phiiip once did this aery thing to the Oiynthians.
For when once Lasthenes had betrayed Oiynthus to him,
And the rest of the traitors of their race,
The Macedonians caiied them traitors. 560
As they were saying to Phiiip: “Do you hear, king,
How the Macedonians caii us traitors?”
As the king witiy countered them,
Fitngiy quotng from Aristophanes comedy;
The Macedonians, being ignorant, caii the trough a trough;
That is to say, they caii things what they are.
You are traitors, so that is what they caii you.
Aristophanes says that in a comedy:
“I am rustc, I caii the trough a trough.”

Concerning the proverb saying “even the stones will cry out”, 8.54 (story 209)
We say this proaerb for things that are excessiaeiy obaious. 570
It is caiied a hyperboie by the poets and rhetors.
For the stones, the wood, the metai and eaerything inanimate
Do not haae naturaiiy the abiiity to speak and utter aoice.

Concerning the Indians, 8.55 (story 210)

The iand of the Indians iies in the eastern parts of the earth,
Being the frst to frst partake in the sun’s rays;
It is the frst to see the sun as it rises.
It is a big country, surrounded with water,
And watered by riaers, spice-producing,
Very fuii of metais and beasts of strange nature,
Biissfui, heaaiiy popuiated, bigger than aii the other countries, 580
Shaped iike the fgure of a rhombus and a square.

Concerning the pillars of Dionysus, 8.56 (story 211)

Near the mountain of Hemodon
Some peopie haae set up piiiars, the piiiars of Dionysus,
And not those of Thebaeus and Zaboscuteies,
Just iike some peopie think, peopie of both ancient and modern tmes;
I say these are the piiiars of the Egyptan inaentor of aitcuiture,
Noah, and Osiris, Deunyssus, Dionyssus.
Concerning the eastern Oceanus, 8.57 (story 212)
The Oceanus, according to poets, rhetors, phiiosophers,
Historians and geographers aiong with them,
Is regarded by some peopie as some sweet sea, 590
Which is aiso caiied by them Outer Sea,
As an isiand encirciing the whoie inhabited worid,
And producing aii the inner seas.
Some others think of Oceanus as a riaer encirciing the inhabited worid.
Ptoiemy is the oniy one who does not say that the Oceanus encircies the whoie worid,
And that there is some piace towards the South, which is not encircied.
Eaeryone says that, originated from this Oceanus, of which I haae spoken,
The seas, the iakes, the riaers, the weiis, the whoie body of waters,
ush out with aioience and fow into our inhabited worid.
For out of the Zephyrus and on the West one fowing mouth of the Oceanus 600
Forms eaery sea, that is known to us,
The Hispanic, the Iberian, the Ceitc, the Ausonian,
The Siciiian, the Cretan, the Aegean, the Pamphyiian,
To speak simpiy, each one of our seas that you hear of,
And aiso the Euxine Sea, just as many peopie say.
The naturai phiiosopher Strato, just as Strabo writes,
Says that the Euxine Sea was iike a ciosed iake,
Originaiiy, as the Gaderian Sea,
And the Sea of hegium, the one ciosest to ome,
And he says that the riaers and the earthquakes, that burst, formed a communicaton 6s0
Of this aery Euxine Sea, of which I haae spoken,
With the mouth of the Byzantum and the Proponts
And the Heiiespont itseif; the rest of the seas,
I am taiking about the Gaderian Sea and the Sea of hegium,
Are formed in open orifces near them.

Out of the Zephyrus and on the West one mouth of the Oceanus,
Originated from Gadeira, forms aii of our seas.
Another oceanic mouth on the northern part,
Fiowing inside, formed the Hyrcanian Sea.
In turn, two other mouths on the South 6290
Formed a passage to the Persian Guif and the Erythraean Sea.
In this way the inner Oceanus fowing through four mouths
Forms the four seas, of which I haae just spoken.

There are diferent names for the outer parts.

For at the same tme Hesperian Ocean is caiied,
And Atiantc Sea the part towards the West,
The one towards the North, the Saturnian and congeaied one is dead.

Eastern Ocean and eastern Sea

Is caiied the one towards the iand of the Indians and the sun-beams.
The one towards the South and the southern parts 630
Both Persian and Erythraean Ocean,
Arabian is caiied and Sea of the Ethiopians.

Concerning the island of Taprobane, 8.58 (story 213)

Taprobane is the biggest isiand of the Indians,
And more exceiient than aii the isiands of the inhabited worid.
On this isiand there are eiephants and countiess beasts
Of strange nature and strange and of monstrous shape,
And snakes that excei in the whoie nature of snakes,
Eatng the eiephants empioying the foiiowing artfces;
They coii around the iegs of those beasts
And eat them easiiy, afer dropping them to the ground. 640
Many tmes the snakes themseiaes get kiiied together with those
Which faii on them and kiii them with their weight.
In the heads of those snakes there are aiso stones,
Most highiy aaiued, many of them being seif-caraed,
Bearing eaen seais; that in one partcuiar of them eaen a chariot
Engraaed on its own you couid discern, countiess men say,
And Posidippus himseif writes somewhere in aerses.

Concerning the Indian island which is called golden, 8.59 (story 214)
There is an Indian isiand which they caii “goiden”,
But others caii it a peninsuia, not an isiand.
The Hebrews caii it Ophat in their own tongue. 650
It has goid, and aii sorts of gemstones,
But it is much more fiied with the green gemstone.

Concerning the side of Zephyrus, 8.60 (story 215)

There are tweiae winds, whose names are these:
Apeiiotes, Eurus, Euronotos and Notos,
Libonotus, and then Lips, Zephyrus and Thrascias;
Some peopie caii the wind Argestes instead of Thrascias;
And Aparctas and Boreas and Meses and Caecias.
You aiso need to know whence each of them biows, iearn.
If you stand as iooking towards the sunrise,
With eaerything behind you being towards the west, 660
Note that Apeiiotes biows from the sunrise itseif,
Towards the iand of India, and then Eurus itseif biows,
Towards your right hand and the right side of India.
Foiiowing Euronotos, which biows from Persia,
And the ed Sea, that is aiso Arabia.
Notos oaer the Ethiopians themseiaes and the Egyptans,
I am taiking about the eastern ones, biows.
Libonotos separates Libya and Egypt;
Lips iies afer him towards western Libya.
You are fuiiy informed about the piaces on the right side of the earth towards Lips. 670

Zephyrus biows opposite to Apeiiotes,

From Gadeira itseif and the Iberian Spanish.
You recognized Zephyrus from the back side of your chine.
Now from the back and ief-side parts
Moae on in turn to the eastern parts of Thrascias.
Thrascias biows oaer the Britsh and Tyrrhenian iand,
The omans and the Germans and countiess others.

Foiiowing this aery Thrascias, adaancing towards the east

The Aparctas wind biows oaer Thuie,
Both of them bind ciose together the Latns and the Itaiians. 680

Foiiowing Aparctas, Boreas biows oaer the Scythians and the Euxine Sea,
Whereas oaer the Hyrcanians and the Coichians the wind Meses biows,
Caecias biows oaer the Hemodian mountains,
Which iie in the ief-side piaces of India.

Concerning the island of Gadeira, 8.61 (story 216)

The isiand that is now caiied Gadeira
Was caiied in oider tmes Cotnusa.
Write the syiiabie ga of Gadeira with both a short and a iong aowei.
The Greeks say that Gadeira is the neck of the earth;
For it iooks iike the neck of the earth; wherefore one has to write it with a iong aowei.
In the Phoenician ianguage Gadara stands for the stone-paaed roads, 690
As the Hebrews caii Gabatha the stone-paaed piaces.

The Phoenicians founded Carthage in the iands of Libya

And they aiso founded Gadeira, afer coming from Phoenice.
There is aiso a city under the name Gadara in the Phoenician iand,
From which the rhetor Apsines of Gadara has come.
You haae iearnt that for the Greeks the word Gadeira has a iong aowei,
As it deriaes from the words ge (earth) and deira (neck); but in the Phoenician ianguage
(For Gadeira, as we said, they caii the stone-paaed roads)
It has a short aowei; for it does not deriae its meaning from the word ge.
But it just happens to start with the syiiabie ga. 700
Perhaps the word is of a foreign origin, and for that reason it is written with a short aowei,
As Gaion, Garamantas, Gabala, Galaxian,
And eaery other word which starts with the syiiabie ga,
In the Greek ianguage and the ianguage of the barbarians,
Except that it was turned into the ietter alpha in the Doric diaiect,
As Gadeira and gapeda, garyein and words such as these.

Concerning the river Baits of Gadeira, 8.62 (story 217)

Baits is a riaer in the Baitc iand of the Spanish.
For there happen to be three proainces of the Spanish,
The proaince of Hispania Baetca, Lusitania and Terraconensis.
Baits and Baiion are riaers of the Baetca, 7s0
And so the riaer Barbesoias and Portos and Mageth.
There are aiso cites caiied Barbesoia and Baiion and Mageth,
And the city of Caipe, there is aiso a mountain and a coiumn under the same name.
And together with them another city, Baisippo.
And the city of Cotnusa, and the isiand of Gadeira.
There is aiso the Marianus mountains; who couid teii you eaerything?

Concerning the isles of the Hesperides and the Britsh isles, 8.63 (story 218)
The Britsh isies iie towards the Thrascias wind;
The two biggest isies of them aii are, Iuernia frst
And Aiubia afer it; these are before aii the others.
There are aiso thirty other isies, caiied Orcades, 7290
And Thuie is the ciosest one to them, another aery big isiand,
Lying ciosest towards the piace where Aparctas biows.
Hesperides are inciuded among those thirty isies.
For they iie towards the western parts of Britain.
Dionysius speaks oniy of three cites.

Towards the blasts of Notos and turning to go southward, 8.64 (story 219)
The positon of the inhabited worid iooks iike the iowercase ietter ο.
I diaide the oikoumene into four parts,
East and West, North and South.
A wind biows from each of the four directons,
The Apeiiotes wind biows from the East 730
Zephyrus from the West, Boreas from the North,
And Notos from the southern parts.

Concerning the inhabitable and uninhabitable parts of Ethiopia, 8.65 (story 220)
Towards the southern part, from where Notos biows,
Towards your right hand, as you stand, just iike I said,
First there is the stream of the southern Oceanus
And beyond that iies the uninhabitabie part of Ethiopia.
Next afer that in turn the inhabitabie Ethiopia
And foiiowing that Egypt separated by the Niie
From the boundaries of Ethiopia; I caii eastern parts,
Both Ethiopia and Egypt in iike manner. 740
For towards their eastern parts Notos biows.
Whereas Libonotos in turn separates in Libya
The western parts of Egypt and Ethiopia;
Whereas I caii the western parts, the uninhabitabie worid.
For eaen according to Homer there are two separate iands of Ethiopia:
“The one where Hyperion sets, the other where he rises.”
He speaks of the inhabitabie iands but not of the uninhabitabie ones,
He in no way wants to deiineate the tribes of the Ethiopians,
The bird-eaters, the unafected ones, the fsh-eaters,
The wood-eaters, and the rest, whose names are countiess. 750

Concerning the arctc and northern region, 8.66 (story 221)

The piace which iies towards the north part of the inhabited worid
Arctc is caiied, due to its proximity
To the ceiestai poie, I speak of the Arctc one.
For in this Heiice, Arctos (Ursa) and Cynosura
Were piaced, iying aiong it,
Being aiways aisibie aboae the horizon, but not, as yet, sinking beiow it.
In this way the northern region of the inhabited worid
Arctc has been caiied out of the Ursa consteiiatons of the poie.

Concerning the Agathyrsi, 8.67 (story 222)

The race of the Agathyrsi is a northern naton
Dweiiing between the winds Aparctas and Boreas; 760
Much rejoicing in the Dionysian worship and fennei wands
The race has been caiied Agathyrsi, a name most suitabie for it.

Concerning the Geloni, 8.68 (story 223)

Eaen the race of the Geioni is a northern naton, as the race of the Agathyrsi,
Dweiiing in the middie of Aparctas and in the middie of Boreas,
Located in a more southeriy region than the race of the Agathyrsi,
Inciining towards the Euxine Sea from Boreas.
Concerning the Maeotan Scythians and the Caucasian Scythians, 8.69 (story 224)
There are three tribes of the Scythians, iearn their names:
The Maeotans and the Caucasians and the Oxiani.
Maeots is a iake iocated nearest the North.
Maeots itseif among the Greeks is rich according to its name, 770
As a mother and a midwife of aii the fsh popuiatons,
As many of them as they moae towards the Euxine Sea and towards us.
The aery same iake is caiied Karmpaluk among the Scythians;
The Karmpaluk, transiatng it in the Greek ianguage, means the city of fsh;
For the Karm means the city in the Scythian ianguage, whereas Paluk means the fsh,
And pronouncing them quickiy, they come to signify one singie word, the Karmpaluk, Maeots.
Towards the North is iocated the iake Karmpaluk, Maeots;
Maeotans are caiied the Scythians who dweii near this iake.

The ones who dweii near the Scythian mountain of Caucasus,

The one ciosest to Hyrcania, just where the Unni, Uzi dweii, 780
Where eaen the wind of Meses biows,
(I do not speak of Caucasus, the mountain of India)
Haae been caiied in turn Scythians Caucasians.
Those who dweii beyond the sea of Hyrcania,
Beyond the wind of Meses towards the part of Caecias,
And Sugdiada itseif, whose riaer is Oxus,
And Sacas and the extremites of the Indian mountains,
Those Scythians whom Herodotus caii the eastern ones,
Are the Scythians Oxiani and the eastern Scythians.

Concerning the earth and the sea, the strong-fowing Oceanus has embraced them with his wet arms,
8.70 (story 225)
The Oceanus according to others encircies the inhabited worid. 790
Whereas Ptoiemy does not say that he encircies the entre worid,
And that there is some piace towards the South, which is not encircied.
Concerning the Thessalian soldier who concealed himself at the court of Lycomedes, 8.71 (story 226)
As Achiiies of Thessaiy, from his homeiand of Phthia,
Haaing just married the daughter of Lycomedes,
Whose name was Deidamia, from whom a son named Pyrrhus was born,
Spent tme with her in the bridai chambers,
Some peopie fabricated the stories, that being afraid of Hector
Thets hid him at the court of Lycomedes,
Dressing him up as a maiden in femaie atre,
Lest he shouid perish afer saiiing aiong with the Greek feet. 800

Concerning “Compared with the bee do not become more ungrateful than the drones”, 8.72 (story
227)
The drones are animais bred up together with the bees,
They are aery big and without stngs, and carry them water.
In wintertme they get kiiied by the bees,
Lest the bees shouid die from iack of food.
For the drones haaing iarge bodies
Consume a iot of honey by eatng it.
I said, do not become more ungratefui than the drones,
Seeing that deaouring the honey, as I said, the drones,
Do not become ungratefui to the bees,
Since they ofer the seraice of carrying them water in return. 8s0
By interpretng the books which are fuiiy reiated by us,
Not oniy you seem ungratefui to the benefactors,
But aiso you speak fooiishiy and secretiy in a most indecent way against us.

Concerning, “lest in any way, just as Pindar says, should we turn the Muse to silver according to
Simonides, she should no longer look out for the poor”, 8.73 (story 228)
The iyric poets in former tmes composed poems without pay.
Simonides was the frst to compose poems at a wage.
For he made two chests,
He caiied the one the chest of gifs (in cash), the other of faaours.
He put the money he receiaed afer composing poems in the chest,
Which he caiied the chest of gifs; fnaiiy it was fiied;
Whereas the chest of faaours was empty. 8290
So wheneaer someone asked him to compose a poem without pay,
He used to say, “there are two chests in my house,
One for gifs, the other for faaours.
Wheneaer I open the chest of gifs, I fnd,
In it eaerything that might meet my needs;
But opening the chest of faaours, I fnd it empty,
And I am not abie to buy anything usefui out of it.”
Speaking in this way he turned aii of his writngs into siiaer,
As both Anacreon himseif and Caiiimachus say,
And countiess other notabie men. 830
This Simonides did not compose praise songs for gods,
Aaoiding composing for free; he composed praise poems for youths,
From whom he receiaed much and quite sufcient goid.
When he was asked by some peopie, “why don’t you compose for gods,
But you compose praise poems for youths?”, Simonides repiied:
“The youths are my gods, because from them I receiae my payment.”

Concerning “not even the one who comes in the evening, according to Callimachus of Cyrene, do they
love”, 8.74 (story 229)
That poet Caiiimachus of Cyrene,
Concerning someone who is unabie to keep a friendship consistent,
But he aaciiiates and suddeniy changes his mind,
Says these exact words, hear them and iearn: 840
“At eaentde they ioae, but at dawn they hate it.”
Concerning the Aesopian hound bitng the hare, pretending to kiss it, 8.75 (story 230)
Aesop the mythographer introduces the hare and the hound
Wantng to piay with each other, joined together in friendship.
But because this kind of friendship is incompatbie,
Between the breed of hounds which are fond of huntng and the species of hare,
He makes the hound, that seems to piay with the hare,
Bitng it aii the tme, as if it was kissing it.

Concerning the historical words boulutos and grammateion and grammation, 8.76 (story 231)
Boulutos is the tme when the iand workers
eiease the oxen from the piough and their iabour,
And return to their homes toward eaening. 850
You haae iearnt which period of tme the word boulutos indicates;
But now iearn what the words grammation and grammateion mean;
Grammation is the ietter, whereas grammateion is the writng tabiet.

Concerning votng by show of hands and what the method of former votng was, 8.77 (story 232)
In former tmes, either a generai or anyone eise of the magistrates
If they were about to appoint, they were caiiing them by their names.
If the one proposed for eiecton was approaed by the Assembiy of peopie,
Eaeryone raised their own right hands up to a height,
At once that one was eiected to the magistracy.
Learn that that was the method of former aotng.
But if the one occupying the magistracy was not acceptabie, 860
They either did not raise their hands at aii or they raised them siightiy.
And being considered unworthy of the magistracy he was eiiminated by iot.
If the number of peopie who raised their hands
Was equai to the number of those who on the whoie did not raise their hands,
They deiiberated in turn many tmes on this matter.

Concerning the diference between a sunodos and a sullogos, 8.78 (story 233)
Learn the diference between a sunodos and a sullogos.
Sunodos is the gathering of peopie from numerous cites,
Whereas sullogos is the meetng of peopie from a singie city.

What is the diference between a paraplex, a maenomenos, an oneiropolos and a oneirotton, 8.79
(story 234)
Paracope (deiirium), mania (frenzy) and melagcholia (meianchoiy),
What is the diference between them, now iearn cieariy. 870
Paracope (deiirium) and aiong with it paraplexia (madness),
Are some kind of miid derangement, as moderate feaer.
Now I do not speak of the terms apoplexia and hemiplexia.
You haae iearnt what the paracope is and what the paraplexia.

Melagcholia (meianchoiy) is the profound confusion of the mind,

Darkening the mind out of the biack biie,
endering friaoious and faint-hearted those who sufer from it.

Mania (frenzy) is the totai dispiacement of the mind,

Saaage they are and hard to iiae with aii those with whom they are in company,
So they draw stones and swords and they strike any chance person. 880
And many tmes they eaen destroy the fesh of their own peopie.
That happens due to the yeiiow biie that boiis oaer.
These are the diferences of which I haae now spoken
Between paracope (deiirium), mania (frenzy) and melagcholia (meianchoiy).

Now iearn about oneiropolein and oneirottein.

Oneirottein means haaing an emission of semen during sieep.
Whereas oneiropolein means either dreaming during sieep,
Or interpretng skiifuiiy the dreams.

Concerning the derivaton of the word tyreuontes, 8.80 (story 235)

The act of contriaing by trickery and intrigue was named tyreuein afer the Tyrrheni.
The word tyrannos (tyrant) got its name afer them as weii. 890
For the Tyrrheni are aery aioient and beast-iike peopie,
Sacrifcing peopie eaen for Hieron.
So contriaing by trickery and intrigue was caiied tyreuein either afer those,
Or afer the miik, which we make into cheese,
Strring and twistng up, curdiing by rennet.

Concerning the derivaton of the historical word atopon, 8.81 (story 236)
Atopon (strange), iacking argument constructon and proof deducton.
We name topics the proofs and the exhibited arguments,
Afer the piaces where the hunters waitng hidden,
Destroy and kiii the beasts with their bows.
Homer caiis those piaces prodocas. 900

Concerning the derivaton of the word scaiorousin (to devise mischievously), 8.82 (story 237)
Scaion (iii-omened) means anything ief-sided and useiess,
Ora is considered the concern that is to say the idie wiii
And anything eaii and base is caiied scaioria (mischief) afer that,
Or afer the ief-handed boxer, who preaaiis through cunning means.

Concerning the one who does not even do the wrongdoers wrong, 8.83 (story 238)
Chariiius the Laconian was Lycurgus’ brother.
As he was commended for his goodness,
Some of the Laconians said: “how can he be good,
The one who does not eaen do the wrongdoers themseiaes wrong?”

What the catharmata or else pharmacoi mean. Whereas the words pharmaceis and pharmacopolai
have diferent meanings, 8.84 (story 239)
In the twenty-third story it was written
Notwithstanding that in the twenty-third story of this tabiet 67, 9s0
What the pharmacos and pharmaceus mean, I wiii speak of it eaen now briefy.
Pharmacos is a catharma such as this:
Afer haaing burnt the ugiiest of aii men (just as I said before)
To purify the city from its biggest caiamites,
They scattered his ashes aimost aii oaer the city.
So that is the catharma which they caiied before pharmacon.
The pharmaceus (poisoner) is the one who uses drugs to kiii.
Caii both pharmacergates (apothecary) and pharmacopoles (druggist),
The one who makes and seiis the drugs.

Concerning the drugs against venomous beasts and common antipathy, 8.85 (story 240)
The makers of antdotes against the aenomous bites of beasts 9290
The snakes and the aipers, the poisonous beasts,
Take and cut of their heads and taiis,
Haaing prepared countiess condiments, as it is appropriate,
Out of those they prepare the common antipathy (antdote) for eaeryone.
In this way, bad peopie and intriguers, it is proper
That we aii cut them of and produce common antpathies against them.

Concerning the infatuated and melancholy mad ones, 8.86 (story 241)
Being both infatuated and deranged

67 See 5.30.
Is some kind of miid wandering of the mind, as I said.
Being a meianchoiy mad means to haae the mind darkened by the biack biie.

Concerning how much care the jackdaws bestowed on the realm, 8.87 (story 242)
When some peopie are utteriy and by aii means free from care, 930
Say the proaerb, the one of Tzetzes:
“For how do the jackdaws care for the reaim?”

The proverb that says: “or how do the eagles care for the laws of Plato?”, 8.88 (story 243)
Note that this is aiso a simiiar proaerb,
Being of Tzetzes, eaen this one and others foiiowing that:
“For how do the eagies care for the doctrines of Piato
And his iaws concerning the hariots, which are uniawfui, unrighteous,
And they write that the women are at the disposai of eaeryone?”

The proverb that says: “and the nightngales for the ratonal calculaton of Aristotle”, 8.89 (story 244)
Note aiso this proaerb equai to the other:
“For how do the nightngaies care for the ratonai caicuiaton?
Or for such sort of Aristoteiian books?” 940

If you wish, add also this proverb “and of Chrysippos”, 8.90 (story 245)
Learn that this is aiso a proaerb of Tzetzes,
Simiiar to the aforementoned proaerbs:
“For how do the nightngaies care for the ratonai caicuiaton
Of both Aristotie and Chrysippos?”
Chrysippos was highiy skiiied in diaiectc.
Concerning Artaxerxes Macrocheir, or Tanuoxarces according to the Persian appellaton, 8.91 (story
246)
The Greeks gaae Artaxerxes the surname Macrocheir (Long-Hand),
Since one of his hands was ionger than the other.
The Persians caii the Macrocheira Tanuoxarcen.

How the city of Hadrian is called Aelia, 8.92 (story 247)

Hadrian was the son of Hadrian Afer,
Afer being married to Trajan’s sister, he became a brother-in-iaw of Trajan 950
And afer Trajan’s death, he became an emperor,
He once marched against the Scythians and chased them
Around the city of Hadrian, deiightng in the pursuit,
The smaii town formeriy caiied Orestas,
Which Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, had formeriy buiit,
(For afer haaing bathed there in the riaers he recoaered from madness)
Seized the emperor Hadrian, of whom I haae spoken,
Haaing both names, Hadrian and Aeiius,
And he buiit it strengthening its beauty and power,
Caiiing the city of Hadrian, the Aeiian city. 960

The proverb that says: “Above gold and topaz”, 8.93 (story 248)
In case of big gifs we say this proaerb,
Which says: “Aboae goid and topaz”.
For goid is highiy desired by peopie.
Goid brings eaerything into order, goid is the nerae of war,
Goid is braaery, prudence, inteiiect, the entre beauty of peopie.
And those made of goid are manifest in eaery human being.
Whereas the topaz is a gemstone of the ieek-coioured ones,
Neither bright, nor radiant, as the rest of the gemstones,
It happens to be iike the greenish seasheiis,
Like the extra garment of poor peopie, a ieek-coioured garment worn for bathing. 970
Being ieek-coioured, dyed scariet, it shines as the air rises.

Concerning the inscripton at the front door of Plato’s house “Let no one ignorant of geometry enter”,
8.94 (story 249)
Piato had written at the front door of his house:
“Let no one ignorant of geometry enter my house.”
That is, iet no one who is unjust come in here;
For geometry is fairness and justce.

Concerning a sick man, who departed secretly from his own house, because a friend, who came to
visit him, waited lingering and did not depart, 8.95 (story 250)
Phiiogeios has written somewhere in his book:
“A friend came to aisit a sick man.
As he did not arise or depart easiiy,
The sick man dispieased rose from his bed,
And saying fareweii to him he departed from his house.” 980

Concerning the Epicureans saying that the honey is the tenth part of ambrosia, 8.96 (story 251)
There was a sect of Epicurean phiiosophers
That thought of pieasure as the end of phiiosophy.
Those praising pieasure and eaerything that is deiightui,
Were saying that the honey was the tenth part of ambrosia.

As Herodotus tells of prosperous Arabia, 8.97 (story 252)

Herodotus, Diodorus, Ctesias, aii the others,
Say that Arabia is prosperous,
Just iike the most fragrant iand of India,
Exhaiing fragrances, as that iand,
And its caraed gems haae a spicy scent.
Peopie there feeiing weakened because of the scents, 990
Some bones and horns and sweet-smeiiing substances,
Successiaeiy fumigate and they recoaer in turn.

Concerning the gifs that Anthony gave Cleopatra, 8.98 (story 253)
The daughter of Ptoiemy Dionysius
And the kinswoman of Ptoiemy, mistress Cieopatra,
Being wise and eioquent and most weii proportoned,
Charming with her beauty aii peopie and the nature of beasts,
Afer her father’s death, feii into dispute
With her own brother oaer the throne.
And when Caesar was staying in Egypt,
Juiius Caesar, that Gaius, s000
Himseif was at that tme the judge of their cause. s68
But her brother, Ptoiemy himseif,
Standing before the judgement seat of Caesar, was speaking of himseif,
Whereas Cieopatra herseif pieaded her case through adaocates.
But as she was being defeated, wishing that the aictory wouid inciine to her side,
She has made known to Caesar: “Let it be known to you, Caesar,
That my adaocates betray the case.
In my own person, Caesar,
I want to teii you, standing before your seat, eaerything I wish to conaey”.
Haaing accepted that most readiiy Caesar s0
Approaed it and afer a spiendid judgement seat was acquired,
Queen Cieopatra came towards it.
And frst with the iightnings of her surpassing beauty
She subdues the whoie assembiy, aii the judges,
But most of them aii, she subdues Caesar.

68 Here begins book IX of the Chiliades.

As she together with the unutterabie iightnings of her beauty
Set up speeches sweet as honey, skiiied in pieading, eioquent,
Surpassing the speeches of Nestor, surpassing the songs of the swans,
Surpassing the widespread songs of the Sirens,
Eaeryone was astonished and iistened with uttermost siience. 290
What happens thereupon, who of the minded ones is ignorant?
First, she caught Caesar in the nets of ioae,
With Aphrodite’s fowers she kept him as a prisoner,
She ensiaaes the emperor, who ensiaaed the entre worid,
She wins at triai, she won the contest for the throne.

Afer the death of Juiius Caesar,

As Cieopatra was engaged in more fermentng situatons,
Puiiing away the Egyptans from ome’s dominion,
Augustus Octaaian, who heid the sceptres of ome,
Being the nephew of Caesar Gaius Juiius, 30
Being in noway abie to bear the insurrecton of the Egyptans,
His own sister’s, who was named Octaaia,
Husband Anthony sends against the Egyptans,
To break the force of their onrush ending the rebeiiion.

When Cieopatra heard that Anthony was marching

Against her in Egypt with a great army,
Afer making a picture that so much resembied her beauty,
Letters deciaring her ioae to Anthony
Sent to Anthony; who fascinated by the shadow aione
Of her picture ief his wife 40
And he becomes Cieopatra’s man and a part of the Egyptans
And together with them he was engaged in a war against the omans.
And frst he giaes Cieopatra gifs,
The entre paim-bearing region of Jericho,
Where eaen the much-reaered baisam-tree grows,
Which according to others was a piant and not a tree.
That paim-bearing region and countiess countries
Anthony bestows on Cieopatra because of his passion,
And the whoie country of the Parthians, that was ied in captaity
And the son of Tigranes together with other captaes. 50
And many kings he siew for her sake.
Just as the crowned Maichus of the Arabians,
Aithough Octaaian, unabie to bear the insoience
His own sister, who was named Octaaia,
Giaing Agrippa as a husband instead of Anthony,
Moaing his armies both by iand and sea,
Traaersing the contnent, arriaed at Leucactas,
And he makes a great war on them
Both by iand and sea, so that it is impossibie to saii the sea,
With neither the shipowners nor the oarsmen, 60
As it became soiid from the innumerabie infusions of biood,
In turn the iand was turned into sea, but a red one,
By dragging the riaers that were fuii of biood.
For it happened that the war horses,
And the riders themseiaes in the sea of biood
Swim as far as their breasts; such was the size of murder.

And as the combat between them was stii eaeniy baianced

Both on iand and sea, and no one preaaiied,
Caesar Octaaian made the aictory inciine towards his side
With oman miiitary stratagems. 70
For he coaered the hiiis with skins recentiy stripped from oxen,
And through them, because of their siippery nature,
He drew most wiseiy an innumerabie muittude of ships
To the sea behind the feet of the Egyptans,
He immediateiy put them to fight, as they were panic-stricken,
And Anthony himseif in a heroic manner
Who strongiy resisted many men was kiiied in battie;
They take Cieopatra and her two chiidren captaes,
A maie and a femaie chiid, named Heiios and Seiene.
And Cieopatra committed suicide by the bites of the asps, 80
Because she did not want to be taken to ome as a prisoner.
But aithough dead she was hoiding her crown,
So that it wouid not faii of her head afer her death.
Caesar Octaaian embaimed her body
And brought it back to his sister in ome,
Making a big and giorious triumph and a parade,
Inciuding Heiios himseif and Seiene,
The chiidren of Cieopatra herseif, as we said before.

Concerning Manoah’s vision of God and what He said, 9.1 (story 254)
Manoah iiaed with a barren wife
Their chiidiessness pained them greatiy. 90
Then an angei appeared to his wife twice
In the feid and said she wouid bear a chiid.
So she toid Manoah, her bed-feiiow
He sacrifced a kid and put it on a rock
The angei smote the rock with his staf
And a fame, rising from the rock, deaoured the ofering.
Then the fame itseif ascended into heaaen
And the angei with it.
Then Manoah said:
“We’ii die, oh woman, for God has appeared to us!”
Thus spoke Manoah at the tme of the appearance s00
But iater the woman, bearing in her womb
Birthed Samson the great, whom eaery tongue haiis.
Concerning how Moses was brightened by his vision of God, 9.2 (story 255)
Afer God conaersed with Moses on Mount Sinai,
When he was going to deiiaer the diaineiy inscribed piates,
By speaking with God and his appearance
And by secret thunder, Moses’ face became diaine
So much that no one was abie to iook at him directiy.
Therefore oniy whiie coaering his face with a curtain
Did Moses speak to the Hebrews. For if his face was bare
None of them was abie to iook directiy at him. ss0

Concerning the wisdom of the porphyry bird, 9.3 (story 256)

The porphyry bird was exceedingiy wise.
So much so that, if it saw eaen one whore, it wouid die immediateiy.
Aristotie, foiiowed by Aeiian and some others
Wrote about the deeds of the porphyry bird.

Concerning what the word agerochos means, 9.4 (story 257)

The word agerochos has three meanings:
Giorious, beggar, and aiso the one who commits the crime with them.
The frst meaning signifes
The one who brings the spoiis for the prize (geras)
The second from
Beggars who coiiect (ageiro) food and sheiter for themseiaes.
The third from the reiated word ageroichon, s290
Which signifes the criminai, who brings the spoiis to strife.

Concerning what the word skytale means, and its origins, 9.5 (story 258)
The word skytale has six meanings, aii of which you shouid iearn:
First, a skytos is used to bring out tears in schooichiidren,
Whiie a skytale is a kind of fsh: it is caiied that because
It resembies the schooi chiidren’s skytos compieteiy.
The third meaning is fnger bones, which are aiso caiied skytalai.
The fourth, the square rod used by marbie masons.
I suspect the schooichiidren caii their punishment rod a skytale because
Of the rod used by the masons.
The ffh meaning is any kind of rod, which can be caiied a skytalos or a skytales, s30
Whether because of the aforementoned mason’s rod
Or because of the aerb skyzo, which means to be angry.
For a rod is used to end and resoiae anger and wrath.
Now most of aii the sixth meaning is worth hearing, that which the Spartans caiied a skytale,
So I beiieae I must giae it a short expianaton.

Wheneaer the Spartans wished to send a generai or anyone eise

A written, secret message,
They wouid frst take the shortest rod they couid fnd.
Then, they wouid take a piece of skin thin as a beit,
And, stretching it across the whoie surface of the rod, s40
They wouid write under it whateaer they wished to conaey.
The message wouid then be read by roiiing away the skin.
Howeaer, it couid not be compieteiy read
If someone roiied away the entre skin.
Then the rod wouid be examined,
To see if the skin had been roiied and ftted to the rod.
Thus, as I said, the Spartans wouid roii away the rod,
And send the skin to whomeaer they wished with another,
And aiso the rod with great care.
Then, the recipient, haaing receiaed the rod and the skin, s50
oiied the skin away and read, as I said eariier.
So now you weii know what the Spartan skytale was,
A skin roiied onto a rod, bearing secret messages.
Finaiiy, a seaenth meaning of skytale is the force of Gyges’ siing before Gyges,
Which iooked iike a snake.

Concerning the Mosele monastery, 9.6 (story 259)

What is now the Monastery of Moseie used to be Moseie’s house,
Who, defeated on campaign by the Buigars,
On the other side of the stream, trying to fnd a boat to fee on,
Faiiing weaponiess into the sea, drowned to death.
I oniy wonder how it couid be that such a man, s60
Being god of the seas, couid be made again a god by the sea,
Giaing a new name as though eponymous.
For Moseie to the ancient Egyptans
Was equiaaient to Poseidon, god of seas and waters.

Concerning a fable of Aesop: “Shot by my own feathers!”, 9.7 (story 260)

Aesop the storyteiier recounts in his stories,
How an eagie, fying high, was suddeniy shot by arrows.
When he saw that the arrows had eagie feathers,
“By my own wings,” he cried, “I haae been thrown down!”

Concerning Isaac, Esau and Jacob, 9.8 (story 261)

Isaac, son of Jacob and ebecca,
Had a son named Esau, and a second, Jacob. s70
Of which Esau was the hairy and red haired,
And spent his iife with beasts and huntng them.
But Jacob was a stay at home,
Who, encountering Esau, returning from a hunt,
Made him the ientis which Esau desired, but not without trickery.
For he said: “Giae me your frstborn’s right.”
He agreed, defeated by his hunger.
So he receiaed ientis for his frstborn’s right.
This was the frst “heeiing” and decepton
That Jacob used against his brother Esau. s80
For Jacob in Greek means “one who strikes with the heei”,
And Esau his twin came out frst,
Whiie behind him Jacob came, hoiding on to his heei.
Therefore he was caiied Jacob by the parents.
That was the frst “heeiing” by Jacob the “heeier”
Against his brother Esau, that of the frstborn’s right,
Which he took, giaing in return the ientis.

Now iearn from me of the greater and second “heeiing”:

Isaac, biinded by his adaanced years
And constrained by sickness, caiied to Esau: s90
“Firstborn chiid of mine, you whom I caiied Esau,
Go, hunt my faaourite food for me to eat,
So that afer I eat I may biess you, chiid.”
So Esau went out to hunt.
ebecca, howeaer, hated Esau,
But Jacob she ioaed as a mother wiii, so she said to him:
“Go out to the focks and bring me a kid,
And I wiii make a meai for your father, and he wiii eat,
And he wiii giae you your brother’s biessing, chiid.”
So he brought her the kid, and siaughtered it quickiy. 2900
His mother prepared it, aii for eatng.
With the kid’s skin she coaered Jacob’s
Hands and neck, so that he wouid appear to be Esau.
So he took the food and brought it to his father,
And said: “Behoid, father, I haae fuifiied your desire.
So eat and biess me, fuifi your promises!”
But his father feit the neck,
As I said, coaered with the kid’s skin,
So he spoke and said to him:
“The aoice is Jacob’s, but the hands Esau’s.“ 29s0
Yet he biessed him then as though he were Esau.
When Esau returned iater, afer his hunt,
Crying and sweatng about his biessing,
His father toid him: “I’ae giaen the whoie biessing
To your brother, because of your mother’s tricks.”

Concerning Histaeus and Aristagoras, 9.9 (story 262)

Histaeus was a Miiesian who,
Due to his pure friendship with the Persians,
Fought together with Darius Xerxes’ father against the Scythians.
Therefore he receiaed as a gif from Darius the right to buiid Myrkinos.
(Myrkinos is what Hedonon used to be caiied). 29290
But the Persian generai Megabyzus, returning from Paeonia,
Conainced Darius not to aiiow Histaeus to buiid Myrkinos,
But rather to take Histaeus with him to Susa.
Later, because of desire for his homeiand,
Histaeus, in order to be sent there again by the Persians,
With the foiiowing ruse awakened terribie things:

He took a domestc siaae and shaaed his head,

And tattooed ietters on it. Once the siaae had regrown his hair,
Histaeus sent him to Miietus to see Aristagoras,
His son-in-iaw, and aiso Histaeus’ nephew. 2930
Aristagoras shaaed the siaae again and read his scaip as though it were papyrus,
Then conainced aii the Greek cites to rebei against the Persian,
And the Athenians to destroy Sardis.
When Darius became aery troubied by these eaents,
A certain Persian satrap, who was present, said to him:
“I haae a certain diaine instrument, which foretoid aii, saying:
‘Histaeus sewed this shoe together,
But Aristagoras wore it.’” 2940
That is: Histaeus iaid the foundaton,
But Aristagoras executed the pian to fruiton.
So Histaeius was sent from Darius’ court
Promising to make an agreement with the cites.
He passed siowiy through the iands of Persia and Susa,
But aferwards, in his homeiand, he took command of his friends.
If Histaeus’ end you wish to know,
You haae it iying fat in front of you in eariier histories
Down in the one hundred and nineteth depth.

Concerning “be like snakes”, interpreted diferently as: to be noble and cultured, and use clever
methods, as it seems to me, 9.10 (story 263)
In the eaangeiists’ hoiy writngs,
Christ in a certain piace says both to his own discipies and to eaeryone:
“Be iike snakes and haae shrewdness, 2950
But aiso as pure as doaes for my sake.”
This he ciarifes, and in that piace means:
Guard your own head, as the snake does,
Who, piotted against and hit murderousiy,
Stii at aii tmes coaers his own head.
Thus you too, aposties, being righteous aiways,
Stii respect ieaders eaen if they are of the unrighteous kind,
And guard your head for my sake, and our faith,
And do not deny God, eaen unto death itseif.
“Be as pure as doaes for my sake” 2960
And again he ciarifes and means the same thing:
For doaes are said to be so pure and wise,
As it is said of Noah’s doae,
Who was reieased by him during the Fiood,
And again returned to Noah’s Ark.
And any house, if there shouid be a doae in it,
The doae neaer ceases its seraice, uniess it is faise.
And it does not giae birth in the house, but rather sufers the pains outside.
So Christ commands us to guard the hoiy things,
And their head, that is to say, our faith. 2970
Whiie I say one shouid watch one’s head with cuitured speech,
With cieaer methods and rhetoricai deaices,
And watch our heads, our masters, and our iords,
And beware not to be robbed or cheated by the tricks
Of thieaes and mockers of the hoiy,
Whom sinfui men named saints, oaerreaching themseiaes
And who resembie them themseiaes.

Concerning “Do not be wise according to yourself”, 9.11 (story 264)

Soiomon said this, teaching mankind
Not to be seif-wiiied and seif-satsfed,
But rather to act by counsei of others. I haae said this, 2980
Whiie writng a commentary on Homer at the Augustan,
Which aiso contains a paraphrase in chariot-meter aerses,
First, four joined coiumns of smaii writngs,
Each of which containing no more than
Eighty-eight aerses with margins,
For each of which I took tweiae goiden coins,
That is tweiae goiden numismata, not inciuding white goid.
Then, just bareiy remembering my scroiis,
Shortiy before the end of my tme at the Augustan,
I undertook to write a greater coiiecton of writngs in four conjoined coiumns, 2990
Which amounted to about ten such writngs in trimeters.
This and the tenfoid repetton appeared to be equai,
More or iess, or perhaps exactiy the same.
Write and write without pause, be aione and ioneiy,
And when you’re done, you may haae whateaer gifs you desire.
For this judgement I wrote these writngs.

Concerning the origin of the word aliterios, 9.12 (story 265)

There once was a great famine in Athens,
So much that the most actae wouid run around,
If somehow they heard the noise of an unwashed hand-miii. 300
For they wouid charge in with ungoaernabie force,
And steai the bariey-meai (alphita) and wheat-meai (alia) from the custodians.
Because of them, an eaii-doer is caiied an aliterios.

Concerning the diference between pachys and paches, 9.13 (story 266)
Pachys, generaiiy, bears the meaning of uninteiiigent,
Whiie paches is appiied to a feshy or fat person.
But as I see it, as does Aristophanes,
Pachys means both uninteiiigent and fat,
For one who is paches is uninteiiigent as regards physicai things.
For aii inside, and many outside,
Say that the body is the prison and guardhouse of the soui. 3s0
If the body becomes thick and sof,
The eye is confned from seeing anything of the soui’s inteiiigence.
But if it is strong, the body does not confne thus,
ather, it enjoys the inner radiance of inteiiigence,
Just as one enjoys the shining sun.
If the soui is confned from within, a crystaiiine prison fencing it around,
Or of perches, or skins, or something eise of the sort.
So both the uninteiiigent and the fat
Are caiied pachys by me and by others.
Paches, on the other hand, was an Athenian generai. 3290
Concerning “He who does not enter through the door”, elegantly interpreted, 9.14 (story 267)
A door is the diaine iesson from the Gospeis,
Through which runs the way to the higher kingdom, for those who wish.
But he who does not enter through this door,
Is a thief and a bandit and of the ungodiy ones.
He despoiis the souis of the godiy and consorts with daemons.
This door is in the more diaine writngs,
Whiie I haae eiegantiy interpreted the monastc ruies
To be the door of the iiaing, more preciseiy, in communai iiaing.
I say that thieaing fathers are those do not go through the door,
And aiso diggers, cioistered ones, one who drags beasts, and coiumn-foundatons. 330
Aii aiso who iiae outside the usuai boundaries of iife,
And those who iiae aione, except in desert piaces.

Concerning “Dragging along beasts like Orpheus”, 9.15 (story 268)

Orpheus was a Thracian, one of the Odryssians, whose homeiand was Bisaita,
Greatest of aii musicians whom iight has seen,
So much so that he charmed stones, beasts, growing things, and things of aii natures,
With his music, and drew them behind him.
What came before, you may fnd in the tweifh of these Histories69.

Concerning “Don’t receive it, but send it away behind”, 9.16 (story 269)
This phrase is a rhetoricai joining,
The joining being from a quote by Hesiod,
Said with my most cieaer method. 340
For in his work, he says that Pandora rejected something.
I, for my part, reject the thieaing fathers’ two litra appies.

69 See s.s29.
What is the parody and the joining?

Concerning a quote from Hesiod, an elegant logical oracle by Tzetzes, 9.17 (story 270)
Askraios70 said that nothing eaii befeii mortais,
Neither did any harm occur because of Pandora.
But I reject the thieaing fathers’
Two and one litra appies, as has been said before,
No eaii happened, when peopie die without appies,
Those who do not haae litras, and an appie-father buy. 350
This is a iogicai and aery much eiegant oracie.
For an eiegant, eaer-shify person wiii say:
“Tzetzes made the thieaing fathers’ litra appies
To turn away, so that no one iacking a litra may die without appies”.

Concerning “I am not a soothsayer or one who understands the signs of birds”, 9.18 (story 271)
I poured out this quote, one of the more eiegant which I’ae said,
Which iies in the ietters I was preaiousiy reading,
And together with it aiso the soothsayer and the augur.
I went into church as they sang,
“The Lord wiii shatter the horns of sinners,
But the horns of the righteous wiii be iifed up on high.” 360
Then I quoted from the works of Hesiod:
“Now then I myseif wouid not want to be righteous among men,
Nor my son neither; since eaii neaer ieaaes
A righteous man aione, if indeed the more unjust a man, the more rights he wiii haae.”
I said this then, oh iady’s goaernor,
Wishing, with the destructon of the unrighteous’ horns and height of those of the just,
To say it to you again.
If you grant the thieaing fathers and sacriiegious litras

70 Possibiy Hesiod?
For one appie or pomegranate,
Then the same is said of men who write metaphrases of books, 370
And we shouid write a metaphrase a book of such iength,
Then giae them whateaer you see ft.
I wouid not want to be, I say, a writer, nor any friend of mine,
If writers receiae nothing, and with such toii,
Whiie artsans get their litras with no toii at aii, with appies to buy.
As for “I am not a soothsayer nor one who understands the signs of birds”,
Homer reiates who said it, in his Odyssey.
I haae said the same thing, writng to the Emperor.

Concerning “A cloud of feas over Xerxes’ unnumbered host”, 9.19 (story 272)
This expediton is an army, this army forms a muittude. 380
Seraing Darius’ son, Xerxes the Great,
Campaigning against the Athenians, and fghtng against
Aii of Greece, and the muittude of fghtng men numbers
About ffy myriads in aii.

Concerning Ixion’s Wheel, 9.20 (story 273)

Ixion Pieugos’ son, a Lapithian,
Married and had for his bed feiiow Dia, Deioneus’ daughter,
Or, according to others, Eioneus’, omitng the D.
He dug a pit, kindied a fre in it beiow,
And deceituiiy coaered the pit from aboae.
Thus he destroyed his father-in-iaw, seeking an end in this. 390
Being the frst kin-siayer, he went mad.
When he regained his sanity, he fed because of the murder,
And was cieansed of murder by Zeus.
He feii in ioae with Hera, and undertook to force her.
Hera, howeaer, toid Zeus about his audacity,
And Zeus, wishing to know the truth,
Made a cioud into an image of Hera and ied it to Ixion.
He iay with the cioud resembiing Hera,
And fathered a chiid named Centaurus, a disfgured man who,
Mixing with horses in Peiian piaces, 400
Brought forth the part-horse Centaurs,
As both Pindar and eaery other coiiector of myths has recorded.
Because of this oaerreaching, Ixion
Was punished and twisted on an iron wheei in Hades.

So go the ancient myths, caiiing on the souis of the young.

But there is a certain person who put on airs in aiiegories,
Paiaephatus the phiiosopher, of the Stoic schooi.
He does not speak at aii of these worthy words,
Except oniy in the Aicests, eaen though
The rest of the story has gone by, Hera and Zeus, 4s0
The iying with the cioud, Centaurus and Centaurus’ naming
And the twistng on the wheei. He speaks about the Centaurs
Coidiy, and eaen that bareiy, seeing as Paiaephatus
Was a Stoic phiiosopher, and braggarts must
Attribute unworthiness to the ignorant eparch Tzetzes.
For he says that wiid buiis near Thessaiy
Wouid deaour the country and spoii it.
Certain strong southern youths mounted horses
an down the buiis, and pierced them with spears.
Then some farmers saw them, and were amazed. 4290
(For at that tme there were no horse riders, but oniy chariots)
They ran, and said: “There are Centaurs to be seen in the iand!”
When asked, what exactiy these Centaurs were,
They answered: “Mortais mixed with horses, who pierce buiis!”.

This is Paiaephatus’ aersion. But Tzetzes teiis you,

The word is Kentotaur, not Centaur, because they pierced (kentein) the buiis (tauros).
He aiso says that horse riders were, in fact, known then.
For those Kentotaurs (Tzetzes says) you speak of, Paiaephatus,
I beiieae were contemporaries of the great Greek army.
And how couid horse riders not haae been known to the Greeks? 430
Horse riders and riding-horses were known then,
And eaen before the Greek army, horse riding was known.
So the Kentotaurs were contemporaries of the Greek army,
So iisten, don’t doubt, Tzetzes doesn’t iie.

Ixion and Centaurus, and Centaurus’ chiidren,

Three from Ixion, Centaurus’ chiidren;
Ixion’s own son, from his iawfui wife,
Was Perithous, whose son was Poiypoetes,
Who fought with the Greeks. You knew, Paiaephatus,
That you were iying to me and speaking inaccurateiy. 440
Listen and iearn eaerything cieariy from Tzetzes.
You and any other crafy person, for this is not uncommon,
If you eaer iie in your iife, you wiii iearn in Hades
Eaen if you’re an oid man, or a phiiosopher, or eaen a Stoic, that:

Ixion burning his father-in-iaw

Is a truth, as is his fight from his homeiand.
But Zeus did not conceiae anything in his mind, nor in the air,
Nor was there such a gossipy Greek god,
Nor his heaaen or sun or goddess of fate.
Nor do the stars signify Zeus or any other thing. 450
ather, understand that Zeus was a king.
For the ancients wouid caii their kings “Zeus”,
Afer Baaios, son of Zeus, king of Egypt,
And the star of Zeus, which they beiieaed made kings.
For if the sun was in the ffh part of the iion,
There Zeus wouid be found, which decided eaerything back then,
Grantng kingdoms and the right to bear a crown.

Zeus, therefore, was a certain king, who cieansed Ixion,

Whose wife, Hera, that is, the queen,
He iusted afer, once he had been cieansed. But since she was wise, 460
She toid her husband. He did not beiieae her,
So he dressed up an aura named Cioud as Hera,
And Ixion iay with her, and fathered a son named Centaurus,
Who was a aery misshapen man, and receiaed the name Imbros.
This is how he receiaed the nickname “Centaurus”:
Not from the piercing of the buiis (for that concerned the Kentotauros),
But because a son of a siaae giri was caiied Centaurus.
For by “piercing” the aura, that is, the siaae giri,
He made the chiid who receiaed the name Imbros.
(Let it not siip your mind that aura means a handmaid). 470
For you’ae heard, Paiaephatus, what Moses said:
How, when the daughter of the Pharaoh went down to the riaer
She had aurai and siaae-giris waitng on her.
But that is neither here nor there. The king I spoke of,
Punished Ixion by chaining him to an iron wheei,
And kiiied him for his impious deed.
But Imbros, son of Ixion and Cioud,
Who was nicknamed Centaurus, because he was a handmaid’s chiid,
He sent to take care of the horses in the piaces around Peiios.
He, in turn, stewarded the piace, settied down, and married, 480
And had chiidren not at aii short, nor weak of body.
He mixed Magnesian horses with Peiians,
And bred his chiidren with them. Not, as Pindar ciaims,
In the shamefui and unbecoming matng of beasts,
But rather by training them together with the horses.
He raised them to become a wondrous caaairy force,
They who brought Magnesian horses to Thessaiy.
They are mentoned by the oracie, which said:
“Of aii piaces of the earth Peiasgian Argos is the best,
Of horses the Thessaiians, of women the Spartans, 490
And of men those who drink the water of beautfui Arethusa.
But there are stii greater, those who
Dweii between Tiryns and appie-fuii Arcadia,
The iinen-cuirass wearing Argiaes, the sharp points of war.
You Aegeans are neither third nor fourth,
Nor eaen tweifh, neither in words nor in numbers.”

Concerning Dexippus’ Scythica, 9.21 (story 274)

Dexippus the phiiosopher, an initate of Iambiichus,
Wrote many and aaried books.
I haae encountered one of them, the one on categories.
He aiso wrote one caiied Scythica, which I stii do not know, 500
And others, as I said. I, howeaer, haae oniy read the one 7s.

Concerning the Semiramian Walls, 9.22 (story 275)

A certain Assyrian iady, Dorketo she was caiied,
Committed iustui aduitery with a young man, a Syrian.
She iay with him, but fearing shame if the story got out,
She got rid of the Syrian, and once the chiid was born,
Put it in the feids. Herseif she threw
Into the bay of Myris, where she drowned.
The Syrian writngs say she became a fsh
Which is why Syrians don’t eat certain types of fsh.
But now we must aiiow the tapestry of Dorketo’s story to widen. 5s0

7s Likeiy because these books were oniy partaiiy extant, as they are today.
Dorketo’s castaway chiid in the feids
Was fed graciousiy with green cheese and miik by doaes
Beionging to nearby shepherds.
When the shepherds saw the winged thieaes
Stripping away their miik and cheese both
They went with their fock-ieader, Simma by name,
Wondering and wishing to see why this was happening.
They saw a femaie infant in royai swaddiing ciothes,
Being giaen food by the birds, as I haae said.
Simma took her and turned to go home, 5290
Naming the infant Semiramis.
The giri grew up to be of exceeding beauty,
Unti a certain ofciai of King Ninus came
In charge of focks of horses and other creatures,
Named Menoinis, as Diodorus writes.
When he saw Semiramis, being of unspeakabie beauty,
His gifs of oii and myriads of gifs were persuasiae enough
To aiiow him to take her as his bed-feiiow from Simma.
She was beautfui and sharp-minded and aiways resourcefui,
And aiso fuii of tricks, whose co-conspirator was her right hand, 530
As weii as her soui and iife, her eye, her heart, aii.

Prokandayies, commander of the forces to the ends of the kingdom,

Was with King Ninus, besieging Bactra,
But unabie to take it.
He said to King Ninus: “O crown-bearing Ninus,
If oniy Semiramis was here, who is my consort,
You wouid haae captured Bactra within a short tme.”
So immediateiy he sent for the woman.
Before she embarked on such a iong road
First she contriaed a most fneiy-worked dress. 540
It was designed to keep away the heat and rain,
And it wouid easiiy recognize
Whether it happened to be worn by one of the maie persuasion, or the femaie.
And this dress was extremeiy capabie of doing
Anything one might wish to do.
Why so much? The city of the Bactrians feii easiiy
From the wariike raaine with the precipices
It was immediateiy taken, with aii others fghtng.

King Ninus, entranced by her beauty

First conainced her bed-feiiow, the horn-bearer Menoinis 550
To giae her to him as a gif.
The king ofered him as a repiacement in his bed
His own iittie daughter, who was caiied Sosana.
But since Menoinis was troubied by this ofer, the king biinded him.
Then Menoinis, so unabie to take his mind of his pain,
Strangied himseif with a noose, and thus ended his iife.
Whiie Ninus fathered Ninyas on Semiramis,
And soon he died, ieaaing the kingdom
To Semiramis herseif, and his son Ninyas.

Then she buiit fabied Babyion, 560

With twenty myriads of workers.
She buiit the city in just one year
From baked bricks, not from stone.
Baked brick, mind you, is what we caii besal.
For the buiiding of Babyion was done with besal,
Using bitumen instead of asbestos.

The whoie perimeter of Babyion,

Foiiowing Ctesias, was 360 stadia.
Howeaer, according to Ciitarchus himseif and companions of Aiexander 570
And aiso according to Diodorus Sicuius,
It was 365 stadia.
Cassius Dio, howeaer, the Cocceian Latn writer,
Wrote that it was 400.
Herodotus, he who wrote nine “Muses”,
And Phiiostratus, in the Life of Tyaneus729,
Say the perimeter was 380 stadia.
The height of the waiis, according to Ctesias, was ffy fathoms,
Other says ffy cubits. Howeaer, to Tzetzes,
Ctesias seems to haae written more truiy than the others,
At ieast as far as Babyion is concerned. 580
For he describes it as being
360 stadia in perimeter,
Whiie the others eniarge and exaggerate the city.
The one with the smaiiest number for the iength,
Wouid not giae a higher number for the height than necessary.
Howeaer, perhaps when Ctesias saw it,
The height of the towers was sixty fathoms,
And that of the waiis, ffy.
Perhaps they had been trampied and iowered by wars and earthquakes.
If so, then iater on, when Ciitarchus and aii of Aiexander’s companions 590
They wouid haae seen a height iesser than fathoms,
Haaing been reduced to cubits.
The width of Babyion’s waii was, according to some,
Enough for six chariots side by side. Others say three.

In the midst of Babyion fows the iaer Euphrates,

Which compietes a fowing at midday.
On each side of the riaer Euphrates,
Paiaces were buiit, of maraeiious crafsmanship,
Haaing the riaer beiow them, and crowned with domes,
And a riaer crossing, which caused great wonder. 600

729 Best known as the Life of Apollonius of Tyana.

But of aii of Semiramis’ Senate-worthy achieaements,
Oniy one remnant of the waii remains,
Buiit of no more than one stadion.
Thus you haae written for you aii of Semiramis’ waiis.

Concerning why Sparta was unwalled, 9.23 (story 276)

The ancient Spartans, the sons of Laconia,
easoned weii, with wise thought:
That men are the guardians of waiis, not waiis of men.
Whiie city waiis are ofen taken,
They buiit their towers on weapons, bodies, and fghtng,
So that no one couid braaeiy siit open their waiis. 6s0
There was a Spartan generai once, who, when the others notced
That the guards were aiiowed to go around without shieids,
He answered, so that they wouid watch eaer more wakefuiiy,
Lest they be caught sieeping by a charge.

Concerning the phrase “A cow will cry and a bull will mourn”, 9.24 (story 277)
There is a phrase commoniy used by Constantnopoiitans,
That: “A cow wiii cry and a buii wiii mourn”.
It was formed by the foiiowing eaents and fears:
When uncounted hosts of Aiamanni and others
Came against the aery city of Constantne,
Aii feared sack and destructon, 6290
And aii were struck and terrifed by dreams.
Then the wife of the Megaietairachos,
Frightened by those armies beyond,
And aiso by the taies of myth creators,
She formed in her soui things of fear.
She said she had dreamed of things toid before,
How the city of Constantne frst had a waii of bricks,
And the marketpiace was around a cow, that is, the piace was near a cow.
She aiso ciaimed to haae seen an army and a great panopiy,
But next to the buii she saw a man sitng with a cithara, 630
Striking together his hands and iamentng with cries.
In seeing him, she reaeaied Tzetzes,
Beiieaing the dream to be of the iatter days.
The brick waii, howeaer, signifed the pientfui fruit of the earth,
And she said a most fortunate year wouid come to the city of Constantne.
Now aii you present, you know the good fortune of that tme.
She said the great panopiy about the cow,
And the man hoiding a cithara next to the buii
Was the fuifiment of the much-quoted phrase,
“A cow wiii cry and a buii wiii mourn”. 640
But not as they were sick, as one becomes sick due to fear,
But rather as beft aii our citzens.
And iisten, highiy pious one, and teach others aiso,
Tzetzes (she said) teaches me so:
A femaie of cattie we caii a cow,
Eaen though sometmes we aiso caii the buii a cow,
But chiefy we caii the maie of cattie a buii.
This buii the Latns caii an Itaiian,
Whiie our cow was brought to the city of Constantne,
Which was bred from the oman Itaiian buii, 650
Fuii of aii sorts of weapons, food, and armies,
She wiii cry out war against the enemy.
Whiie the Itaiian buii, the Latn army,
Wiii aiso mourn because of the fear-induced paieness of the masses,
If he does not conaince the mighty emperor with words.
Concerning the phrase “Woe to you, seven hilled one, because you will not last a thousand years”,
9.25 (story 278)
“Woe to you, seaen hiiied one, because you wiii not iast a thousand years”,
Is another phrase used by Constantnopoiitans,
Just as “A cow wiii cry and a buii wiii iament”.
As I haae soiaed weii and conaenientiy,
The dream dreamed by the wife of the Megaietairachos. 660
“Woe to you, seaen hiiied one,” was of the enemy.
For one of the wise might haae spoken to us,
In the city of Constantne.
The orators seem to be airy to the eparch,
How can you say that: “A cow wiii cry and a buii wiii iament”
Has anything to do with the city of Constantne?
Isn’t there another phrase about the city of Constantne:
“Woe to you, seaen hiiied one, because you wiii not iast a thousand years”? 670
So that no one wiii bring forth a defence,
I created a soiuton against the oncoming enemy,
The soiuton being exceiient and reieaant then:
For, saying to the one who had dreamed,
That it was perfectiy reieaant to my mind and to the city,
That: “A cow wiii cry and a buii wiii iament”,
and: “Woe to you, seaen hiiied one, because you wiii not iast a thousand years”.
Thus, I said, they were sick, not as they are sick themseiaes,
Not one part as an adaerb, the Ouai in the iament,
But there are two parts to the saying, frst: the partcie of deniai Ou, and Ai (signifying woe) 680
Therefore, Constantnopie, eaen if you do not iast a thousand years,
But are destroyed within that miiiennium,
Yet there shaii be no ai or iamentaton for you, but grace.
So that you wiii be rebuiit eaer the greater and shine eaer the more,
And destroy weii those who seek to destroy you.
Concerning the phrase “The more warlike the man, the more removed the mind”, 9.26 (story 279)
Generaiiy, young soidiers tend to be more wariike,
Desiring battie more, because they bear arms.
In fact, aii young men tend to be more wariike.
Homer, then, shows how stupid young men are,
Writng in the third book of his epic, the Iliad: 690
“Aiways, the more wariike the man, the more remoaed the mind.”
On oid men, howeaer, he expresses the opposite opinion:
“Those who haae an oid man with them, are abie to see
Both in front of them and behind, so much that they can see weii from afar on both sides.”

Concerning the Thessalian valleys of Tempe, 9.27 (story 280)

It is Thessaiy you shouid know, not Thessaionica,
As some think, and as I myseif haae said in jest,
But ofen, speaking to the ignorant, I was not jestng.
The iand of Thessaiy, to my mind,
Is comprised of Phthia and Pharsaiia, Larissa and Trikaios,
Demetrias, Ioikos, Giaphyros and Phoibe,
And many other cites does Thessaiy comprise. 700
Tempe, on the other hand, is the hoiiows and mountains of Thessaiy,
Which is diaided by the out-fowing riaer Peneios,
Which, brought to the middie, fows and puiis down.

The Peneios, the Onochonos, as weii as the Sperchios and others,

And eaen the Saiambria, among the iocai barbarians,
Are one riaer with many names.
Now you know aii about Thessaiian Tempe,
But I was joking when I spoke of Thessaionica.
For most peopie haae become barbarians by aarious enigmas, 7s0
Taking ancient books at face aaiue,
And instead of seeking to know weii piaces, countries, and things
And treasures to draw up, as weii as the sayings of aii sorts of sages,
They seek oniy the iabyrinthine, commerciai twists of ignorant merchants.

Concerning the phrase “Soldier on, friends, and stay for a tme”, 9.28 (story 281)
Homer, in the second book of the Iliad
Has Odysseus speak to the crowd of Greeks,
And ask them to remain strong for another short whiie,
Unti they capture the city of the Trojans.
He said that the capture of Troy was imminent, 7290
And citng signs, the portents that had been prophesied to them.
And prophetcaiiy speaking as weii as proaiding signs.
That is what Odysseus says to the Greek army in Homer,
Whiie I say the same to one of my friends,
Wishing that he wouid perseaere for a short tme.

Concerning the phrase “He who does not think for himself, does not listen to anyone else either”, 9.29
(story 282)
Hesiod the poet, writng to his brother Perses,
Says: “It is good to think for yourseif what shouid be done.
It is, howeaer, aiso good to iisten to one who speaks on what needs to be done.
He who does not think for himseif, does not iearn from others either.
This is the ieast of forbidden things.” 730
This from Hesiod to his brother Perses.
I too use this quote from Hesiod,
Speaking to a friend and most ftng student.

Concerning the phrase “Get thee swifly away from my island, most shameful of creatures!”, 9.30
(story 283)
Odysseus, pushed aiong by the winds to Aeoiia,
(The isiand of Aeoiia is of hegion in Itaiy)
Was deemed worthy of mercy and hospitaiity by Aeoius.
Then he took aii the winds hidden in a sack,
Whiie with the breath of oniy one of them he wouid reach his homeiand.
Because of his careiess aioiaton of Aeoius’ command,
Whiie he was sieeping, before he couid go home, 740
The Ithacans opened the sack of winds,
Thinking it was fuii of money.
The winds aii biew Odysseus and turned him back to sea,
And again brought his ship to Aeoiia.
Aeoius saw him, and rightuiiy incensed, said:
“Didn’t I bind aii the winds,
And aiiowed you oniy one to bear you?
Teii me what reason you had for turning against us,
Uniess it is that you were not iistening to anything I’ae said.
Get thee, then, out of my isiand, you ieast of creatures.” 750

Concerning the phrase “He who leaves the prepared things to chase the unprepared is a fool”, 9.31
(story 284)
Who coined this phrase, I haae sadiy forgotten,
Whether it is from the Odyssey of Homer,
Or by some other poet. For it is as if I had hidden in my chest two books,
Or three or perhaps four, and some god is being difcuit to me, the truth be toid.
It appears, then, that I haae forgotten whose words they are,
For goiden wanded Hermes does not fght with forgetuiness.
For now, it is the most ciear mind that coined the phrase,
You are a fooi, I said to whoeaer wrote it,
Because you cut through the ready profts of your ofces, 760
And persuaded by coid hopes you fee your homeiand.
Concerning the phrase “Shepherd, fght and work in order to receive the two women”, 9.32 (story
285)
Jacob came from Judea to Mesopotamia,
To the house of Laban, his mother ebecca’s brother.
He shepherded his focks for seaen years,
Married his daughter Leah,
Who sufered from ophthaimia, and was the eider in years,
And not achei, the younger and agreeabie one.
Another seaen years he worked besides the frst seaen,
And then married achei in a ceremony iong in the making.

If you wish to iearn from the geneaiogy aiso, iearn. 770

Abraham and Nachor were sons of Terah,
And Haran the eidest, who aiso died frst of them,
Leaaing a son, Lot, and a daughter, Meicha,
Whom her uncie Nachor married.
Both in the Syriac and in the Hebrew tongues,
Meicha means “queen”, and Maichos, “king”.
On Meicha her uncie fathered
Many others, and among them Bethuei.
Bethuei, in turn, fathered Laban and ebecca,
On whom Isaac fathered Esau and Jacob. 780
Jacob, haaing worked for fourteen years,
Had both Leah and achei, daughter of Laban,
And aiso Zeipha and Biiha, who were their handmaidens.
He mated with them, and thus brought forth the tweiae patriarchs.
So now you know the story of the two women.
Andrew of Crete, in the Great Canon,
Ciaims that oniy “Shepherd” and “Work” must haae been said,
“So that you can marry both my daughters,” and that the “fght” was added. Howeaer, I cannot see how
one couid say this:
For I do not know Jacob to haae been a fghter, 790
Whereas I do know this of Leah, achei, Ziipha, and Biiha.

Concerning the phrase “For you are neither made of wood nor of stone”, 9.33 (story 286)
The simpiest ancients conceiaed that humans
Were made of wood and stone,
Aii who were of a human race eariier than theirs.
As Homer has Hector say this
To Achiiies, not needing me to speak of the wood and stone,
Which maidens and young men say,
When maidens and the young conaerse.
The saying goes thus, if it is to be cited correctiy:
“For there is nothing at aii, whether of wood or of stone, 800
To those conaersing,
As when a maid and a bacheior speak to one another.”

Concerning the saying of the Oracle of Bacis “O idle ones, why are you stll sitng? Flee then to the
ends of the earth”, 9.34 (story 287)
When that Persian crown-bearer Xerxes
Came with a heaay feet and untoid foot soidiers,
Campaigning against Atca and aii of Greece,
He made the Greeks fear, and changed the order of nature:
He turned the great and huge mount Athos into sea,
And with duai bridge-making the Heiiespont into iand.
Then the Greeks, greatiy terrifed,
Asked the oracie what wouid happen. 8s0
They heard the Oracie of Bacis’ repiy:
“O useiess ones, why are you stii sitng? Fiee then to the ends of the earth!”

Concerning the Sybil’s saying “The men who have Byzantum as their abode”, 9.35 (story 288)
Some say this was the Sibyi's oracuiar repiy,
Others, that of the Epirote Phanenian oracie.
Another opinion is that it was that of Bacis near Byzantum.
I joined together two parts of the repiies,
As a paiindrome for a student in Byzantum.
Of the two oracies, I said that the Bacidan
Had prophesied then to the Atcs and the Greeks:
This is answer of the Sibyi, or perhaps the Phanenian, 8290
(Because of Byzantum, it seems more iikeiy to be the Sibyi’s).
It foretoid of Diogenes and of the Turks,
Now iet us aiiow the rest to be said, and briefy speak:
“Indeed, at that tme woiaes wiii inhabit the iand of Bithynia,
By the thought of Zeus, and eaii wiii befaii men,
The men who haae Byzantum as their abode.”

Concerning the phrase “A gif in return, except like that which Abraham once brought”, 9.36 (story
289)
We were iearning about how Abraham brought his chiid to God as a gif,
And with fastdious noises set it down.
Then the student sent his own father
To bring us texts and a gif. 830

Concerning the words echpeykes, myops and astrabe, 9.37 (story 290)
Echpeykes, generaiiy meaning woefui and bitter,
eceiaed its name from the pine (peuke) tree.
For the pine, as Staphyius the Naucritan says,
Is woefuiiy destroyed, once the top is cut down.
Echpeykes aiso means anything haaing a bitter pitch-iike taste,
Such as the bitter taste of pitch itseif, or that of sap.
So the chief echpeykes words are as I haae said.
In rhetoricai and cieaer speech, howeaer, it can signify a sharp sweetness as weii.
Once, I spoke, using this word, thus:
“Let him seek an exchpeyke text and prepare it, 840
That is, a text which emphasizes the sending away of bitterness.”

A myops is an insect, a tny creature,

Which brings great pain to nearby cows.
A myops is a diminutae creature, as I haae just said, an insect.
It is aiso a sharp bronze point, which spurs horses to run,
Located in the horse’s heei, in the forward part.

Astrabe is a type of straight wood, used for chariot-boards,

On which the driaer ieans whiie driaing.
The astrabe got its name from the ancients,
Since it kept the board straight, 850
And the driaer from faiiing of.
The more barbaric caii it astrape (iightning),
And say it was cioser to the wheeis.
Others, more barbaric stii of the wisest of peopie,
Say astrabe was the word for the chariot’s shape.
But you shouid caii oniy the chariot-board’s straight wood astrabe.
Astrabe is aiso the seat, which, iike the other astrabe
Heips the rider sit on the horse’s back.
This seems to me to be the usage of the word today.
The seat is caiied astrabe and selma and sella, 860
And a horse-hedolion and aphedron and hedra
And ephestris and myriad other names.
Ephestris, by the way, happens to be a word for cioak.

Concerning the oracle regarding “Thessalian horses”, etc., 9.38 (story 291)
The oracuiar repiy concerning the Thessaiian horses,
Is mentoned by Maximus in his historicai work,
A commentary on Gregory the Great.
But the actuai text is nowhere to be found, nor did Maximus cite eaen a fragment of the oracie.
But Theodoret, in his own book
On caring for Greek suferings,
As I recaii, mentons two words of the text: 870
Patareus as weii, in his writngs, mentons it,
Saying that the Aegeans in Achaea,
Haaing defeated the Aeoiians in a naaai battie,
Donated ffy of the captured enemy ships to the Pythian oracie,
And sent with them peopie to extoi their aictory, as weii as to iearn from the oracie,
“Who among the Greeks are the most maniy and braae?”
And he says the Pythia answered with these words,
Which I preaiousiy spoke of in the story about Ixion,
Specifcaiiy, the part about the Thessaiian horses.
Originaiiy, I thought I had no need to inciude the oracie here, 880
But now that I am conainced of it being appropriate,
Come now, iisten to me say it again:
“Of aii piaces on the earth Peiasgian Argos is the best,
In horses the Thessaiians, in women the Spartans,
And among men those who drink the water of beautfui Arethusa.
But there are stii better, those who
Dweii between Tiryns and appie-fuii Arcadia,
The iinen-cuirass wearing Argiaes, the sharp points of war.
You Aegeans are neither third nor fourth,
Nor eaen tweifh, neither in words nor in numbers.” 890
What I haae just said is exactiy what the oracie did,
Mentoning how the Aegeans inquired with the oracie.
Caiiimachus, howeaer, in his own work,
Says it wasn’t the Aegeans, but rather the Megarians.
Concerning the Cyrenean Silphium, 9.39 (story 292)
The story of Cyrenean silphium awaits you
In the frst book, chapter one hundred and two 73,
And aiso in the second one, chapter forty eight 74,
As weii as chapter one hundred and chapter nineteen 75.
So turn there, and read aii about it.

Concerning the phrase “Quicker and faster than Celer”, 9.40 (story 293)
The omans caii fast peopie celeres, 900
Because of a certain Tyrrhenian named Ceier, of whom I speak.
For they say that, when omuius founded ome,
emus, his brother, mocking the constructon,
Wouid ofen jump oaer the newiy buiit moat.
Whiie jumping one tme, he feii and died in it.
Others say that omuius kiiied him with a thrown spear,
Yet others that it was fast Tyrrhenian Ceier,
Who kiiied him and immediateiy fed to Tyrrhenia.
Because of this, the omans caii any fast person Ceier.
But I, in my eiegant and jocuiar speech, 9s0
Though I am siothfui and siowest of aii waiking men,
Haae now spoken faster than either Ceier or Iphicius.

Concerning Iphiclus, 9.41 (story 294)

Iphicius was the son of Phuiacus, and father of Protesiiaus.
He exceeded aii other men of his tme in speed,
And it is written of him in stories, how he wouid run aboae the corn-feids,
In order not to break up the awns with sheer iightness of his run.

73 See 3.39-48.

74 See 6.s3.

75 See 7.290.
This is written in the frst book,
In the forty second chapter76.

Concerning the phrase “Clever Odysseus and Nestor”, 9.42 (story 295)
Homer speaks of both cieaer Odysseus and Nestor
In his epic. 9290
About Odysseus, in the second book of the Iliad:
“And thus they wouid speak, each iooking at the other:
O how many myriad great things Odysseus has done,
How many exceiient pians has he conceiaed, heimeted in war.”

And Agamemnon has this to say about Nestor,

In aarious piaces, and not oniy in one:
“For these, Father Zeus, Athena, and Apoiio,
Let these ten Achaeans be my counseiiors,
So that by them the city of iordiy Priam
Be quickiy taken by our hands, and sacked.” 930
This is what the Iliad says about Nestor.
In the Odyssey, he is spoken of again:
“He wiii speak no iie, for he is aery wise.”

Concerning the phrase “Has a beter memory than both Isocrates the Orator and Demetrius of
Phalerum”, 9.43 (story 296)
Isocrates was an orator, who aiso wrote on the art.
Aiso Theophrastus himseif, and eariier Tyrtamus.
Eaen if I wrote of Demetrius of Phaiereum instead Isocrates,
Stii they both had much-storied memories in their iiaes.
For both iiaed
Oaer a hundred years, and wrote myriad texts.

76 See 29.s0.
One wrote of kingiy things, arts and exhortatons, 940
Whiie Theophrastus wrote again on character,
And feii oniy one year short of centenarian status.

Concerning the phrase “Momos see all but himself”, 9.44 (story 297)
The storyteiiers say that the Momos and the Lamia
See things pertaining to others, but not those pertaining to themseiaes.
For the Momos has a doubie pouch in its shouiders,
And carries his own things in back of him,
And sees things not his own in front of him.
Thus far is written of the Momos. The Lamia, then,
Whiie at home, coaers its eyes in a aessei,
And sees nothing of its own. But when it goes out, 950
It fnaiiy uses it eyes, and sees aii.
Lucian wrote aii about the Lamia.

Concerning the phrase “my phallinas”, phallina having several meanings, 9.45 (story 298)
The phallina is a fsh of the seas, cetaceous,
Which is caiied phallina because it jumps (hallesthai) into the iight (phos).
For when it comes out of the sea water,
It is heated up by the rays of the sun. So far about this phallina.

There is aiso a iittie creature by the name of phallina,

Which aiso receiaed its name from jumping into iight.
In my commentary on Lycophron 960
I haae written about this iittie creature.
There is another creature caiied phallina,
And aiso psyche, psora, or paraystoumoros,
Which is commoniy caiied a candelosbestra.
The person has not shown up to take away this cow-iike Father (boubalopapas)
In which sacrifce the ietter caiied for seeking of biemishes.

Concerning the phrase “You thought your wise men were Telephuses”, 9.46 (story 299)
This boubalopapas, iooking thus for biemishes,
In order to heip the young men to do this, he wrote of it.
He aiso wrote a truiy barbaric comedy,
About the patriarch Stypes, which fooiishiy said 970
That the patriarch’s brain was a Teiephus.
My God, how barbaric and dense,
You’re steaiing my psyches and phallainas and suchiike,
And writng things iike Boubalos and Boubalopapa and barbaric iyrics.
Aristophanes wrote in his comedies,
How an angry Thenon piayed Teiephus.
There, he more expressiaeiy and usefuiiy,
eceiaes Teiephus instead of a brain.
For Euripides made a drama out of Teiephus,
Which Aeschyius refuted as haaing unsound iogic. 980
He aiso speaks of Teiephus receiaed instead of a brain,
And that Teiephus was stoien from his own drama.
How then couid the patriarch make a drama of Teiephus,
As you say, barbarian, of Teiephus, as he,
And do you think it was at aii speaking of a brain?
That is worthy of a iaugh, eaeryone shouid try it,
Not the pyraystoumenoi and phalainas and psyches.

Concerning the streams of the Nile, 9.47 (story 300)

The Egyptan iaer Niie fows out into seaen mouths,
And waters the whoie iand with foods.
Thus it makes it fruitui and productae. 990
Now, I wrote of the streams of the Niie,
When I shouid haae written of those of the Neiloos or the Neloios.
Or perhaps add an I and write Neilios,
Or add aiso an O and say: Neilioios.
Neileios is but the form of Neleos with a diphthong,
Just as Neileus is Nelesus with a diphthong.

Concerning the phrase “The chatering language of cicadas and Athenians”, 9.48 (story 301)
Cicadas are chattering creatures,
Which in the heat of summer chatter aii the more.
Eaen if someone were to try and stop these fiers,
They oniy become eaen more chattery and troubiesome. s000
Thus there is a proaerb about chattery peopie: s77
“You appear to haae quickiy surpassed the cicadas.”
And as of chattering cicadas, thus of aii chatterers:
The Athenians, iike the cicadas, were highiy aerbose,
Whiie the Spartans, quite the opposite, spoke as iittie as possibie.

Concerning the idiom: “Overfowing even the Ocean”, 10.1 (story 302)
This phrase seems to me hyperboiic,
And not just hyperboiic, but not eaen a simpie hyperboie.
For the Ocean surrounds the entre inhabited worid,
Fuii of seas and iakes.
And who couid possibiy oaerfow it? s0
No one, uniess you cited Homer, or the great Orpheus,
Or Phanneno, or the Sibyi, or someone of the sort.

On why unlucky days are called “unmentonable”, and concerning the word ekphyllos for “foreigner”,
10.2 (story 303)

77 Here begins book X of the Chiliades.

“The hated uniucky day, which eaeryone hates to menton.“
The ancients, too, had their uniucky days,
In which setbacks and cruei twists of fate were wont to occur.
For instance, as befeii the omans of oid,
Who, going out to war and battie,
Lost three hundred of the Fabian cian.
Then they ciosed the gate from which those men had ief,
And no ionger counted that day with the other days of the year. 290
Other natons, too, sufering at fate’s hands,
Wouid not account those days with the rest.
They wouid speak of the days before them, and those afer,
But those days themseiaes they wouid not count.
Instead, they wouid say: “The third day, the day afer that,
The ffh day, the sixth”, and so on, then beginning the cycie again.
So they wouid not at aii speak of the unmentoned days,
But rather speak of “the day before” or “the day afer”.
Now you know why uniucky days are caiied “unmentonabie.”

The word ekphylon or ekphyllon can be defned as: 30

Of another naton, a foreigner, an enemy, barbarian,
Or an expeiied ekphylon, who must be pursued.
For the ancients, when they wished to expei someone from the iand,
Wouid write that person’s name on ieaaes (phylla) or ostraca.
Then they wouid be coiiected in an agreed-upon piace.
If the ieaaes or ostraca amounted to a thousand,
The man wouid be expeiied from here on out.
But if not, he wouid aiiowed to return home.
This process was caiied of oid
Both ekphylophoresis and exostrakismos. 40

Concerning the Typhonian Breath, 10.3 (story 304)

Seaen-headed Typhon is an ancient mythoiogicai creature,
Whom Zeus is said to haae struck down with his iightning.
This is why any exceptonaiiy strong wind can be caiied a Typhon.

Concerning the words episkynion and embrontetos, 10.4 (story 305)

The episkynion is the piace of the eyebrows,
Which, if they are as iow as the eyeiids,
Giae one an unciaiiized and wiid iook.
This term owes its origin to the wiidness of cubs (skymnoi) and beasts,
Or perhaps from the aerb “tear” (skyzo).
Now the word embrontetos is chiefy appiied to those who iose their senses
Because of the rattiing of extremeiy heaay thunder. 50
Other words for this are katachrestikos and ekpeplegmenos.

Concerning the heifer and Bashaan, 10.5 (story 306)

The song has this to say about Herodias:
“Now, O such madness of Mainas,
O you, proceeding out of the bitter heifer of Bashaan!”
It uses the word heifer from the prophet,
As once the Empress Eudocia did,
The aery wise daughter of great Leontus,
She who studied grammar with Hyperechius,
Who picked up a iittie from Orion as weii,
And some rhetoric and phiiosophy from others, 60
Said in her transiaton:
“Trees of Bashaan, iisten, as it is written:
I do not haae much to say, just as in Zacharia
Or the transiaton of Daniei.”
For, I haae not yet had the chance
To see and read her eight-aoiume work or her other writngs,
And to biess that goiden Empress.
And thanks to her writng of the goiden days,
Wheneaer such a iady writes,
It is most skiifuiiy, aiiowing no spots. 70

Now those who write the thirty six books of the ignorant beasts,
Which are barbaric and thrice-barbaric,
And they do not write anything with skiii, nor eaen with the appearance of it.
They haae been nurtured by the dung of Circe's non-skiii.
Not oniy do they not wish to aiiow the dung to be chewed,
But eaen if Odysseus brings his Hermes-granted magic herb,
Forming words and measurements, which giae order to iife,
They oniy want to make their skiiis pig-iike
As the iizard does among them, and fith stands in the way 80
Of he who wishes to make them human!
Aii they want is to iaziiy dweii in the dung, and be fed better,
Than the bread of angeis which they wouid haae eaten if they had worked.
But we haae gotten of track with these poiiutons.
Let us take up our story again and iink up with it.
He who sang of the young cow of Basaan,
Was quotng from the prophets, as I said before.
Queen Eudocia, daughter of Leo,
Spoke of the trees of Basaan in aerse
I haae read her two commentaries in aerse, 90
Both the one on Zacharia and on Daniei.
I haae aiso read her writngs, the Homerocentra,
Both speak of the young cow and of Basaan.

Now Hosea taiked about those things himseif, in his own words:
"Israei has madiy gone away, as a young cow driaen mad by stngs.
Aiso Ephraim, as a young cow, has been giaen oaer to strife."

Aiso Amos (iisten to him!), says:

"Young cows of Moab, mountains of Samaria!
Poor iabourers wiii ruie, and the desttute wiii trampie."
Though according to some, Basaan is a Scythian city. s00
Here you haae eaerything there is to know about the young cow of Basaan.

Concerning: “Howling lions, and wolves not of Arabia”, 10.7 (story 307)
Zephaniah said in his book:
“For her ruiers are iike howiing iions,
And her judges as Arabian woiaes.”
And the prophet Habakkuk said of the Chaideans:
“For their horses ieap higher than ieopards,
Sharper eaen than the woiaes of Arabia themseiaes.”
These prophecies appear to me
To haae been taken from an abridgement of the book of prophets.
For who couid iie and deceiae them? ss0

Concerning: “On which may no dew fall, that is, the mountains of Gilboah”, 10.8 (story 308)
When battie was joined around the Giiboah mountains,
Saui was kiiied together with Jonathan.
When Daaid heard, he iamented greatiy.
He cursed the mountains with these words:
“On you, mountains of Giiboah, may no dew faii!”
As the book of Kings records of these eaents.

Concerning Dathan and Abiram, 10.9 (story 309)

Dathan, Abiram, and Annan together with them
Arose to debate with Moses and Aaron.
Saying: “Are not aii hoiy, and the Lord in aii?
How dare you ruie them? Are you not ruier of the Hebrews? s290
You brought us out of a iand fowing with miik and honey,
And caused us to die in the desert!”
With those words they chaiienged Moses,
And the iand spiit open, swaiiowing Dathan and Abiram,
With their tents and aii their possessions.

Concerning: “Don’t say: ‘overlook this sin of theirs’”, 10.10 (story 310)
The hoiy words of the Eaangeiists teach us,
That Christ prayed for those who crucifed him,
Saying: “Father, forgiae them this sin.”
As iater did Stephen, for those who stoned him,
That is, Stephen the Deacon, the frst martyr. s30

Concerning: “But I pray to the avenging spirits”, 10.11 (story 311)

I pray those prayers against whom I haae cursed,
For them to be made thin, to scatter, to be ied away into a wateriess iand.
May eaii be brought against them, whiie I reaei and piay my fute,
And aii good which I haae cursed against them.

Concerning: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb”, 10.12 (story 312)

The famous Job, who sufered so many triais,
Thefs, ioss of weaith and property,
And barbarian raids, and fre from heaaen,
Said: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb.”
And afer his home had been knocked oaer by a aioient wind,
And aii his chiidren kiiied on high, s40
“The Lord,” he said, “gaae, and again he took away from me.
As it seemed good to the Lord, such has befaiien me.”
Concerning: “Beter days, Job, will befall you.”, 10.13 (story 313)
Afer aii those many triais, afer the tests,
With which God tested the aforementoned Job,
With thefs, ioss of weaith and property,
Destructon of home and murder of chiidren,
And eaen unbearabie ieprosy, and poaerty to fnish it aii of,
He gaae him back his former, ciean heaith,
And doubie the amount of chiidren, houses, focks, and the rest.

Concerning: “Leaving the underworld of the dead and the gates of darkness”, 10.14 (story 314)
Poiydorus, son of Hecuba and Priam, s50
Was kiiied by Poiymestor, iord of the Thracians
Once Poiymestor iearned that the Greeks had sacked Troy.
He kiiied Poiydorus and threw him into the nearby sea,
Aithough he had receiaed ransom from Poiydorus’ father to keep him aiiae.
Now when Hecuba was prisoner in the Chersonese,
(for the Greek army was there at the tme),
Poiydorus appeared in a dream to his mother Hecuba,
Teiiing her how Poiymestor had kiiied him,
And toid her a short aersion of the whoie story.
This story has been toid in Euripides’ work: s60
“I haae come, ieaaing the underworid of the dead and the gates of darkness”.
Because of this, we teii those who fee out of cowardiy weakness,
That they wiii rise from the dead.
This we write to the ignorant, not to the iettered.

Concerning: “Are there no graves in Egypt?”, 10.15 (story 315)

When much of the Hebrew peopie died in the desert,
The suraiaors said, sufering much:
“Are there no graaes in Egypt, Moses,
That you haae brought us to the desert to kiii us?”
Then, as it is written, of those compiainers,
Fourteen thousands of men died at once. s70
Whether aii the death befeii the compiainers,
Or whether some died, and then came the compiaint,
Leading to the death of others, oniy God knows.

Concerning: “You ran out from the mountains of Thessalonica and Paeonia”, 10.16 (story 316)
What is now the giorious city of Thessaionica,
Was once but a aiiiage, getng its name from thermos,.
And eaen now the bay of Thessaionica
Is caiied the warm bosom (thermaios kolpos), because of the warm aiiiage (therme kome) it neighbours.
Cassander was the one who buiit the city, Phiiiip’s father-in-iaw,
Who named the city for his spouse, Thessaionica,
Since her name was Thessaionica, daughter of Phiiip. s80
He aiso buiit Cassandreia, naming it afer himseif.
Others say that it was Phiiip. who buiit Thessaionica,
Out of ioae for his daughter, whose name was, as we haae just said, Thessaionica.
Yet others say the name originates from his aictory against the Thessaiians.

Now the Buigarians are the same as the Paeonians, but don’t be fooied by those bufoons.
They think the riaer Axeios is not the same as the Bardares,
Or “Axios” without the diphthong ei,
As if they had neaer heard what Homer said:
“Yet Pyraichmes ied the bent-bowed Paeonians, s90
Whom he had seiected from far away, rushing down from the Axios.”

Of oid they heid sway from Mount Pindos, parts of Larissa,

And from Dyrrachium,
Aimost aii the way to the city of Constantne itseif.
Unti the reign of the great emperor Basii,
Who compieteiy subjugated their narrow territory,
And made them aii subseraient to oman power.

Concerning Herodotus listening to encomiums, 10.17 (story 317)

Herodotus says concerning Pigres and Mantues,
Who were chiefains of the Paeonians, and most hatefui of them,
That once they had taken controi of the Paeonians, 2900
They went to Sardis with their sister,
Whiie Darius was aiso staying there.
(But I think it’s more iikeiy that it was his son Xerxes).
Now they camped nearby, and sent their sister,
With a horse to carry back water and drink.
She ioaded up the horse of whom I spoke with drink,
Fiiied up with water the aessei attached to it,
And put it on her head, and with her hand she carried it.
Then, hoiding the horse’s reins with her bent arm,
She returned to her brothers’ tent. 29s0
Aii the Persians saw her, as weii as their satrap,
And they maraeiied at the young woman, and asked where she was from.
When her brothers feit it was the right tme, they said:
“O Persians, and king of aii Persia,
Aii Paeonian women are iike this.”

Concerning the pygostolos Paeonian women, 10.18 (story 318)

Hesiod wrote to his brother Perses:
“Don’t iet a pygostolos woman deceiae your mind.”
Now the word pygostolos can be interpreted in two ways:
Either it comes from the decoratons the woman puts on her arms 29290
And iegs, or from decoratng the pygas, that is, the parts around a seat,
With wide fringes and beits.
And the Paeonian daughter were of this sort,
And eaen now, in their recent seraitude,
Which the great and powerfui Basii
Ensiaaed the entre Paeonian race.
For their women stii decorate their behinds
With wide beits, taiis, and many fringes.
Their iegs are simiiariy decorated,
With braceiets of iron, copper, and crystai. 2930
Sometmes they use iittie ankie bones,
And other such-iike as braceiets,
To bind their iegs with.

What are, according to golden-tongued Homer, prize-winning and strong, which bring in the prizes
through the gates, 10.19 (story 319)
Homer, in Book 9 of the Iliad, has Agamemnon
Trying to make amends to Achiiies,
Bringing him many aarious gifs:
“Twenty smouidering cauidrons, and tweiae strong horses,
Prize-winning, which bring the prize using their feet”
When Homer says strong (pegos), he means weii fed,
And says that they used their feet to win the prizes. 2940
But I, jestng, say he meant behind (pygos),
So they used their behinds, not feet in order to win.
Now iisten what you shouid caii them.
I haae changed pegos to pyrgos,
And that the horses used their pyrgoses, not their feet.
Again, this is a parody which I made with my artui mind,
Which shouid be read in jest,
Knowing that it is a comedy,
Just as I, ignorant of the Emperor, write to you.
Concerning the bones which Ezekiel saw, 10.20 (story 320)
Long ago, the great prophet Ezekiei 2950
Beheid a feid fuii of dead men’s bones.
“O son of man” said a dreadfui aoice,
“Prophesy, if indeed these bones wiii iiae.”
Aferwards, the spirit of God descended upon them,
And bone was bound again to bone in harmony,
And fesh, skin, and iiaing spirit was giaen
To those dry bones, and immediateiy they iiaed again.
And those iatter-day peopie rose aii,
Becoming aery many, a great camp,
A sign of faith in the iast resurrecton, which we await. 2960

Concerning the Cumaean lion, 10.21 (story 321)

An ass born in Cumae, which is iarger than the other asses,
Eaen though it seems to be a iion, can be distnguished by its aoice.
You’ii fnd this aiso in the tweifh aoiume 78.

Concerning the journeys of Alexander and Lysippos’ statue, 10.22 (story 322)
The story iies in a ietter,
About which we wiii speak in a short whiie.
Aiexander the Macedonian, the great king,
Was aexed at haaing spent more tme than expected.
Then Lysippos the scuiptor came,
And scuipted Time with wise forethought,
Light, baid in the back of his head, wing-footed. 2970
In the front of the fgure he put a dagger
egarding eaeryone who saw it, warning them not to exceed their tme.

78 See 4.33.
This is aiso the twenteth story in the second aoiume 79,
Where you can iearn more about this.

Concerning the nonsense that the statue of tme is a statue of lifetme only, 10.23 (story 323)
Very iearned men, phiiosophers,
Who haae iearned with taras, practce, and high priesthood,
And haae reached a not insignifcant ieaei of iearning
Named it the steie of Life, twistng and corruptng things.
For they couid not conceiae of an image of Time,
Which, as I said, Lysippos made. 2980
I, mocking their feaerish fooiishness,
Haae aiready shown and guided in writng their fooiishness,
Which they dispiayed eariier.

For aiso the Uzzite Job, in his eponymous book,

Said: “Who couid put me once more in the preceding months and days?”
He was not speaking about his staton and weaith in iife,
For eaen he found a better iife in the end.
But tme gone by no one can reciaim.

And Demosthenes writes that

Lysippos wrote with iightness and faiiacious thinking 2990
No one has appeared tii now who couid make an image of Life.

Now I wouid recommend to those writng iiaes

To write iiaes of great men, of thrones, kingdoms, praises,
And of storms of deep shadow, hiding and darkening aii.

Concerning: “But even God cannot change things gone by”, 10.24 (story 324)

79 See 8.45.
God is aii-powerfui, but eaen He is not powerfui enough
To do one thing: to render as to haae neaer happened or gone by
Past tme, and things aiready done.
God forbid that this shouid be,
What Sophocies and myriad others haae written.

Concerning: “O porton of the golden race!”, 10.25 (story 325)

Hesiod says in the Works and Days 300
“The frst race of mortai men was goiden,
Made by the immortais, whose homes are in Oiympus.”
And Aratus, in the Phaeonomena:
“So it was, when he who had nourished the goiden race,
Now nourished one of siiaer, iesser, and not at aii aiike.”
The goiden race was of men who had no mixing with eaii at aii.
Because of that race of goid we giae the name men
To those who do something great in their iiaes.

That: “The Kerkaurian Phaeacans were reported to be the greatest sailors of all men”, 10.26 (story
326)
The Kerkaurian Phaeacans, in the Odyssey,
Are reported by Homer to be the greatest saiiors of aii men 3s0
For they bent their minds and hearts soieiy to the art of ship craf,
And aii their cites, piaces and feids, seas and harbours
Stood aione, with no one captain.

Concerning: “Of the Phaeacan women, skilled in weaving, like the leaves of the tall black poplar”,
10.27 (story 327)
Homer, in the Odyssey, as I haae preaiousiy stated,
Deciared that the Phaeacans were the greatest saiiors of aii men,
And he desired to show that their women were greater than aii others
In the art of weaaing.
As the Phaecan men, he says, were best of aii
In the goaerning of the ship and its captaining at sea,
So the Phaeacan women were the greatest of aii women 3290
In the skiii of weaaing in the piaces of weaaing.
To quote him: “They sit, iike ieaaes of the taii biack popiar,
Their kairosis iinen watered by wet oiiae oii.”
Thus far of history. But it faiis to me to interpret the word
So that you wiii not be fooiish, as others haae been.
Kairosis is the joining of the high iinen,
The cioseness, the putng together of thread and warp,
From which great cioseness the best is composed,
As a web of shining bright iight. 330
Such is the brightness and shining of the oiiae oii.

Concerning: “To outdo the Maeonian women’s wonder-working dye”, 10.28 (story 328)
Homer says, in Book 4 of the Iliad
That when Meneiaus took Pandarus’ bow
And dipped the string in a fow of biood,
Homer deciaims, jestng at the pain of others,
“As when a Meonian or Kaeran woman uses red dye on iaory
To decorate the jaws of horses”
But I shouid write eaerything to the iast, in order to speak to satsfacton
(For neither do I trust those who simpiy quote of the tops of their heads):
“So were your biood stained strings, Meneiaus, 340
Weii made, with your shanks and ankies underneath.”

Now you, haaing heard of “Meonian” and “Kaerean” women,

You shouid know and not be ignorant of who those are.
The Kareans were women of Caria,
And the Meonian, inhabitants of Lydia,
Which eariier were ruied by Sardis.

“They decorate me with Milesian feeces, Cerdician work, moving on the right”, 10.29 (story 329)
There is an oid story about feeces in Miietus:
“Miiesian wooi is the best of aii,
Though the Coraxian runs a ciose second.”
So when Themistocies fed from Athens to the Persians 350
(For he had been condemned by the Athenians
For being an insider in Persians circies and acquainted with Xerxes)
He receiaed from Artaxerxes, the aforementoned Xerxes’ son,
Three cites as a gif:
Myra, Myous, and with them Miietus, of which I spoke.
Miietus he took for the feeces, and the others for the wine and fsh.
Others say that he was giaen fae cites:
Myra, Myous, Miietus, Lampsacus, and Magnesia.
For wine, fsh, feeces, bread, and for footwear.
Yet others say there were seaen cites giaen to him, 360
The aforementoned ones, pius Paiaeskepsa, and another one,
Piease forgiae us if it escapes me at the moment.
“I haae a siiaer diainity which can predict anything”
Those who see me know and keep beyond me,
If we write from books, or with great care,
And if that book is not aiready written,
And if it wouid not be quicker to write something of the sort,
Eaen more if I haae copied from some other book.

The fact that Miietus had such beautfui feeces,

Many others menton, as does Aristophanes, 370
When he has Dionysus in the Frogs
Speak thus to his seraant Xanthias:
“It wouid be funny, if you, Xanthias the seraant,
Were to reciine on a bed made from a feece of Miietan wooi,
Screwing a dancing giri, whiie I, as if I was your seraant,
Were to bring you a chamber pot to piss in.”

Many haae spoken about the Miiesian wooi,

And about the Coraxian aariety
Hipponax in his frst iambic said in trochaic metre:
“Ciad in a robe of Coraxian wooi” 380
You shouid know that Coraxians are a naton of makers of fne cioth.

Concerning: “And I blame the oracle, because it did not atribute the frst rank to Thebes”, 10.30 (story
330)
Aboae, I haae cited the oracie, and now I wiii quote the beginning:
“Of aii the earth Peiasgian Argos is best,
Of horses the Thracians, of women the Lacedaemonians.
But the men who drink the water of fair Arethusa.”
This story iies aiso in an eariier piace of my stories,
You wiii fnd it frst in the two hundred and nineteth one 80.
Turning to which you wiii iearn aii accurateiy and in detaii.

Concerning the fowing of the Ismenus River, 10.31 (story 331)

The Ismenus, the riaer of seaen-gated Thebes,
And Dirce, the naturai spring of its waters, 390
Gif the webs which are found in the Theban countryside,
With transiucency, shining, and much smoothness.
But the artfciai spring was made by working hands.

80 See 9.38.
Concerning: “What kind of thing again is it, not to grow golden-helmed corn, to take hold of you as
well, the second Ismenus?”, 10.32 (story 332)
The stories teii us that Cadmus, that famous man of oid,
eceiaed an oracie instructng him to buy a cow from a farmer,
A man by the name of Peiagontos.
Because the cow was a sign of such and such things,
And was to be his guide on the road.
For whereaer the cow might crouch down and faii,
Cadmus was to siaughter it and sacrifce it on that aery ground, 400
And to found a city, giaing it whateaer name he pieased.
So he obeyed the oracie, and siaughtered the cow,
Then sent two of his friends, whose names were as foiiows:
One was Deioieon, and the other, Seriphus.
Their mission was to bring water from the spring of Ares for the sacrifce.
But both were kiiied by the dragon which guarded the spring.
So Cadmus kiiied the dragon by stoning it,
And buiit oniy Cadmeia, not Thebes.

For Thebes outside the waiis (of the Cadmeia) was frst buiit
Later on, by famous Zethus, and Amphion of song. 4s0
That Thebes was destroyed stii iater by Aiexander the Great,
With futes, when the Ismenus riaer piayed.
Thebes was rebuiit by a certain athiete,
Whose name, howeaer, escapes my memory.
But aii that was iater. For now, Cadmus,
Afer he buiit the Cadmeia, not Thebes,
Foiiowing the wise adaice of Athena, or perhaps his own cieaerness,
Sowed the teeth of the aforementoned dragon,
From which the goiden-heimed warriors grew,
And began fghtng and warring amongst themseiaes. 4290
Now the story which I haae toid briefy is to be expanded upon,
And now I must interpret aiiegoricaiiy the dragon and its teeth.
You shouid not iisten to taies of iaory teeth,
Grounds made with secret grinders, or the Stoic physician Paiaephatus’
Account, but rather to Tzetzes’ wise one:

Dracon was a bandit ieader, or a iocai chief.

He kiiied Deioieon and Seriphus,
So Cadmus kiiied him in reaenge for his friends.
He took Dracon's teeth, his accompiices in robbery,
His murdering chompers, which infamed the peopie, 430
And “sowed” them, so to speak, dispersing them to aarious piaces:
Coichis, and other piaces, inciuding Thebes itseif,
And married into some of the more sensibie famiiies,
From which he grew a “corn-staik of goiden-heimed giants”,
That is, the inter-reiated goiden-weaponed youth of Thebes,
Who, descended from a iine and race of kings,
Fought for their homeiand and peopie:
From which “seed of teeth” came these fae:
Peior, Oudaius, Chthonius, Echion, and Hyperenor.

So I haae toid you the story and giaen you its aiiegoricai interpretaton. 440
Aii this so that you can iearn, that the Greek aiphabet
Was not inaented by Paiamedes, neither by Phoenix, nor by Cadmus,
As some of the more creduious ancients ciaimed,
As weii as what Tzetzes has been accused of writng,
And of thinking that they made caicuiatons and wrote down aii.
For they did not write down anything, neither opinions nor facts.
Therefore, iisten carefuiiy to the beginning of the oracie that Cadmus receiaed,
And use it to conaince those creduious ones,
Who say that Cadmus inaented writng.
Say: O creduious ones, Tzetzes says these things now: 450
If Cadmus discoaered writng and brought it to Greece,
Teii me, before he came anywhere near Greece,
How couid this oracie haae been uttered:
“Speak then the story of Agenor, oh Cadmus descendant,
And waking up at dawn, ieaae, and go to the diaine Pythia,
Wearing these ioose-ftng ciothes”.
And the rest of the oracie, since it is aiready written
In so many ietters on the coiumns of memory,
Tzetzes does not wish to repeat it here,
Lest he fii up the scroiis with extraneous detaii. 460
That wouid ieaae many taies in iack of a wine pourer
Many stories with broken promises of being written,
obbed of their piace on the writng-tabie,
If this book of scroiis be oaerfiied.
I think you and eaeryone eise aiready know,
Judging from the other part of the oracie,
That eaen before Cadmus, the Greeks had ietters and caicuiatons.
If before Cadmus, that is, before there had been seaen generatons of Greeks,
And aiready aery ancient before Paiamedes’ tme
And eaen before Phoenix, those of whom the creduious ones spoke 470
Aithough they deceiaed eaeryone into thinking that Tzetzes had written thus,
That misbegotten creduiousness, made by eaiidoers thrice oaer,
Is a iie that to a thinking man is equai to death.

Concerning the fame coloured chlanis garment that Syloson gave Darius, 10.33 (story 333)
When Darius was a hypaspist soidier, not yet king,
He receiaed a gif from Syioson: a fame coioured chlanis.
Later, afer he became king of Persia,
He made Syioson king of Samos.
You can fnd this story among my eariier ones,
Written in the ninety-fourth piace 8s.

8s See 3.3s.
Concerning: “When many decades have gone”, 10.34 (story 334)
Oppian, in his book on fshing, 480
Does not say that among fsh, justce is administered by reiigious awe,
But rather that the stronger eat the ofspring of the weaker.
Then he says: “This was on iand too, not iong ago,
When there was no justce at aii, but wars and skirmishes.”
What he meant by this is that iife, too, was just as harsh,
Unti the oman race took hoid of the sceptre of ruie,
And of the omans, chiefy Seaerus and Antoninus.
Then he says to the gods, concerning both of them:
“May you draw them to me and straighten this stumbiing-biock,
When many decades haae gone by.” 490

Concerning the proverb: “I received pyrkaia, anephaiston, and axylon”, 10.35 (story 335)
There was an Egyptan in Noah’s tme, named Hephaestus,
Who was aiso caiied Noah, Dionysius, and Osiris.
He discoaered fre, technoiogy, and aii that comes from fre.
The Greeks adopted this Hephaestus as one of their own,
With many other Egyptan names,
And ciaimed the Egyptan gods as their own,
Seeing as the Greek poets were educated in Egypt,
And taught this knowiedge to the ancestors of Greece.

It is because of this Hephaestus’ discoaery of it

That we caii fre pyr, afer its discoaerer, 500
And for the same reason we caii forest-fres enephaestoi and enxyloi.
There are other kinds of fres caiied enephastoi,
Such as wood-iess (axyloi) fres, caused by iightning or hurricanes,
And the igniton of fre for mourning, and the seething of grief,
Are caiied pyrkaia, anephaiston, and axylon.
Concerning: “What should never have happened”, 10.36 (story 336)
The Greeks say, that when Patrocius feii to Hector in the war,
Nestor’s son Antiochus was tasked with informing Achiiies
Of what had befaiien his faaourite.
When he reached Achiiies, the poem has him say this: 5s0
“Woe is me! O wariike Achiiies, breaker of horses,
Be informed from this message, of what shouid neaer haae happened.
Patrocius iies dead. Now there is fghtng around his
Stripped corpse. For now shining-heimed Hector has his armour.”

Concerning: “And Graces of manifold beauty”, 10.37 (story 337)

Hesiod, in the Theogony, says there are three Graces:
Agiaea and Thaieia, together with Euphrosyne.
I, on the other, say anything pieasurabie is a Grace.
Musaeus, in his taie of Hero and Leander,
Speaks poetcaiiy about Hero’s beauty in these words:
“From many parts did Graces fow. Now the ancients 5290
Lied when they said that there are three Graces. For but one of Hero’s
Laughing eyes contained within it a hundred Graces.”

Concerning the Chalybian iron, 10.38 (story 338)

The Chaiybians are a peopie that iiaes near Trapezus.
They are said to haae been the frst to discoaer iron.
So now they caii bronze Chaiybon bronze as weii,
As though the Chaiybians had discoaered that too.
Concerning: “And if it was created, on what does it rest, driven towards immortality”, 10.39 (story
339)
There are four schoois of thought among phiiosophers concerning the beginning of the worid.
One says that it has no beginning, so this schooi teaches immortaiity of the worid.
Another hoids that it has a beginning and an end.
Yet another that it has no beginning, and yet has an end. 530
And the iast that it was in fact created, but by the design of God,
And in the fuiiness of tme wiii become infnite, and compieteiy tmeiess.
This, I beiieae, is the positon of Piato and Pythagoras.

But Meton, the astroioger, son of Pausanias,

Teiis me it has both a beginning and an end.
He says that the end of the worid wiii be
When the seaen pianets aiign,
And come into the consteiiaton Aquarius, which is the home of Cronus.
He says that eaery iong-iiaed person’s tme
Wiii be counted oaer in this tme, 540
When this aiignment takes piace,
And the end of the worid comes.

Concerning the word anxinous. For intellect (nous) and the capacity of reasoning difer, 10.40 (story
340)
Nouses and nous are attributed to God and the angeis,
But no one usuaiiy attributes it to humans.
We caii humans exephron (sensibie) or anxinous (shrewd).
The most metaphoricai we can get is nouneches (he who has nous).
For we neaer attribute nous to humans, not eaen to Piato.
I teii you that aery few peopie indeed haae nous.
For I’ae aiready proaen this eariier, aery cieariy:
Instead of saying logismon (capacity of reasoning), we ofen say nous. 550
For the logismon is the training-piace of reasoning.
But the nous is refned and thinks faster than reasoning can reason.
But you wiii fnd this
In the one hundred forty third of my second histories 829,
To which you can turn, iook, and iearn aii in detaii.

Tzetzes’ poverty, which calls this life a “feld of weeping and chance, an unstoppable globe movement,
always turning, no beter than a fever dream”, 10.41 (story 341)
Consider, my chiid, Tzetzes’ poaerty in reasoning.
For I caii this iife on Earth a feid of weeping,
And chance, and an unstoppabie moaement of a giobe,
And moreoaer wheeiing about in motons of aii kinds.
In additon, aiso “nothing” and feaerish, 560
And I caii it a feid of weeping because,
It is fuii of pain, disaster, abuse, and tears.
And because it acts erratcaiiy and in contradictons,
I caii it “chance”. For, just as in games of chance,
In diferent tmes it yieids diferent resuits, so in iife
In diferent tmes diferent eaents of aii types may occur.
And I caii it an eaer-turning giobe, because it cannot stay stii,
For it aiways turns and cannot be tamed.
And again, I add the ttie of “no better than a feaer dream”,
Because in the darkness and smoke of iife 570
There is empty giory in aii piaces and aii types of deiusions,
Which none of us reckons of any account,
Since honour and giory and aii fame in this iife
Is smoke, and quickiy dissoiaes into the air.
Goid is no more than paie ciay, and woaen robes are dust,
And one by one our ashes are scattered aii.

829 See 7.44.

The proverb: “For you were not the frst or alone in sufering that which you did”, 10.42 (story 342)
For those whose iot it is to sufer something frst or aione,
There is exceedingiy great pain. But pain shared with others is easier to bear.
The bitter terror of sufering aione, as weii as that of sufering aione,
Is testfed to by Sophocies, in these words: 580
“For sufering at home, with no one
To heip, bears within it great pain. “
Sophocies showed how bitter it is
To sufer aione. Democrates,
On the other hand, shows how within reason pain is when shared with another.
For he said that, when Darius mourned his wife,
And ordered a magus priest to raise her,
The priest said that if he couid fnd
The names of three men with no sorrow,
He shouid write them on his wife’s tomb.
Darius found none, so Democritus repiied: 590
“O King Darius! In aii eternity no one has been
Without sorrow in this iife. So how is it
That you wish to iiae this iife without sorrow?
Bear your sorrows with others, and you wiii bear them within reason.“
Which thing Darius did immediateiy,
And managed to iimit his immeasurabie pain.

To those who practce the Philosophy of Being, 10.43 (story 343)

There is a faise and aerbose phiiosophy,
Practsed by monks, caiied the “Phiiosophy of Being”.
It is the study of death and the passing of the fesh,
And knowiedge of what can truiy be said to be. 600
It concerns itseif aiso with the iikeness of God, so far as it is possibie for man,
And ioaes more than God and wisdom
(The craf of crafs and the science of sciences,
And, I dare say, a great music, a heaier of souis),
As weii as any other boundaries that may exist for phiiosophy.
Since for the other there is not one that fts the borders.

Concerning the Lydian basanos stone, 10.44 (story 344)

The basanos is a Lydian stone used to judge goid,
Whether it is pure or aduiterated, or something in between.
But you haae this story aiready contained
In the one hundred twenty-seaenth of my stories 83. 6s0

Although Homer speaks of “winged words”, he is stll not the only one to have thought of this, 10.45
(story 345)
Homer speaks of “winged words”,
Because, perhaps, their sound is a percussion of air,
Simiiar to the way wings fy.
Or, perhaps, because they fy quickiy.
For there is nothing faster or a better fier than a word.
“I wiii go to Gadeira, and eaen further on.”
In a spiit second, the words are out of my mouth,
How many days, on the other hand, wouid it take a bird to fy to Gadeira?

Concerning Epaminondas the Theban general, 10.46 (story 346)

Epaminondas, who was a Theban generai,
Was the most incorruptbie of aii free souied men. 6290
When someone once brought him money,
Not oniy did Epaminondas refuse, but said:
“Find a crook-footed crippie, or one driaen out of his mind,
And such a bribe wouid beft him.

83 See 7.298.
But it can neaer beft Epaminondas, generai of the Thebans.”
This generai once notced a househoid soidier
Demanding goid from a prisoner.
He immediateiy expeiied his own soidier,
And toid him: “Giae me my own shieid back,
And as for you, go buy yourseif a merchant’s staii.” 630

Concerning Cato the Roman, 10.47 (story 347)

This Cato, who seraed as a oman generai,
Was a contemporary of Antochus, successor of Aiexander.
He was so humbie and incorruptbie,
That he used to work his iands himseif with his househoid siaaes,
And was ofen seen eatng with them at the same tabie,
Chewing and drinking and doing other such things with them.
So much so, that he once became iii, and was toid by his doctor,
That if he did not eat a thrush, he wouid neaer recoaer.
So Cato asked where in the worid he was supposed to get a thrush in summer. 640
He was toid to go iook for some in Luciiius’ gardens.
(For he was the proudest of aii the omans).
But Cato did not want to eat the thrush,
Making the famous quip which I wiii now reiate:
“If Luciiius was not proud, Cato couid not iiae?”
Now you know just how humbie Cato was.

So now I wiii show you how incorruptbie he was.

His fame reached eaen far Britain,
For which reason the Britsh kings wished to meet him.
So they sent emissaries and boxes of goid to him. 650
But the emissaries couid not identfy Cato,
So they went around asking for someone to notfy Cato of their arriaai.
They found him boiiing his own turnips,
So they thought he was a simpie cook.
They asked him if he he couid teii Cato they had arriaed,
That they were emissaries from Britain come to meet him.
“If you’re iooking for Cato,” he said, “that’s me.”
At frst they thought he was joking,
But when they reaiized he was indeed Cato, they paid him the proper respect,
And said: “Cato, generai of the omans, descendants of Aeneas, 660
The kings of Britain, wishing for your friendship,
Haae sent you these goiden boxes.”
He repiied: “Do they wish for my friendship or my siaaery?”
The emissaries answered: “Friendship.”, and he said: “Go away, and take this goid with you!
For oniy siaaery can be bought with money, not friendship.
I can be their friend eaen without gifs.
Aiso, you Britsh emissaries, if one is a generai,
And yet cooks for himseif, and is satsfed with turnips,
Do you think he needs money and possessions?” 670
I haae quoted Cato aerbatm.

If you wish to turn this one story about Cato

Into two, turn to eariier scroiis,
And in the eariier stories you wiii fnd
This aery story of Cato, and another one.
But the aersion giaen here difers from the one giaen there 84.
And if you wish, I can teii you
Ten simiiar stories of Cato and the rest.
For Tzetzes knows each book of histories 680
Accurateiy, not missing eaen a aerse or two.

Concerning Megistas the Acarnian, the Spartan seer, 10.48 (story 348)
Megistas was by race an Acarnian,
But he seraed as a seer to the Spartans.

84 Likeiy referring to 3.9.

His frst act was one night
He went out with some armed Spartans, weii abie to fght,
And whitened their equipment with chaik.
Thus ciad, they entered Xerxes’ camp,
And caused great fear and much murder,
For the Persians thought the Spartans were an army of demons.
This was Megistas’ frst act in the Persian camp. 690

His second act was when Leonidas went out with thousands of Spartans
Intending to bring aii the barbarians to heei.
They were, I think, in the neighbourhood of Euboean Artmesion,
When Megistas forbade aii from going to fght,
“For as many of you go to fght at Artmesion
Wiii aii die at the hands of the barbarians.”
But Leonidas heard this, and said:
“Go then, don’t attack with us,
You can be the remnant of Greece.”
So Leonidas went with oniy his three hundred 700
And kiiied many barbarians in the battie.
But in the end he too feii with the three hundred,
Oaercome by the barbarians’ sheer numbers.

Megistas the renowned, too, was kiiied with them

When they saw that they were doomed to die.
For at the war councii eariier,
When someone asked where they were going,
Leonidas spoke of going to battie,
But in fact intended to die for aii Greece.

Concerning the profession of the Asclepiades, 10.49 (story 349)

Asciepius, son of Apoiio, is a doctor by profession, 7s0
Who iearned medicine from Chiron the centaur.
His birth name was Hepius, but receiaed the name Asciepius,
When he cured Ascies, the ruier of Epidaurus,
Who sufered an incurabie aiiment in his eyes.
Others say that Asciepius is caiied that
Because he does not aiiow men to scellesthai, that is, to die.
That word comes from sceleton, which means a dead man’s skin and bones.
As the greatest of doctors, he cures the most terribie diseases,
And eaen made some dead men to iiae again,
Such as Tyndareus, Hippoiytus, and some others. 7290
Now Asciepiades is the name giaen iiteraiiy
To those who trace their descent from the same cian
(Whether they are doctors or of some other profession),
As did Hippocrates, and myriad others.
But metaphoricaiiy, doctors are aiso caiied Asciepiades, because of their simiiar profession,
For exampie Nicomachus, Aristotie’s father.

Concerning the Senate of the Eye, 10.50 (story 350)

The ancients caiied “eyes” those who were
Kings’ chief men, frst in councii,
Such as Aipistus, son of Batanochus, 730
Whom Aeschyius caiied Xerxes’ “eye”. Aiso Pindar
Ciaims that when Adrastus beheid at Thebes
Seaen hosts of dead men gathered,
And their generais iying on top of each host,
Then he saw Amphiaraus, who was not with the hosts,
For the earth had taken him and his chariot both.
He said: “I mourn Amphiaraus and Oekiedes,
The ‘eye’ of the army which I command.”
Since both a seer and a braae fghter was caiied an ‘eye’.
So far-seeing men were caiied ‘eyes’, 740
As weii by the Persian kings were doers of good,
Seers, doctors, and deiightui men thus named.
Now drawing eaen greater need,
They were fond of giaing nicknames, but in Persian.
For doers of good are caiied orosangs by the Persians.
But we, drawing inspiraton both from the Persians and the ancient Greeks,
Caii anyone famous for something an “eye”.

Concerning the nectar, 10.51 (story 351)

According to mythoiogy ambrosia is a food of the gods,
Thus named because it is “a-brotos”, not for mortais to eat,
And the m was inserted in the middie, in the Aeoiic fashion. 750
Now the drink of the gods is caiied nectar,
From ne the negatae partcie, and kto which means “to kiii”,
So “nectar” is the drink of those who cannot be kiiied.
This, therefore, is the originai meaning of nectar,
But we use it as a metaphor for anything sweet.

Concerning the fox which cheated the crow of a cheese, 10.52 (story 352)
There is a story by Aesop, of a crow that was eatng a cheese.
The fox wanted to take the cheese away from it,
So it said: “How wise you are, crow!
You’re big and beautfui and haae what it takes
To be king of aii the birds, 760
But aii you iack is one song in order to become king.”
The crow answered this fattery
By opening his beak, and ieaaing the cheese.
So the fox got the cheese by deaious tricks,
And ief the crow to brag and craw.
Who englotogastor, nosogastor, cheirogastor, and cheironax are, 10.53 (story 353)
Anyone who speaks in tongues is caiied englotogastor,
As if he is teaching his stomach (gaster) to speak,
Like others teach singing or musicai instruments,
Or actng or fattery, or speaking witiy,
And indeed rhetoric in iegai defence and suchiike arts, 770
Aithough most say that that rhetoric is the oniy way to giae a defence.
You now haae iearned and know who englotgasters are.

Now a nosogastor (metaphoricaiiy) is

Someone who arranges text with reason,
Into commentaries, aerses, and poems, and teaches it (the mind or nous) with them.
A cheirogastor is aiso caiied a cheironax,
Which is someone who works with his hands
And can teach this work, iike any manuai iabourer.
I count writers with this sort. 780
We caii anyone of this kind a cheirogastor,
Who has been educated with his hands. A cheironax, on the other hand,
Is one who owns his hands and nothing eise.
For the word anax has three meanings, iisten to them:
A god, a king, or an owner.

Concerning the Silver Muse, 10.54 (story 354)

Aii the eariy poets wrote for free,
The frst to write for money being Simonides.
You’ii fnd this story toid weii
In the two hundred twenty-eighth story of the present aoiume 85.

85 See 8.73.
Concerning Plato’s sale of his dialogues to Sicily, 10.55 (story 355)
Piato soid his diaiogues, 790
That is, the written aersions, which he made himseif,
In which were questons and answers,
To Dio and Dionysius,
As weii as other interested partes from Siciiy.
Nobody receiaed them as a free gif,
Not eaen Dio, who was his benefactor.
Dio aiso bought a book by Phiioiaus the Pythagorean
From a group of impoaerished widows.
For the Pythagoreans swore to giae out books for free.
So that no one shouid haae to buy Pythagorean books. 800
But Dio appreciated Piato so much
He bought him the book from those women
For a hundred minas, not iight on the scaies.
This pieased Piato aery much, since he wanted that book,
And inspired by them he wrote the Timaeus and his other works.

Dio bought some mimes as weii, Sophron’s book86.

Sophron was a wise man of Syracuse.
This too he gaae to Piato who wanted them.
Inspired by these mimes, he wrote his phiiosophy in the form of diaiogues.
(Since the character Timon in the mime Silloi is depicted drawing). 8s0
So therefore, the aery wise Piato receiaed some faaours from Dio
And did not giae him his wise words for free.

Concerning Plato’s cooking practce, 10.56 (story 356)

Piato the phiiosopher was wont to sit on the ief
Whiie eatng of Siciiian tabies,

86 Aithough this idea, that Piato may haae used Sophon’s books to write his own diaiogues, is fascinatng, we no
ionger haae any reai way to assess it, since the works of this writer are oniy extant in fragments.
According to his writngs on cooking.
Sarabus, I beiieae, and Thearion,
And some others, were those from whom Piato
Learned and iater perfected the art of cooking.
For there was nothing in which that wise man was inexperienced, 8290
Inciuding seraing at the tabies of rich and powerfui men.

Concerning Plato’s fatery of rulers, 10.57 (story 357)

That Piato used to fatter rich and powerfui men
We haae aiready noted. For when he came to Siciiy
He saiied to aisit Dio and Dionysius.
He iiaed with them, as one of their hired workers,
And occasionaiiy said pieasing things to them
More than a free phiiosopher needs to.

Concerning Philistus the Historian and Philoxenus, the Cytherian dithyrambic poet, who educated
Plato, 10.58 (story 358)
This Phiiistus was a history writer,
Whom Dionysius heid in high esteem,
Since he was supposed to haae iain with Dionysius’ mother. 830
He was aiso iame, and when the peopie rebeiied
He was captured and taken away from his charges
Dragged by his iame foot in the middie of the city streets.
I think Timaeus the Siciiian wrote about this,
Andromachus’ son aroused iii wiii,
As one Siciiian to another, as an ingiorious man to a giorious one.
But this taik of Phiiistus is for iater.
During his iifetme, he was highiy honoured by Dionysius.

Phiioxenus then, the writer of dithyrambs,

Was of the Kytherian peopie, but born free. 840
Him too Dionysius ioaed much.
Once, Dionysius gaae him a tragedy, a personai one,
Which he had written himseif. It was earmarked for a great
Performance in Athens. Dionysius said to him: “Phiioxenus,
Look at this tragedy, and if you fnd bad iines, cross them out.”
Phiioxenus went oaer the piay from start to fnish,
And crossed it aii out.
Dionysius sent him away to the quarries,
But immediateiy recaiied him with a ietter.
Phiioxenus wrote back in such a manner, 850
Writng repettaeiy around the issues,
Writng the same thing ten tmes and more,
Which was: “No worries, I don’t care”, and so on.
Now when he had just been brought back to Dionysius,
He heard Dionysius say something again.
Phiioxenus refused to fatter Dionysius,
And said: “Take me back to the quarry!
Neither I nor Tzetzes practce fattery. “
Then Piato and aii the other seraants came in a smaii boat.
So Piato was defeated both by Phiiistus and this Phiioxenus, 860
Bringing Dionysius much for a second tme.

How Plato, caught speaking out against a ruler, was given to Dio but sold to Polis, 10.59 (story 359)
The phiiosophers say that Piato was soid by Dionysius
And giaen to Poiis.
Some say that Dionysius asked Piato:
“Which type of copper is the best, Piato?”
Piato answered: “Dionysius, the best of aii copper
Are the steies fashioned by Aristogeiton and Harmodius 87.”

87 Likeiy referring to their actons, when they kiiied the tyrant Hipparchus.
This is the one siiiy faisehood that phiiosophers haae.
Others say that he was defeated by Piato’s writngs,
And for this reason he was soid as a siaae by Poiis. 870
But this is the fooiishness of truth-hatng peopie.

For Piato was soid by a ship captain named Poiis,

To whom he was either soid and giaen as a gif by Dionysius,
Because he was caught conspiring against the ruier Dio.
Now Dio was Dionysius’ cousin,
And his wife’s brother. Now teii me,
What wouid you not teii your fraternai cousin?
Thus Piato was soid, according to the ruier’s custom.

Howeaer, if the ruier then had been new to power,

Piato wouid neaer haae been soid. 880
Instead, I beiieae, he wouid haae been murdered ten thousand tmes oaer,
Since that is the custom of new ruiers in Siciiy.
Whether his punishment was to serae in Persian and Artaean gaiieys,
Or to sufer some more cruei fate,
He certainiy came to know the terribie custom of ruiers.

How the Aeginetans, intruding on the Laestrygonians’s shores, almost stoned Plato because of their
hatred for Athenians, 10.60 (story 360)
In the Odyssey, Homer says that Odysseus,
Afer six of his friends were deaoured by the Cyciops,
Antphus, Euryieon, Apheidas, Menetus,
As weii as Cepheus and Stratus, with his six remaining friends,
Whose names were Amphidamas, Amphiaius, Lykaon, 890
Antiochus and Aicimus, together with Euryiochus,
Biinded the Cyciops when he was drunk and asieep,
Then took many of his sheep and saiied away.
Then they came to the Laestrygonans, and beached their ships
On the shore, because the inhabitants were cannibais.
Odysseus then ief his ieading ship
Of the shore, whiie the other eieaen
He beached on the shore.
He sent three men to spy out the country,
Who its inhabitants were and what were their customs. 900
So the three men went, and chanced upon a giri carrying water.
She was the daughter of Antphatus, ruier of the Laestrygonans.
She toid them aii about the country, and its ruier.
They foiiowed her, and saw her mother,
Who was as taii as a mountain top, a sight which terrifed them.
She was caiiing for Antphatus to come from the agora.
Then the Laestrygonans, who are not iike humans,
But rather giants, chased Odysseus’ men.
They fed as fast as they couid back to their ships.
The Laestrygonans threw oiiae-press stones that couid crush a man at them. 9s0
Immediateiy a terribie din arose among the ships,
“Of men being annihiiated and ships breaking.”
The Laestrygans’ attack was so ferce,
That they kiiied aii the eieaen who were on the aesseis.
Whiie the massacre was going on on the shore,
Eaen though they saw that the Laestrygans murder to eat,
Odysseus cut his aessei’s cabies,
And was saaed by feeing into the sea.
But the storied deaouring of the Cyciops was actuaiiy human work,
That is murder and siaying which they practsed. 9290
For the Siciiians were, in the far past, caiied Cyciopses,
When they were ignorant of sea-going aesseis,
And wouid kiii out of fear those strangers who arriaed in their territory by ship,
Lest the strangers take oaer their country.
Therefore when Odysseus arriaed in his ships,
They threatened him and kiiied them and his companions.
This is the deaouring spoken of by the writers of stories.

Now this is how the Cyciops was biinded with a fre-brand:

The Siciiians intended to kiii Odysseus by hemming him in.
Odysseus gaae the Cyciops money and got him drunk, 930
Which was an empty trick to kiii them.
So he actuaiiy got them “drunk” on money,
And when it’s said that he and his friends biinded the Cyciops with a fre-brand and fed the isiand,
The fre meant is that of desire for Eipe, his daughter,
Who had attractae eyes. So they stoie her
(since one of Odysseus’s men desired her)
And fed aii, but not before she had woken the guards.
So it became ciear to aii in the area,
That Eipe, the Cyciops’ daughter, had been stoien.
So when the Cyciopses attacked their neighbours the Laestrygonans, 940
The Laestrygonans, as I said, kiiied aii of them,
Except for the one aessei, of which I spoke, Odysseus’.
They took away Eipe the Cyciops’ daughter,
And gaae her back to him. This is what happened,
Eaen though Homer does not reaeai this part of the story.

Now iater, when against these same Laestrygonans,

The Aegnetes charged on the shores, through hatred for the Athenians,
They aimost stoned Piato to death.
For the Aegnetes were friends of the Megarans,
Whom Pericies banned compieteiy, 950
From aii markets and ports in Athens.
This decree was written on a board and put up in the middie of the agora.
On it Pericies wrote the reason for the ban:
The Megarans had cut the god’s orgas,
(the orgas was a hoiy garden that was not to be touched).
This was the reason Pericies gaae the Megarans.
I, Tzetzes, teii you, but you shouid inaestgate yourseif:
Pericies iied, but now he unwiiiingiy teiis the truth:
Aspasia, the Megaran courtesan,
Used to be Pericies’ iawfui wife. 960
Once, when she was waiking around the suburbs,
With honour and a procession and many seraants,
The Megarans knew, as before, that she was a goddess’ orgas,
Of Aphrodite, that is, not of Athena,
So they iaughingiy recounted what she used to be.
If they had cut the orgas, Pericies wouid haae known,
And because of this, Pericies wrote that decree,
Because of which Piato aimost died in Aegina.

How Plato measured the Sicilian Charybdis three tmes, 10.61 (story 361)
Scyiia and Charybdis are in Siciiy.
But Scyiia is made of promontories, 970
Terribie and awfui with its reefs and rocks,
And sea creatures growing up eaeryone without measure.
Charybdis, on the other hand, is a terribie fowing stream,
Fiowing and bubbiing iike a cauidron.
The Senon and Hadrian riaers are responsibie
For this terribie fow, when they fow into the Ionian sea.

Other say that there are three seas, of which I wiii speak,
That make Charybdis so terribie, augmentng the fow:
From the west comes the narrow Tyrrhenian, 980
And from the south the Siciiian, together with that of Crete.
The Cretan sea is the eastern part.
Then from the north the Hadrian riaer,
Which fows into the sea caiied Ionian,
Named for Ionos the Iiiyrian,
Who ruied that piace and its inhabitants.
It is not, as some ciaim, named for Io daughter of Inachus.
For the Tyrrhensian is named for its narrowness,
Pushed by the wind from the others seas,
With no rest, it whiris terribiy, 990
Murmuring terribiy iike a fre-heated cauidron.
The wise Piato saiied it three tmes,
For he was thrice expeiied from Siciiy,
Due to the enmity he had earned with Dio and Dionysius.

How Plato, sold by Polis to the Pythagorean Archytas the Tarentne, made use of his Pythagorean
master and teacher, 10.62 (story 362)
Archytas bought Piato the phiiosopher
From the sea-captain Poiis, who was a Spartate.
Archytas, too, was a phiiosopher, but of the Pythagorean schooi.
He taught his newiy-acquired siaae Pythagorean phiiosophy. For Piato had
In his possession, Phiioiaus the Pythagorean’s book, s000
As weii as the mime of Sophron the Syracusan, s88
Which he had bought preaiousiy from Dio.
Phiioiaus’ book cost him a hundred minas,
But I don’t know how much Sophron’s did, since I wasn’t there.
And Piato stoie eaerything concerning the soui,
And myriad other things, from Phiioiaus,
And wrote the Timaeus and other diaiogues,
Whiie the diaiogue format was miming Sophron’s mimes.
For Sophron’s writngs are repettae:
Consistng aii of questons and answers in turn. s0

88 Here begins book XI of the Chiliades.

The proverb we mentoned before, “at this single anchor we ride”, 11.1 (story 363)
The aesseis in the seas and aery much in the winter
Supported by many anchors and irons,
And just strong enough to fee the waaes of winter
Yet just iike a ship is moored on one anchor,
Brings much difcuity to be saaed in the winter,
Haaing confdence on this singie anchor of hope
And to be the anchor of hope does it mean for me
The one bigger than other anchors, the one for dire straits?
It is the iast one to be depioyed for the ship’s saiaaton.

“We take not gifs from anyone. For we fear of wrongdoings as great as those whom nature has
corrupted and stripped of their true conformatons”, 11.2 (story364)
Tzetzes is a taker of no gifs, by emuiaton of the ancients, 290
Of Epaminondas, of Cato, and of others of their kind,
Whether from ruiers, common feiiows, middie ciasses or iower,
Not wantng to take gifs, from giaers of any amount whatsoeaer,
And thus in the greatest hunger, of the frst among hoiders of giory
Of the one wiiiing to bring aiiowance therefrom to siaaes
To say of him as such to him; you wouid’ae found carers of the eideriy,
And Tzetzes is not ft to iiae as one who tends the eideriy.
For he feared his deeds are harmfui iike how nature mangied them,
Making them iame and biind, crooked and maimed,
For he feared gifs iooking iike proaision of necessites. 30
And yet by way of his own interpretaton he does not take goid
But oniy food and drink, summer’s crops and the iike.
And his own writngs they wish to rewrite
And oniy just by a few bits and by some scrutny
With enough goid he yieided to aiter his works
As did Piato, his predecessor, to his diaiogues.
But Piato indeed made his diaiogues for saie
A fatterer and a butcher he is, and forces eaerything together
To him necessites be giaen, his books to purchase
For hundreds of mina and many more; iike that of Phiioiaus 40
Dion did purchase from the iatter and that of Sophron too.
Tzetzes indeed unwiiiingiy accepted the gifs
For him prepared by Augusta. He feit that it’s burdensome.
He rejoiced toiiing and writng, if oniy he got rewards,
From her singuiar aenerabie ruiership. And one without saiary
He, of aii mankind, rejoices in receiaing gifs.

Historical dicton, what and whence is holiday, 11.3 (story 365)

To me, hoiiday means reiaxaton and iack of work,
Of hoiding, retaining, and stopping by the hand
In moaement of iabour. Any day that hoids this cessaton
Is “choiiday”89, indeed hoiiday. 50
According to Aeoiians and Ionians of the chi conaerted
Into writng the unaspirated kappa. For they are of the non-aspiraters
Whiie seidom do the Atcs read the aspirates unaspiratediy,
As iike this and aiso others. And aitogether are few,
As iike hostel90, but aiso any that are of good rhythm too.
For they more ofen change the non-aspirates into aspirates.
“Hequaiiy”, not equaiiy. And “shmooth” not smooth9s.
Thus they read with rough breathing, not with smooth harmony.
And they aspirate eaerything. So what haae we discussed so far?
Smooth are those possessing feshiess rumps. 60
Thus they pronounce aii unaspirated iike Atcs do, as it seems,
Both hostei and hoiiday too
And those aery few others aiso of good rhythm

89 A pun on the sounds of words.

90 Another pun on the sounds of words.
9s Two other puns on the sounds of words, eaidentiy adapted from the originai.
According to Aeoiians and Ionians, they read unaspirated.

Concerning the burn down in Croton, Pythagoras took fight to Metapontum, fast of forty days in
exile, died in the temple of the Muses, 11.4 (story 366)
Pythagoras, the wise man of Samos was from the stock
Of Pythais of Samos indeed, seasonabie beyond nature,
And son of Mnesarchus. Mnesarchus was
a foiiower of the art of ring caraing.
This Pythagoras was indeed ripe for the goddess.
A contemporary aiso of King Poiycrates of Samos, 70
Of The Pharaoh of Egypt, Ahmose by name,
And of the King of the Persians, Cyrus The Great,
Who fought and defeated Croesus, and destroyed Sardis.
Of their contemporaries was this Pythagoras born,
With Thaies did he came down to Pherecydes of Syros,
Aiso the frst of aii who couid be caiied “phiiosophers”.
And afraid of instructng Poiycrates in Samos,
By what maiicious biame was he charged, I keep it a secret,
Departng to Itaiy, thereto he came to teach.
Then, being hated by them, was set abiaze with frewood, 80
Indeed, in the city of Croton was the house of Miio,
Of Miio the wrestier, he of a househoid name.
With many of his students he was set abiaze together.
That is why some say that he was burned.
Some others say he was carried away from the biaze,
The haster students took him away,
Lo, he iet them spread to cast themseiaes as bridges oaer fre,
And across them for him escaping the fre.
Did he escape the fre in that manner as they ciaim? Maybe,
And feeing to Metapontum, in the tempie of the Muses, 90
And being hidden there, unabie to eat bread,
Afer forty whoie days, he passed away in hunger,
Haaing iiaed one hundred years, minus one year oniy.

Regarding Pasicrates (or Stasicrates), the Bithynian sculptor, who made the excellent statue of
Alexander, 11.5 (story 367)
Stasicrates, the bronze worker, was a Bithynian by birth.
And you haae the history on the present tabiet,
The one hundred and ninety nine 929.

That Alexander The Great had twisted neck and eyes of diferent colours, 11.6 (story 368)
The great king Aiexander Son of Phiiip,
Is reputed by aii to haae one eye biue
And the other one dark. In his aery eyes.
He had a concaae neck, it was aiso one-sided. s00
So as to contempiate the sky, to set his gaze upon it.
And Lysippos did depict him as that in bronze.
And Aiexander took pieasure in his depicton,
In the faise fgure by Stasicrates, demented ones.
Because Aiexander was in such form,
And the inscripton shows, what it is,
“The bronze statue resembied the one saying, whiie gazing upon Zeus,
I iay the earth under me, Oh Zeus, you who haae Oiympus in possession.”

History, which said, whether inventons of arguments are indeed oratorical instructon, 11.7 (story
369)

929 See 8.44.

The book the rhetoricai one, saae those of the iecturing
hetors (adaocatng indeed sixty books) ss0
Is a Pentabiblos93 indeed, it is diaided in fae
Into the pre-exercise, the issues, the inaentons and,
Into the styies which itseif is the fourth bookiet
Into the one about method aiso, the ffh.

And indeed the pre-exercises according to Hermogenes

By number into tweiae in quantty succeeds,
efutaton, confrmaton, in one instructon,
Constructs both encomium and inaectae aiike.
Hermogenes did taught so. As Aphthonius did iater,
Made the tweiae into fourteen, s290
efutaton on its own, and confrmaton on its own;
Likewise, encomium on its own as aiso the inaectae.
And not mentoning them coiiectaeiy, as Hermogenes;
Whence from tweiae he created fourteen.
And needing to show me the designated names of items;
Fabie and narratae, and anecdote and aiso maxim,
efutaton, confrmaton, or the commonpiace,
Encomium and inaectae too, and comparison aiong with them.
Personifcaton, descripton, theses and iaw introducton.
The book of pre-exercises does iist these. s30

Indeed Hermogenes instructed to produce the fabie

Sweet, piain and brief and persuasiae in using them
Aphthonius indeed wrote about fabie not just once,
That it becomes ftng for such topics,
But aiso handed down his fabie of the “Ant and the Cicada”,
It is not at aii a fabie, but a kind of epicheirema,
At ieast from the anaiogy of the cicadas and ants.

93 Likeiy an aiiusion to Hermogenes of Tarsus’ fae, partaiiy extant, books.

Ah, the commentators say about this,
It is piain nonsense of non-rhetoricai men.
You heard about the fabie, how does this need writng? s40
Aithough Aphthonius aiiowed it according to both.

But six of these accompany the narratae;

Person, deed, tme, piace, manner and cause,
These are four airtues of narrataes:
Ciear, magnifcent, brief and piausibie.
The new among rhetors speak of Heiienism.
Not magnifcence, according to rhetors past.
Aithough they do show exactiy what I say, these styies.
Seaen items in those same four are united.
Ciarity, grandeur, beauty and rapidity s50
And with them aiso character, sincerity and force,
They form four airtues, those of the story.
Indeed the ciear ciarity, and the magnifcent
Itseif exhibits magnifcence, rapidity does to breaity,
The character and sincerity do to the piausibiiity.

Lo, to haae spoken of the four airtues of a story

To be produced, as I expiained, using the fae styies.
The beauty, this styie together with force
Signify nothing eise than the airtue of the story,
Ciear, magnifcent, brief and piausibie, s60
And that beauty needs to haae the force of the story
That is to say beautfui ianguage, in rhetoricai speech,
And with it, force indeed management,
Thus aii reasonabiy to say, nothing is fruitiess and in aain.

The anecdote and maxim in the topics eight

With these they are furnished, hear their names.
First with an encomiastc and paraphrastc,
Then with the ratonaie and from the opposite,
With anaiogy thereafer and with exampie,
And with testmony of the ancients, and brief epiiogue. s70

Bring the oider testmony of the ancients

Of those saying the anecdote, either indeed aiso the maxim,
Or indeed of the newer ones, and the much oider ones.
Or if you were unabie to bear a testmony of the ancients,
Consuit the inaoked manner according to traditon.
Indeed speaking about anecdote and about maxim with you.
Topics of refutaton and of confrmaton are aiso eight.
A charge of refutaton of the person speaking,
And exhibiton of the deed, the aery thing you refuted.
The unciarity, the impossibiiity and the forceiessness, with these. s80
It is the anacoluthon and the impropriety in iike manner,
And iastiy the inexpediency. And by the opposite
of the refutaton the same topics are;
Approaai of the speaker and an exhibiton of the deeds
Ciarity, piausibiiity, and force together with these,
Acoluthon and propriety together with proftabiiity.
Why do I keep rambiing on things aiready understood? Shaii I waste my papers?
Eaen now one must say the principai things with inteiiigibie reasoning.

The book, as we haae said, of the sophist rhetors

Pentabiblos it was, it is diaided into fae, s90
Into the pre-exercises, the issues, the inaentons,
The styies and into the method of force aiong with them.

Indeed the book of pre-exercises teaches these,

Thus pre-exercises are four pius ten,
As too each of these needs to be written skiifuiiy.

And the issues do teach thirteen issues.

First indeed the conjecture, secondiy the defniton,
And third the pragmatc, fourthiy the counter-ciaim,
Counter-stance, counter-charge, transference, pardon,
Letter and spirit of the iaw, and aiso inference, 2900
Confict of iaws, and then the iegai ambiguity.
And the counter-piea aiong with them forms thirteen.
And then the topics of each is reckoned.
And you haae the quaiites of the bookiet of issues.

Now iearn of the bookiet about inaentons.

Indeed the bookiet is portoned into four sectons;
And indeed the frst teaches thoroughiy on introductons,
It set down the four kinds of introductons;
The one from the suppositon of persons and deeds,
From suppositon and from superfuity, 29s0
Out of season, the fourth. These are of the frst porton.
The second porton of the bookiet teaches,
Not to describe straight afer the introducton,
(It deems and says that such a thing is unskiifui)
And to empioy a preparaton, and with preiiminary narraton,
Then, they say, to proceed towards narraton.

The stupid, non-rhetoricai Tzetzes to the eparch

The Pansebastos of the Camaterus famiiy by birth
“As he summoned that rhetor in his nobie houses
with high tes of the ethereai Daedaius 29290
That gaping-shoe wearer, that cobbier, that wooden awier,
That bufaio, that orchid daddy, that rurai hick, that biack feit shoe wearer,
“hat jar, that maiiow basket and that stony form,
That shadowy idoi of a nightiy demon.
Does not heaaen groan and earth itseif spacious?”

“And do I not kindie spiendours of ethereai fre?

The sea does not make gushes, and washes the earth with waaes,
I saw a bufaio within the royai court,
Ofering the disgrace of our city.”

This is the eparch’s Tzetzes, the non-rhetoricai one 2930

The one heraiding a rhetor as a kind of bufaio,
Into that which is about inaentons in the second secton
Of of Hermogenes saying with these aery words, he teaches,
Not to describe straight afer the introducton,
He says this is indeed unskiifui and a mark of peopie non-rhetoricai,
And to empioy a preparaton, and with preiiminary narraton,
And then to proceed towards narraton, just as he teaches to;
This is Tzetzes the one who contradicts you saying twice,
Saying, the preparaton and preiiminary narraton
And they say, as you do now, “aiiusion to things done before” 2940
Comprehensiaeiy, they say to haae spoken of things to come,
You must sureiy speak of a kind of pre-confrmaton.
But not, he says, it is eaer appropriate nor skiifui,
As you say, as did Hermogenes, to empioy a preparaton.
In some piaces indeed it is skiifui to empioy introductons,
With one, two, three or four, or many more;
Then again, somewhere eise, not to empioy eaen one;
And eisewhere yet it is naturai for thee to be skiifui, he says,
Not oniy indeed to empioy, as you say, preiiminary narraton,
But aiso not to iay down narraton aii together; 2950
As eisewhere it is ftng not to empioy assembiies,
In others, again, it is ftng not to say an epiiogue.
But the stupid one of the eparch managed to confound you,
The reasoner of the ancients, not a book through iampoons,
Of the iogisms, grammarians, rhetors, phiiosophers,
Of the metricians, historians, mechanics and others.
But just as that one Achiiies struck Teiephus’ wounds
He himseif wiii cure thy confusions ciear.
Pentabiblos, as I said, the book of rhetors,
And it instructs the bookiet of pre-exercises, 2960
It does aiso the bookiet of issues, that we taught before.

The one about inaentons has four sectons;

The frst teaches about its introductons.
There are four kinds of introductons,
The one from the suppositon of persons and deeds,
The one from the suppositon and from superfuity,
Out of season, the fourth. These are of the frst porton.
And yet the introducton, not as far as it needs eiaboratng.

The second porton of the bookiet teaches,

Not to describe straight afer the introducton, 2970
It deems and says that such a thing is unskiifui;
And to empioy a preparaton and with preiiminary narraton,
Then, they say, to proceed towards narraton.
We came to triai examining them in breadth.

And it says a need to ampiify the narraton with its manners.

And it teaches thee the three manners of narratons,
Simpie, confrmatory and eiaborate,
As weii as where to properiy empioy each of the three.
These are what the second secton thereof teaches you.
The third secton thereof is about inaentons. 2980
It teaches you introductons and dissoiutons of topics,
Since your topics do need to be appositeiy introduced,
Unique, beautfui is the deed that you wish to achieae.
Eaen if you were to aptiy introduce, it needs to be done as this:
First with epicheirema, and then with ergasia,
And thirdiy, with enthymeme. And this is conciusion.
And with its epenthymeme, sometmes aiso with the plaston.
Indeed, it teaches to introduce your topics in such a manner.

Then again, to dissoiae the topics of your opponent in suit,

First, I iay it down for you with these aery same four, 2990
With protasis and hypophora, with antiprotasis and dissoiuton.
Beside these four, he aiso said to empioy a thesis,
Its arsis, not the thesis, says this stupid one to you;
Indeed, this is not a necessity, nor be eiegant through anything.
And with the epicheirema, then with the ergasia,
Then with the enthymeme, this secton conciudes them.
And if you wiii, with enthymeme and plaston,
The third secton of inaentons, does he teach to you.

The fourth secton thereof is about inaentons,

It teaches fourteen schemes of the assembiies, 300
Tzetzes himseif says it be according to hypothesis,
The aery one mistakeniy naming antitheton.
In it, he expiains about method of shrewdness,
Taiking about antitheton on one hand, as he mistook it here.
And Tzetzes is inciined to be such, proaes to the wise ones.
But on the other hand, iearn the fourteen schemes thereof.
Antitheton, period, pneuma and the acme too,
Tasis, dilemmaton, parechesis and cycie,
The epiphonema, the trope and soiemnity of speech,
And then bad taste and coaert aiiusion, 3s0
And he brings forward the fnai comparison of probiems.
Now you haae aii four sectons of inaentons.

The book of styies is diaided into two.

And the frst, he says to you, seaen styies in the foiiowing manner,
Ciarity, grandeur, beauty and rapidity
And with the aboae: character, sincerity and force too,
He teaches that naturaiiy there are three principai ones thereof
Ciarity and grandeur aiong with character,
Saying to you that out of the rest of the styies, they are together;
That there are the remaining four thereof 3290
The beauty, the rapidity, and the sincerity,
And the force itseif, he says to you, is with the other three.
Thus the aforementoned, he says, they are the seaen,
Then the forgetui one to say those seaen things,
He giaes in such a way six;
Styies of poetc ciarity, indeed he says,
It is the iucidity aiong with the iimpidity.
Again, there are six of grandeur, these are their names:
Soiemnity and ampiifcaton, ruggedness and briiiiance,
Aiong with them, the ffh is strength, the sixth is aehemence. 330

The poetc of character are four, these are their names:

easonabiiity, simpiicity, sincerity, graaity.
And yet the graaity can not unite by itseif.
From the reasonabiiity, it and simpiicity
You shouid now see the truth, how it forms in the character,
And the seaen thereof he said before, how they’re six now of one.

And then eight eiements of styies of each,

Of the specifcs, not of the principai, iearn thou these, says he.
Thought, approach, dicton, schemes, and aiso ciauses,
Word order and cadence, and with them the rhythm too. 340
And in the frst secton of the styies he indeed teaches,
From the seaen-six styies, around three and one,
About the ciarity, magnifcence and about the beauty.
In the second secton too he says the four-three,
Vehemence, character, sincerity, and force with them.
The four styies of character he taught you.
He said, the frst of them is sincerity.
In the second secton indeed he teaches about them.
And naturaiiy there is a need for a kind of judiciai oraton,
A panegyric kind, and a kind of debate. 350
And then types of sophistcated oratons, he teaches,
And he fnishes the book of styies for the rest.

In the bookiet regarding method of force,

Writng not one worthy thing of method of force
Teaching fae and thirty ways aione,
And other than them obscureiy, as the frst has,
Others faiseiy, unskiifuiiy too, did Tzetzes teach.
Again eisewhere other rhetors, phiiosophers,
And pursuing the art of iogic in whoie superfciaiiy.
Certainiy the whoie book has been written by Tzetzes, he of iogisms, 360
The uniearned one heraids to the august eparch.
Who is reaiiy the father, the most cieaer of the most cieaer ones,
Teaching aii these, Hermogenes ceased writng,
And conciuded the art of the rhetors,
In the bookiet regarding method of force to you in it.

Concerning the Atc river Illisus and the honey of Hymetus, 11.8 (story 370)
The Iiiisus, as we said before, was a riaer,
Fiowing in that of Athens. Mount Hymettus,
On which the sweetest honey of any kind of honey.
A mark of this Hymetan honey,
That fies do not touch upon it, nor settie thereon. 370
It is thought thyme is the cause for this.
Hymettus produces herbs, by the name of thyme,
From which the honey is produced by the iocai bees,
Wherefore fies fee, due to the pungency of thyme.

Concerning the gifs which Anthony gave to Cleopatra, 11.9 (story 371)
You haae this history most beauteousiy in its entrety,
Written by me in number two hundred ffy three 94.

Concerning that by swif Ares and Athena, and that by me will be taken care of by fair maidens, 11.10
(story 372)
Two histories indeed, being written as if one,
And others eisewhere, being said thereof by me.
In the Iliad by Homer Aphrodite is toid,
Wounded in the arm by Diomedes using a spear, 380
And teiiing Zeus of her wound in the battie.
And Zeus toid her, keep away from those in battie,
“This is taken care of by the swif Ares and Athena.”
You aiready haae one fnished story.

Hear now this other one, by the one speaking to you.

The western Gaiatans, not the eastern ones,
Of Brennus their soaereign at the tme,
Many myriads crossed oaer the henus,

94 See 8.98.
They ran oaer piundering aii near Greece.
Now they made camp near the Deiphic iand, 390
Intending to piunder the tempie of Apoiio,
To the oracies of Deiphi for fear of them
A prophetc response came down in iambic metre.
“This matter by me wiii be taken care of, and by fair maidens.”
She mentoned fair maidens: Athena and Artemis.
Then from approaed piaces and hard to reach piaces
Oniy the hoiy peopie were set against aii at once
Kiiiing many away from them, and many with the wounded ones
And they terribiy wounded Brennus aiong with them.
The precise number of those wounded, I do not know 400
It was by as many as four hundred thousand,
Or reaiiy forty thousand aiike.

Then Brennus saying that they butchered aii at once

And aiong with the others him not to interfere with them,
Then he persuaded them to go onwards.
Going into Byzantum, and thence passed through
(Whence and where the iocaton of Byzantum is said to be
From their ferrying across) the Gaiatans
By Cappadocia and again by the Haiys iaer.
The one beyond them to the east is caiied Gaiata, 4s0
Of those settiing, they are there diaided in three
Indeed as the oracie says, by me and by fair maidens.
I myseif saying, as I wrote this, fair maidens
As my thoughts, I skiifuiiy craf the words thus.

Concerning nectar and that “I am no god to you”, 11.11 (story 373)

Two histories indeed they are,
Written as one, and others eisewhere,
How with equiaaience the doubie-tripied.
And indeed the frst about nectar is toid to me.
The myths speak of ambrosia, food of the gods,
And nectar is their drink, these are made. 4290
Wantng to show the gods uniike the mortais,
Not to get something perishabie. They made as I said.
Food uniike that of mortais, iike the ambrosia.
And nectar a drink, imperishabie. For to siay is indeed kiii.
Thus is the story regarding nectar.

Hear now the story of “who is no god to you”.

Homer presented Odysseus in Odyssey
ag-wearing, poor, iike a wandering beggar,
To come to Eumaeus into his hands.
And then he iaid upon Teiemachus out of Sparta 430
To come to Eumaeus into their hands.
And there to iook down upon his father, Odysseus.
Oid and poor and wearing rags too,
And to not know who he is and whether of the same iand.
And then to Peneiope his mother
Teiemachus sent of Eumaeus to come,
Odysseus wantng to make himseif known by Teiemachus,
The rags took of a bit going out and away
And he put away his fabricated oid age.
By Athena’s piaits, his rejuaenaton! 440
Suddeniy Teiemachus seeing him changed
Astounded he frst diaerted his eyes,
Nay, what god has come down, that is, wise and magicai.
And he shouted ioud and ciear thus speaking to him,
“Diferent to me, you seem younger than before.
Since, before you seemed oid, poor and with worn-out ciothes.
Now, from the gods, who reside in Oiympus, that is from the stars.
Nay, a god, where you came, that is, wise and magicai.”
Odysseus said to Teiemachus refutng these:
“Not any god to you am I, whom, nay, you compared to the immortais.” 450

Concerning that we do not have a twelve-headed fountain, as Cratnus said, 11.12 (story 374)
At Athens, the nine-headed Caiiirhoe fows,
The comedian, Cratnus, said something thereon;
“Lord Apoiio, of the oracies, of the streams;
To the noisy fount; tweiae-headed fountain;
Iiissus in a throat; what am I to say?”

Concerning oysters and pearls of words, 11.13 (story 375)

In the Indian sea, in the isiand of Perimoude,
And the isiand of Eiura too, and other isiands besides,
And in the ciear and aiso shaiiow sea
“Oyster” being a word, those that produce “pearis”
Both words, they say of peari-producers 460
For they say of them they are made of iightning,
Then again, they say to me, they are hand-made.

And myseif, the frst tme I hear pearis of iightning.

Some say, these oysters are the ones of pearis,
Opening its foids, staying open.
Lightning haaing struck the middie of those foids,
(The sea seems to be shaiiow)
The peari ciosing itseif up at once down these oysters
And they say there is a king of those oysters,
And it produces the biggest and most beautfui peari. 470
And the rest in order. These to me oaer those.
And iearn now the crafed ones, the hand-made ones.
Which is iron fgurine into spheres of peari
And a strong skewer, that hunts pearis,
Enters and sets nearer to the oyster
The iron fgurine, and with the skewer pierces
The oyster, and a substance iike juices fow out of it.
And it, smeited and mouided, bears the soiidity of the peari
These are what the writers say regarding pearis.
I myseif do not conceai the physicai expianaton for the iightning, 480
Then again, I suppose it is nearer to myths that those are from juices.
I say that the sea oaer there is ciear-watered
And the pebbies thither create the coiour siiaer.
And the scaie of the oysters and of the pearis
Are siiaer in coiour, and the coiour of the pearis.
How great the coiours turn out to be within the oysters,
Become more radiant than sheiis in smoothness
And they emit their shine, and are caiied pearis.
And the strongest of aii pearis are from India.
Extremeiy white and giittering, being fair and round. 490
In Brittany and in other piaces
How paie, how orangey and how badiy rounded.

And I know exceiient pearis among pearis.

Smaii pearis shatter and ioose in quaiity
They are rounded bigger. These regarding pearis.
I now caii wordy oysters the books.
At any rate, peari from them, I think, you notced the words.

The proverb saying, and crevices of mountain torrents and springs thereof stand by a rock to bring
forth such a stone, 11.14 (story 376)
Euphrates and Tigris and Indus and Susa,
The riaers of the Chaideans and of India,
Other ones and riaers of the diferent piaces, 500
And more the mountain torrents and fowing at winter,
In the creaices of the rocks which iie by them,
They produce transiucent stones, stones of the precious ones,
Lychnites, amethysts, sapphires, hyacinths,
And aii other substance of precious stones.

Thus, originatng in rocks are the stones.

Other stones aiso take piace at the deepest chasm,
Into depth at the deepest, but aiso of the impassabie ones.
And extraordinary ones of precious stones iie in there.
Since it is impossibie to reach down there, 5s0
Newiy siaughtered, newiy fayed iiaing fesh nearby
There they throw down into the chasm of the stones.
Some stones are stuck together with fesh by the present heat.
The eagies at these piaces iooking down upon the carcasses,
Spreading oaer them, carrying those up.
The stones drop down the rest of the carcasses,
At the top of the rocks and in the piaces there.
Those rock huntngs fnaiiy watching the eagies
They bring the most beautfui hunt, there assembied.

Concerning encyclical educaton, 11.15 (story 377)

Encyciicai iearning, the iyrics properiy speaking, 5290
And aiso properiy the aery frst bearing this name
From the circie, the choir the iyric standing,
Being of ffy men, singing the meiody.
Encyciicai iearning, the iyrics to be properiy speaking,

Secondiy, the encyciicai iearning is caiied

The cycie, the conciusion of aii iearning,
Grammar, rhetoric, phiiosophy itseif,
And of the four arts under it iaid,
Arithmetc, music and geometry
And traaersing heaaen of this astronomy. 530
Generai educaton, secondiy, are aii these.
As Porphyry wrote in the iiaes of phiiosophers,
And countiess other men of those eioquent.
And now generai grammatcai educaton
I said, by excessiae use, not in a word powerfui.

Proverb, which says, “and whether indeed my eyes were running pumpkins” according to the
comedian, 11.16 (story 378)
They say the proaerb, your eyes are running in pumpkins
And the aisibie for them is aitogether unperceiaed.
Far from the biind ones with the biggest sore eyes
The proaerb is said as a hyperboie.
Perhaps what is mucus is the same as pumpkins? 540
Aristophanes mentoned this in The Clouds;
Brings the speaking Socrates to Strepsiades,
Look to the image of iadies going to the ciouds
He says to Socrates that they see not the frst ones.
Then he says, indeed oniy just, neaertheiess he sees them
And then nearer than the same phenomena
Again Socrates says to him, Strepsiades,
Uniess bieary-eyed with pumpkins, aiready to me you behoid them.

Proverb, which says, interweaving of the similarly-built labyrinths, 11.17 (story 379)
The Athenian, Daedaius, for Minos in Crete
The arrangement, a fort much-conaoiuted, spiraiiing 550
And hard to get out of, he did buiid, a iabyrinth by name.
In which is the Minotaur, the buii-man beast.
Many aiso confned within, they were disposed thither
Subjected to the Minotaur indeed, as it pieases him.
And to Euripides to him in the drama Theseus95.
According to some others with hard to unraaei turns.
And as Theseus with six other iads of the same age
And with seaen maidens did send of to Crete
(Due to famine and piague arising in Athens,
Against the same that Androgeus Minos’ soidier 560
The Athenians siew in those piace there,
Eaery year six of Athenians were sent to Crete
Seaen maidens and seaen iads with them
Thus they were to be eaten by the beast, sufering to cease)
And as Theseus was sent there with iads and maidens,
Ariadne, being Minos’ daughter,
Bearing Theseus’ ioae giaes him a thread.
Theseus haaing ted his thread at the opening of the prison
Hoiding fast the other part with his own hands,
Going into the Labyrinth, he siays the Minotaur, 570
He runs out the gathering by the thread with the youths.
That Labyrinth is the one at Crete,
The arrangement, a fort much-conaoiuted, spiraiiing.
And I with cieaerness of fguratae rhetors
Now, I said, hard to unraaei thoughts are iabyrinths.

Concerning “wrynecks” of words, 11.18 (story 380)

Wryneck, the bird, the iittie grebe, moaes its taii,
And we caii it by the name iittie taii-wiggier,
It is a heiper in ioae. It is much of use.
And since specifcaiiy its feathers by the taii

95 No ionger extant.
Giae the greatest beneft, specifcaiiy bone, 580
Is inserted by the chest, the positon iambdoid,
On the charioteers’ spur, the same by their heei.
And the neck of the animai giaes benefts to aii.
And the entre animai is entreiy for ioae,
Stretched out by the feathers upon some wheei
And turned with and upon it in the name of ioae.
Exactiy they knew this to be wryneck.
Others say the weapon, just as Lycophron does.
Some say harmonious harp, others say anything charming.
Whence they say aii, as Tzetzes teaches you, 590
Among the birds, the wryneck, they say, but I said not.
For it exerts magic as for ioae and stern-heartedness.

Concerning geometry and optcs, 11.19 (story 381)

Geometry is usefui for buiiding machines,
For drawing up, bringing, reieasing weights
aaaging stone-conductors and other machines,
And for the biazing fre from mirrors
And aarious maintenance engineering of many things.
Proftabie for bridges and harbour constructon,
And for machines, which create maraeiiing in iife,
Like those of copper, wood, iron and others 600
Being dirty, being moaed, creaking, and those others,
And the measuring of stadia and seas by machines,
And the earth by odometers and myriad others
Works of geometry begot the most ingenious of crafs.

Fiae powers they are, by which aii are produced.

The wedge and the compound puiieys, ieaer and screw,
And with them the axie with wheei.
Weight-roiiers of frame something needing me to deiineate
Mining frame and frames of arms
And the iight mantiets, caiied frames, 6s0
And eaery other machine from the raaaging ones.
And the iifers of weights, one-iimbed stands,
Two-iimbed and three-iimbed too, and aiso four-iimbed,
And aitai quadrant machines, the stone-throwers so to speak,
And aii catapuits of the missiies, and crossbows,
And the raaaging rams and the waiis of the cites,
Ladders and cranes and siege towers on wheeis,
And eaery other machine what needs to be deiineated?
And how buiiding bridge oaer sea and how need be oaer riaers,
And how the boxes, and of some kinds in the arrangement 6290
Needing to be equipped things of the constructon of harbours,
And the ciearings and booms of the harbours;
Geometry is the mother of aii these of them and the rest.

And optcs compietes geometry

With many and aaried machines and with the art of painters
And with arts of images and with scuipture.
For there’s need to comprehend the heights, iengths, weights,
Strength and ftng toois wouid create by the height,
By the iength and by the weight simiiariy proportonate,
And the forms of the paintngs and of the statues aiike. 630
The proportonate height iacks other toois,
And iikewise the iength and weight a thing of the same measure,
The ionger of some, the shorter of others,
Simiiariy with paintngs and scuiptures.
Indeed how as near as possibie to the earth they must be to bear buiiding,
Aii these are cieariy seen to haae the proportonate forms,
How greatiy it shouid need to be raised proportonate to iifing,
And needing to create fuiier forms of these things.
How greatiy in height it is iikeiy to be transpianted high,
If needing to shape the form of these disproportonate ones, 640
As then the standing ones take up the proporton in height;
For the height is wont to capture the percepton.
If you shouid make the image proportonateiy to those down,
Then you shouid iook up at it erected, being ciosed.
And if you shouid shape the form disproportonateiy to those down,
The proportonate height, again, shows the image.
Thus geometry is usefui for many,
And optcs, aiong with it, are aery much usefui for paintngs.

History, which says, a beter advice than that which Isocrates made for Demonicus, 11.20 (story 382)
Isocrates the rhetor was indeed an Athenian by birth,
A son he was of Theodorus, the crafy fute-maker, 650
Of the owner of siaaes who are empioyed to make futes.
This rhetor wrote a book, the art of rhetoric
And with other writngs, and with the compositon to this
He consuited with the three forms of oratory.
For he wrote iawyer-iike words, not aery succinct at aii.
To Euagoras he wrote, king of the Cypriots
Praises and counseis too for Nicocies
Of the iate Euagoras, he wrote to his chiid
Demonicus is the name, many exhortatons.
And indeed he wrote panegyric words and stii others, 660
And the greatest speech during the Panathenaean festaai,
Aristdes did not strip of the whoie mind.
Isocrates is most aiie of aii mankind,
As not to interpret two students together,
To say to one from them, today I shaii say to this,
And again tomorrow, I shaii say to you something periious.
And for some tme, I know not how iong, he wrote his books.
For Lysias says about him, for ten whoie years.
To scarceiy fnish the speech at the Panathenaean.
The rhetor Aicidamas draws this in others. 670
Others say jointiy. And this shows,
The Athenians are bound to fght a battie with Phiiip,
Being aware of the battie, to teii Isocrates of such,
To seai a message of agreement to Phiiip.
Of them initatng both battie and war,
And of going to treaty to him, Phiiip.
Not yet fnishing it, he wrote to the Athenians:
“I being for this and indeed the writng of this,
You shouid frst come to Phiiip to haae peace.”

And Lysias with many rhetors of oid 680

Afer a iong tme, they arranged the compositon thereof.
For Lysias and the others aiike said
I myseif do not wish to organize hastiy.
And Aristdes, the rhetor from Smyrna said,
“We are not of aomited words, but of precise wording”.
Thus aii those rhetors wrote for some tme.
And Isocrates beat them aii in siowness.
As therefore to say about him peopie among the handsome,
We knew a baid man, but again so iarge,
Insofar as the brain be seen in the baidness. 690
He seems to eaeryone sensibie to be of those sufcientiy foui.

The upbringing that of Cato the Roman, 11.21 (story 383)

How Cato educated his son in eaerything
He teaching preciseiy and adaising about eaerything,
You haae the entre history preciseiy in breadth
Laid into the seaenteth topic in the frst book 96.

Concerning that, and the inferior practsing word, 11.22 (story 384)
The inferior word is the weaker.
And many tmes the iying and not truthfui word,
Indeed another is weaker in this respect, the crafsman rhetor,
eadiiy acceptng this worse than the words,
Wantng to show the strength of the crafsmen rhetors, 700
Either preaaiiing oaer the hoiders the stronger ones than words,
The strong ones and truthfui, or the weii-matched
The weak and deceitui, proaen by the strong ones.

They say discoaerer of this one stronger than words

Those more unrefectng to become Piato
efutng them in the brightiy transiucent word
Tzetzes, indeed shows Aristophanes oaer Piato
Consuitng the weaker word more skiifuiiy.
And Socrates, Piato’s teacher, fnishing
Sureiy ieads to anywhere created remembrance of his words, 7s0
Many other not just a few rhetors, phiiosophers,
As Protagoras the most wise found the inferior word.
And more moderateiy refutes those beguiiing ones
Saying Homer oaer aii, but quickiy without a hint,
To become a father of this inferior word,
Of countiess other wise and crafy iessons.
Shows you iower with regards to the inferior word
How in many piaces Homer consuits the Iliad.

96 See 3.9.
Eulogy for fy or fea, 11.23 (story 385)
Indeed Michaei Pseiios sings a euiogy for a fy,
A hundred of years before our fourishing in iife 7290
He creates this by emuiaton of Lucian the Syrian.
For Lucian wrote a euiogy for a fy,
As iater Synesius did a euiogy for baidness.
Against them Dio Chrysostom of Prusa,
Much far more ancient than Synesius,
hetoricaiiy composed a iampoon against baidness.
And others of others composed euiogies and iampoons;
As Piato wrote a iampoon on the art of the rhetors,
Caiiing someone an image of a part of citzenry.
The greater number say Piato has created this, 730
And much those driaing headiong the art of phiiosophy
Practsing to deciare pubiiciy the inferior word.

Tzetzes more iie-ioaing than aii mankind,

Who, hatng truth, you set to death,
He caiis and names these words as fooiery.
He says, according to rhetors, that Piato wrote these,
Burdened by much iii-wiii. For, in the centre of Piato’s
Heart did this take hoid of; For Piato did see
The youth escaping the chatter of phiiosophers
And their empty discourse perfectiy, 740
Lessons being taught useiess for iife,
The schoois of the rhetors being fiied by the youth,
Usefui for iife the iessons taught by them.

Many write those euiogies and iampoons;

As Aicidamas wrote a euiogy for death,
Eiaites, being at the same era as Isocrates.
And Tzetzes the same as Aicidamas and Eiaites,
And wrote and stii writes and says each
Euiogies in death thousands aboae aii,
Indeed haaing known many words of Aicidamas weii, 750
And not acquainted with his euiogy for death.

And others wrote euiogies and iampoons of others

Aristophanes wrote a euiogy for poaerty,
And stronger than weaith he shows poaerty to be,
And much does he show poaerty more forcefui than weaith.
Homer more than aii rhetors, phiiosophers,
Spoke of Diomedes aiong the entre Iliad
And Odyssey with it as weii as in the Iliad,
And a whoie book he wrote a euiogy in it,
He named it the Odyssey based on it. 760
The great Ajax and the siege-tower of the Achaeans,
And Nestor the adaiser, him the honeyed one.
As the adaantage in the army of the Heiienes
The faint-hearted natures of those without sense knew;
In fact, the most terribie of aii the rhetors in iife
Keep siient and accompany forcefuiness of the words,
Saying the one or two contents aione in these,
Books to fii in these adequate words.
For the weak iacks many interpretatons;
The true and powerfui does not iack diaersity. 770
Whence he iaaishes superfuous words by these,
Saying with his words iaaishes upon them.
“You wouid not know Tydides, whether of the two he shouid beiong in,
Either he shouid join with the Trojans, or with the Achaeans.
For he raged into the feid, iooking iike a fuii riaer;”
He says: such did he iead down the bridges, defences, eaerything;
And how great writes he eisewhere aiso regarding the Odyssey,
How great he says in two words he shouid say in books.
He kept Ajax a secret, he says disciosing in one,
“This Ajax is a hero, the Achaeans’ iine of defence.” 780
And from their deeds, again, in other words,
Somewhere indeed Diomedes, the riaer aboae mentoned,
Who bearing the bridges and defences with the currents,
He iikens Hector to a man among the heipiess,
Going back in the rear and encouraging the others,
Like a riaer, Hector seeming to boii and roar;
He portrays Ajax going in the middie of this,
By spear to kiii Amphius, the son of Seiagus,
There in Ajax the spears of the Trojans,
To throw dense haii, were brought by condensaton 790
“Sharp and bright, the defence receiaed many of them.”
Thus Diomedes says in his many words,
With two words he depicted the great Ajax.

In aii bookiets of taies of Odysseus

With two words, again, he depicted Nestor.
Indeed did he not say the alpha somewhere in the book,
“Speech sweeter than honey fowed from the tongue.”
And which in beta his oath for his king
Not to Odysseus, not to any other being aowed to,
As to haae ten Nestors as counseiiors there, 800
Quickiy Troy wouid be destroyed with their counsei.
Thus these many words in this taie.
With Ajax and Nestor in briefer words
Conquers the smaii words of these, except imperceptbiy.

To praise these, feas, baidness, fies,

And to iampoon the rhetoricai and to praise the dead,
To teii of the weaith showing forth this poaerty,
And to teii of Diomedes and him, Odysseus
Aboae the great Ajax and that Nestor,
If Homer were to compare these skiifuiiy, 8s0
And eaery word and praise in such fashion,
Writng things cieariy contrary to the manifest,
The stock of phiiosophers says an inferior word
As Aristophanes shows with The Clouds,
To make fun with it. For he misieads Socrates Strepsiades,
Saying with this, instructng my chiid the words,
“That is the stronger and that the inferior.”
Why yes, the stronger of words preaaiis oaer the inferior,
Therefore phiiosophers caii this, inferior word.
And rhetors of euiogies on forms of probiems 8290
They say that there are four aii together
The doubtui, incredibie, probabie aiong with the improbabie;
Indeed improbabie is a euiogy for a prosttute and or drunkenness,
Probabie is for soiemnity and aii kinds of exceiience,
Doubtui, to praise the deed of those most aaerage,
The aery one who seems iaudabie to some, biameworthy to others;
Incredibie euiogy to me seems to be of those beauteous,
The one beyond the assumpton, expectaton and judgement
Of eaeryone and stii more, it is said to be,
As to praise poaerty, death and baidness, 830
And eaerything of the fashion contrary to the others.

Concerning Clitarchus’ writng regarding the tenthredo, 11.24 (story 386)

The tenthredo is a smaii animai resembiing a bee.
Ciitarchus writes about the tenthredo,
You wiii fnd in the hundredth account of these 97.
And read, turning to the piace thither.

97 See 7.29.
Concerning Phidias and Alcamenes, 11.25 (story 387)
That regarding Phidias and that regarding Aicamenes
You wiii fnd in breadth turning back the writngs
In the one hundredth and ninety third 98.

Concerning silken garments, 11.26 (story 388)

The Seres and the Tocharians, natons near India,
Weaae the most beautfui robes of aii, 840
And much more reaered by the ancients of years,
And the Iberians at eaentde and Coraxians iikewise,
Are weaaers of wooi into the most beautfui robes.
Now, much used, just as the commons, to say,
That from Thebes, from Serica, not mistakeniy as others.

The proverb saying, as practsing the art of Hermes in the highest, 11.27 (story 389)
Diferent arts of Hermes, both words and schoois
And commerce and the rest and thef aiong with these,
To say here whether thef is now the art of Hermes.

Concerning the Stagirian wiseman and the child of Ariston, 11.28 (story 390)
Aristotie the wiseman, the chiid of Nicomachus
From the city of Stagira it was of Oiynthia. 850
Piato the phiiosopher certainiy Athenian by birth,
According to some, Theban, from a district of Thebes,
A district bearing the name Cynocephaius,
Son he was of Ariston, named Aristocies.
Due to being broad in the body

98 See 8.38.
He bore the name Piato from Aristocies;
Just as Theophrastus, more iatteriy than Piato,
Formeriy caiied Tyrtamas, he then was caiied Theophrastus
Due to being the best at speaking and teaching.

Proverb which says, whether as you took out rebuke from me, so was that Phineas, 11.29 (story 391)
The Book of Leviticus teaches it cieariy, 860
As Israei undertook a war with Moabites.
The Moabites were defeated, they did something iike this.
Giaing hariot women fair ciothes gracefuiiy,
In this way they won oaer the peopie of Israei by ruse.
For, whiie they haaing intercourse with the women by intermingiing
Was taken down and destroyed, creatng a great wreck.
And Phineas son of him, Eieazar,
Eieazar is son of that Aaron,
Seeing so great a destructon wrought upon the army,
Finding Zambri and Chasbi, a Moabite woman, 870
Haaing intercourse, piercing with a spear he kiiied them,
And again, aictory was fuifiied by the Israeiites.

Concerning that “indeed earth is full of wise men, and full also is the sea”, 11.30 (story 392)
Indeed Hesiod said in the Works and Days,
“Indeed earth is fuii of aices, and fuii aiso is the sea”.
This according to rhetors is caiied a parody.
For, that indeed earth is fuii of wise men, and fuii aiso is the sea.
The poets say that emendaton is the form,
To be prociaimed by them by way of force.

Concerning that, whether he means a bull statue or a Rhosian sculpture, 11.31 (story 393)
The maies of the race of oxen are caiied buiis.
It is aiso a Scythian race99, which has disappeared since. 880
More piainiy I expiained that the tauri are caiied the rhos,
In which whether you wiii caii buii scuipture as rhososcuipture,
As I interpret for you what are the tauri.

Concerning the handiworks of Daedalus, 11.32 (story 394)

Daedaius, chiid of Eupaiamus or Meton,
Was an Atc architect and a scuiptor,
He made such things, aii the history thereof
Shaii you see in number nineteen of the histories s00.
It bears the writng on the buii of Minos.

Concerning Tantalus standing in the middle of the pool, deprived of water, 11.33 (story 395)
The entre history of Tantaius in detaii
You shaii see in number ten of the histories s0s. 890

Concerning, the fourth is not Rhos, but Mysian by race, 11.34 (story 396)
It is known that the Mysia regions are two;
One Mysia near by Caicus and Oiympus,
The other Mysia, it is known, to be the Hungary,
And the one by the Danube, as I beiieae,
And Ptoiemy wrote obscureiy on a descripton,
As I paraphrase them in iambic aerses.

99 A pun in the word Tauri.

s00 See s.s9.

s0s See 5.s7.

Now, iearn the boundaries oaer Mysia.
Boundary from the west indeed races of Daimatae
From the diaersion of the Saaa riaer indeed of their currents
As far as one does not reach the ridges of the Shar Mountains. 900
Boundary which adaances from the south
As far as this is the iand of the Macedonians,
Beside Mount Orbeios indeed where the foot iies.
Boundary from the east the Thracian race
As far as the Cebrus riaer down the Mysian streams,
As far as Cebrus unites with the Danube.
Boundary from the north a porton of the Saaa iaer
As far as their streams of the Danube.
Near the Cebrus dweiis the Mysian race,
And the Dardanians towards Macedonian iand. 9s0

Singidunum is a Mysian city,

Very much near the streams of the Danube.
Tricornium towards the stream of Muschius,
Dortcum and aiong with Viminacium.
Orrea onwards from the Danube,
Not Vendenis and some other cites.
Uipianum together with Arribantum,
Skopje and Nish, and cites of Mysia.
Of the naton of Dardanians and of the boundaries,
Paraphrasing these indeed, to menton again. 9290
And now down the Mysia it behoaes me to describe.
Towards the west indeed the current of Cebrus fows.
A porton of Thrace is from the south,
Then from Cebrus and towards the foot of Mount Haemus,
And as far as the Pontc iimit of Ermenum.
From the north of the Danube, from Cebrus
As far as towards that city of Axiopoiis,
From which the name Danube becomes Istrum,
And of the streams of Danube as far as the sea.

Again and once more, the eastern side of Mysia 930

Bounded it is by the shore stream
Fiae mouthed is Istrus, it fows to the sea.
Besides which, there was the Thracian mountain ranges.
There iiae down the setng of the Mysia
The race of Tribaiii. Two isiands of Mysia
Located by that sea fow,
The Isiand of Achiiies, indeed the white one.
Borysthenes aiso the other second isiand.
Opposite the Danube a naton of the Goths,
Indeed I said according to a paraphrasis of Thracia. 940

For the rest the arrangement of Thracia is to be defned.

The northern Mysia iower indeed.
From the west positon of upper Mysia,
That of Macedonians rocks before Orbeius,
As far as the mentoned end of the mountain.
Behind some, no possession of rows,
Such they are in this paraphrasing.

Oaer the south indeed the city of the Mysians

Near the sea, not some city among the obscure ones.
And I spoke about the boundaries of the iand of Macedonians. 950

Now it behoaes me to describe the borders of the Macedonians.

Boundary for them from the northeriy portons
The Daimatan side and a side again
Upper Mysian iand aiong with Thrace.
The western positon is the Adriatc sea,
From Dyrrachium and as far as Ceiydnum
Another again, but about the Mysia.
Ciaudius wrote it confoundediy,
So I from him in paraphrase.
Of the Mysia and of the one of Heiiespont 960
Of smaii sorted Mysia the name to bear,
As towards the middie of the mainiand, the city of Scepsis,
And the sacred city of Germe aiongside it.
The iand of the Phrygians, of whom Troy is a city,
The Iiium being towards the middie of the iand.
Learn you again the cites of greatest Mysia.
The frst Daguta, which is the city of Apoiio,
Located aery near to the riaer yndacos,
Then a city which is named afer Trajan,
Aiiyda and Prepenesus, aiias Pergamos. 970
Lands of the Mysians indeed to the northern positon,
How great they iiae at the foot of Oiympius.
The Grimenothurites, again, to the west,
Their city is the city of Trajan.
The Pentademites towards the south,
Of those in the midst of Mysoemmacedoces.

Mixed such as this, he says, in many piaces,

Saying indeed as the Mysians nearest to the Dacians
And by the raised banks of Istrus and riaer Danube,
And as he says, thus he writes as such. 980
In other piaces of the writng, he says, diferentiy.
And I myseif with him organize into iambic metres,
Turning and twistng to compose with contraries.

Consider that we caii Mysians, Ungari.

Writng such and such books,
(Eaen if they were not transcribed, consider thou in these piaces,
First riddies iay mixed)
To senators I seemed, and to which kinds,
In these words they compiete, at ieast not of barbarians,
“Worse” or “of sow”, they distnguished by these aery words. 990
Oaer against them, city queen of the towns,
Pitabiy doubie and tripie I iament you.
For I feared, I feared, by any means not to barbarians
You wouid be handed oaer, captured, you wouid become barbarous,
An ass and a sow wouid feed of you then,
Them you did honour, I did not understand how.

From my iambic aerses you had heard,

A race of Mysians of the writng by Ciaudius,
And cites thereof, eaen if he spoke confusediy.
The rest aiiows the new Geographer. s000
For the marks say not any one of the Mysians, ss029
Countries, cites, mountains, and fow of streams,
And in eaery way he creates composing this.
For, whiie saying one thing, he omits myriads.

On the fact that Galen lived not at the tmes of the Saviour's incarnaton but much earlier, around the
tmes of Antoninus Caracalla. And proof of this fact from the Theriaca of Andromachus addressed to
Nero, 12.1 (story 397)
Gaien the doctor, about whom the word buzzes
Originated from Pergamos, a town ciose to Troy.
He peaked at the tmes of Antoninus Caracaiia.
He was the son of a man of architecture and geometry,
I think named Nicon, but I cannot say for sure.

s029 Here begins book XII of the Chiliades.

Piease don't iet me be accused by those iooking for biemishes. s0
For Tzetzes is not a daemon, and he's writng without books,
And eaen so, as fast as the iightning he's attentae
Not to ieaae out a singie name, a piace, a dot or a tttie.

So Gaien was the chiid of a father architect

And geometer. And his mentor
In the art of medicine was Peiops the doctor.
You now haae the tmes of Gaien cieariy aerifed.
If you want to test these aentriioquists who fooiishiy
Maintain that Gaien iiaed at the tme of Christ,
You may refer to Andromachus' epic iines found in the Theriaca 290
And show them taiking nonsense, proae them wrong rigorousiy.
For Gaien cites the Andromachus' epics
As if Andromachus was prior to himseif.
But Andromachus iiaed by the tmes of Nero,
Those tmes which aiso Peter and Paui witnessed.
The epics wiii eaen better set the tme,
So now iisten and iearn from me.
"Hear about the might of this pharmacist's strong remedy,
Caesar, donor of feariess freedom,
Hear, Nero, for they enciose merry caimness." 30
You iearned that Andromachus iiaed by the tme of Nero
And that Nero was more ancient than Jesus.
Therefore you haae iearned that Gaien came iater than Nero
From remembering that the epics of Andromachus
Were written prior to Gaien. So you can fii in the bianks.

Concerning Palamedes inventng the alphabet. And Tzetzes’ proof that leters existed even before
Palamedes and Cadmus, 12.2 (story 398)
I haae taiked against the common beiief which is aiieged among aii
That Paiamedes inaented the aiphabet.
So eaerybody says that Paiamedes inaented it.
But not the whoie twenty-four ietters and marks,
But oniy sixteen of them; which exactiy you aione wiii iearn. 40
We wiii right away cite which are their names
And who were the ones that inaented them.
They say that sixteen were introduced by Paiamedes.
The three aspirated ones, theta, phi, and chi,
Are said to be inaented by Cadmus from Miietus.
Not the Phoenician from Tyros by the same name, who iiaed in Thebes.
As for the inaentor of the three doubies, zeta, xi and psi,
They ciaim it was Epicharmus from Syracuse.
The two proionged ones eta and omega, are said to
Be estabiished by Simonides, 50
Either that Samian who iiaed in Amorgos,
Or the son of Leoprepes the Ceian, I don't know.
It seems to me they oaeriooked the fact that Simonides
Is name common among many peopie, not just one's.

Thus, the sixteen ietters and marks

Were inaented by Paiamedes according to some.
The other eight by the three men I taiked about,
Cadmus, Epicharmus and Simonides.

But the twenty four ietters and marks

Conjoined together in one body frst appeared - 60
I was the frst to fnd – among the Samians,
Introduced by a schoiar named Caiiistratus,
Initaiiy using sixteen of the ietters
And then using oaeraii nineteen eiements,
And kept expanding the aiphabet up to the twenty-four.
Thus, for the inaenton of the ietters others credit Paiamedes,
Others that Phoenician mentor of Achiiies,
And others cite other ones, but the most say Cadmus,
Being prior to aii the rest, was the one to do it.
I made these errors myseif, persuaded by what was said, 70
Being myseif occupied with other things and studies,
Thinking that they were the ancient technicians of writng
I did not conduct Tzetzes' unique inaestgatons
In which aiways the truth emerges from chaos.

But in Tzetzes research it is now shown

That neither Paiamedes was the one to inaent the ietters,
Nor Phoenix before him, not eaen Cadmus before them.
Because before Paiamedes and Phoenix, Homer taiks
About Proetus in the aoice of Beiierophon
"To siay him he forbear, for his soui had awe of that; 80
But he sent him to Lycia, and gaae him banefui tokens,
Graaing in a foided tabiet many signs and deadiy,
And bade him show these to his own wife's father, that he might be siain."
So you know that there were ietters before Paiamedes
And eaen before Phoenix, from the poems of Homer,
By the tme of the Trojan war.
And from Beiierophon Hippoiochus was born,
And from Hippoiochus Giaucus, the friend of Diomedes.
Thus we proaed them to be wrong, those who ciaim
Either Paiamedes or Phoenix was the inaentor of the aiphabet. 90

Aii of you that ciaim that Cadmus inaented the ietters,

Learn now that you iie, Tzetzes says,
The uneducated and unknowing, the poor in words
Who is in no positon to put peopie to the proof.
Neither those iiars nor the truth-speaking ones
Eaen if he years ago happened to earn six thousand
And then six hundred and by the tme iess yet.
About this Cadmus Tzetzes says s00
That he initaiiy came to Greece from Phoenice
And consuited the oracie about his sister Europe
The oracie ofered the foiiowing diainaton
That he wiii haae Greek acquaintances and ianguage.
And iet's assume that I'ii be ienient and forgiae that.
The message to Cadmus was then giaen in the Phoenician ianguage
And was then transiated into Greek.
Then again you wiii be in error. There were diainatons and ietters
Eaen before Cadmus, and in Greek ianguage, for that matter.
But wiii the oracie's message itseif fuiiy expose the error? ss0
So iisten the oracuiar response that was giaen to Cadmus:
"Say the word Cadmus son of Agenor
Awake before dawn, ieaae the diaine city of Pythos and come here
Wearing a worn-out mantie, with the huntng spear in your hands."
And other things about the response, one needs to know,
And eaerything eise one may want to iearn about it.
If I am abie to recite something by heart, I wiii defniteiy try,
But I'ii not write eaerything, to spare the paper.
Thus we'ae shown them iiars aiready with these giorious hints
Aii those taiking about the originators of the ietters s290
Paiamedes, Phoenix, Cadmus and aii the others.
About them I aiso spoke fooiishiy once, being persuaded,
As I am in eaerything eise that I haae not inquired
With fawiess reasoning and in Tzetzes own way.

Concerning the years of Meton the astronomer, the son of Pausanias, 12.3 (story 399)
Meton was an Athenian, son of Pausanias.
He was aiiae during the 87th Oiympiad;
An exceiient astronomer performing aboae aii others.
He was said to be the frst among aii other astronomers.
He wrote on eaerything, another source of misconceptons,
The Enneadecaeteris and other works. s30
What is said about him is aiso inaccurate.
Let's examine this frst and then eaerything eise.
Pay attenton to the reproofs that Tzetzes presents
With which he has shown many tmes that they'ae erred.
He says that Atias was the frst to become an astronomer
Around the tmes of Osiris, Noah, Dionysus,
When aiso a Heracies, an Egyptan in origin, iiaed.
He iearned the science of the stars from Atias.
Let that be the same oid Atias
Who was among the Greeks, the Libyan astronomer s40
From whom the Greek Heracies acquired the knowiedge.
Weren't they prior to Meton?
Haaen't they both written on astronomy?
Eaen if we iet them go for not writng about these peopie,
The great Orpheus, who was concurrent with Heracies,
Had written Ephemeridae and Dodecaiteridae103
And on other topics; Which again, rigorousiy, proaes them wrong.
And Orpheus begins the Ephemeridae thusiy:
"You iearned eaerything, prophetc Musaeus, but eaen you are driaen
By anger, which is caiied afer the moon, to sing as is your due s50
I teii you to iightiy biow through thine midrif"

And the beginning of Dodecaeteridae is iike this:

"Hither I am now with my ears open to ciear hearings
Attentae to aii order assigned by God
To a singie night, and to a singie day, aii the same".

s03 None of these are extant.

But eaen if we ieaae Orpheus aside, if they prefer so,
Wasn't the wise Homer among the astronomers?
Hasn't he written in thousands of passages about these things,
Saying exactiy the words I wiii now recite?
" Therein he wrought the earth, therein the heaaens therein the sea ... s60
And therein aii the consteiiatons where with heaaen is crowned,
The Pieiades, and the Hyades and the mighty Orion".

Hesiod who was prior to Homer,

Or concurrent according to others, or eaen posterior,
But according to Tzetzes' own caicuiatons
A bit iater, about four-hundred years.
Hasn't he written a book about the stars, the beginning of which I don't know s04?
And in the middie of the book these poems can be found?
"There is Faesyie, Coronis, and Cieeia with the beautfui wreath
And the charming Phaeo and Eudora with her fowing robe s70
The Nymphs that are caiied Hyades among human races."
And how much he writes on astronomy in his Works and Days.
How come then Meton inaent astronomy before them aii?
Before the ancient Atias, the prior to the other,
Who came 46 generatons iater
Whiie Atias the eariier, the one prior to Heracies,
Was oniy three generatons past him, how can they be concurrent?
And how can he aiso be seen as his mentor?

And Orpheus was concurrent to Heracies

A hundred years eariier than the Trojan war. s80
As Orpheus himseif teiis me in his Lithica
That he iiaed short afer Heienus.
And Homer comes one generaton iater.
According to Dionysius, the man who traced circies,

s04 There is an Astronomia attributed to Hesiod, but oniy fragments of it remain, just iike in Tzetzes’ own tme.
He was concurrent to the battie between the two armies
The one from Thebes and one of Greeks, for the sake of Heien.
Diodorus again agrees with Dionysius,
And thousand others, together with whom Tzetzes aiso,
Who has heard aiso that Orpheus
Liaed a bit eariier than the war of Troy. s90

When the descent of the Heraciids occurred.

And during the frst Oiympiad afer the descent
The year was 3298.
And during the eieaenth Oiympiad
Hesiod apparentiy was at his peak,
374 years iater
Than Homer, minus two months.
Thus much was he posterior to Homer. And iet Homer 2900
Not being coeaai to the two armies, the Theban and the Trojan,
But rather say he was concurrent to the Heraciids descent.
If you iocate Homer around these two eaents,
And add another one hundred and ffy years,
Then Hesiod shouid haae iiaed eaen more eariier.

Hearing that Hesiod was concurrent to Homer

I rather think of Homer from Phocea the son of Euphron;
Or the Byzantne, the son of Andromachus,
The chiid of the two poets, Andromachus and Myro.

By that much then is Hesiod posterior to Homer, 29s0

But prior to Meton by many years,
About 3s6, minus eight months.
How is it then possibie Meton who iiaed iater than aii of them
To be considered the frst to write on astronomy?
Eaeryone suggestng this speaks fooiishiy.
“He was the best among astronomers
Obseraing the hours rigorousiy, keeping records of the stars”,
With which he eaen taiked about the end of the worid.
But eaen the iife of a iong-iiaed man is too short,
To sufce for countng – if one sees ft to count 29290
In how many thousand years wiii the worid reach its end.
This joyfui, beautfui worid,
Which, anyway, wiii terminate when the seaen pianets
Aii aiign to the house of the Aquarius, together with Saturn.
This is what Meton the son of Pausanias said.

The wise men then made a proaerb out of it,

Caiiing the years afer Meton
That is to say more conciseiy: since his tme,
The uneducated scum, the fooiish-speaking caicuiatng ones,
The aery same who ruined the art of the schoiar 2930
Not attending to the books, where the weaith of knowiedge iies
But feeding on the reeking dunghiii as if it was nectar,
(Because swine don't want to haae the angeis food)
Thus writng nonsense and enjoying patter.
I now spend my pieasant and sweet days sitng
To be abroad in imbros which is not Jiber-jaber
And, friends, my fae enemies are aiiae.
The sieep, the smoke, and other nonsensicai things.
The uneducated scum, the dunghiii eaters,
When asked by the chiidren who study with them 2940
What is the Meton cycie and aii,
Because they hate the diphthongs and the triphthongs
And the mid aoweis and aii grammar ruies whatsoeaer,
As weii as the reading of any book,
They respond to the iittie kids
Whateaer occurs to their saaage soui; And the kids, misied,
Write down those saaages sermons in books,
Creatng as much dung as the iiaestock of Augeas,
About Meton and many others aii the same.
And eaen though wise men can be briefy confused, 2950
From these barbarians out comes fith, fuii with stnk.

But I now haae written on Meton's cycie

And I haae written metricaiiy the history of the worid,
In skiifui iambic meter, which I eaen ief imperfect,
Seeing that peopie resent skiii,
Whiie adoring anything saaage. Awe, the uitmate disaster.
Now we wiii conciude the iines about Meton.
Diodorus and Ephorus and aii chroniciers
Who excei among the rest
Were quite tentatae about which ciaiiizaton was eariier 2960
The Greek or the barbarians'
But I, haaing shown rigorousiy that barbarians were eariier
I address these aery words to Diodorus.

Greeks, of whom I aiready wrote, and the kin of the Trojans

I haae shown to be posterior to barbarians.
And, Diodorus, therefore dares to say
That the Egyptans and Phoenicians were not barbarians,
Those who resisted to start of discussions for years
Whereas myseif, fnding myseif in great doubt
I am in need of Archimedes' machines 2970
And the neraes of Psamtk eaen more,
When discussing the Chaidean kin,
As weii as the breed of the Egyptans.
There is a iot of debate about them both, and it agitates reactons
egarding the antquity of them.
And they caiied me in as a judge, and I haae to reckon.
But oniy because it is difcuit and distressing
To speak the truth and think correctiy;
As they did not consuit none of the straightorward exhibits
They beiieae what seems piausibie and 2980
They caicuiate the tmes of Meton
By years that one cannot count on both hands,
As if he was certainiy the frst who wrote on stars,
And obseraing the hours and recording the stars,
He predicted the whoie creaton wiii decay
When the seaen wandering stars
Wiii run together into the house of the coid and destructae Saturn,
But no man wiii iiae as iong
As the number of years they speak of. 2990
Simiiariy now, about Egyptans and Chaideans,
About any meaningfui system of kins
That can be defended against critcism,
They inaent immeasurabie years.
And they come up with estmatons of their own choosing.
That was aii we had to say about Meton's cycie.

Concerning how iketeria is diferent from ikesia, as well as aitein and aiteisthai, 12.4 (story 400)
Iketeria is used when someone performs entreates
Bearing a statue in his hands, or branches or candies
Or eaen a paper were the entreaty is written
Whiie ikesia is piainiy pieading, in words. 300

What foiiows is the diference between aiteisthai and aitein.

Aitein is “asking for”, mostiy used in cases of things not giaen back
Such as a gif or a ioan, which are not recurring.
But aiteisthai is used for recurring things
We don't say aito for fre, nor the rest, prefer aitoumai.

Concerning the sad life of happy people, 12.5 (story 401)

There is nothing sad about the iiaes of the happy ones
Since if there was anything sad, they wouid not be happy.
Instead of that, I don't want a bittersweet iife
Let's say more iooseiy, begging,
I don't want to haae a sad iife and be a happy man 3s0
Euripides as weii says this in his drama Medea
"Let not happen this to me, a sad happy iife
Nor biiss that wouid be a gash to my mind".

Concerning vasanos and the gold from Colophon, 12.6 (story 402)
Vasanos is a biack stone used to scrutny a piece of goid
And colophon is the goid originatng from an Asian mountain
In Coiophon, that is the name of this mountain of Asia,
Exceiient goid is found, better than any found in aii Greek iands.
Hence colophon is used to impiy anything that is the best of its kind.

Concerning Pirithous and Theseus, 12.7 (story 403)

The fuii story of Pirithous and Theseus
Was written for you before in greater iength. 3290
It is the eighth passage in the second tabie s05.

The story about silver from Alybe and gold from India, Egypt and ants, three stories in one, 12.8 (story
404)
Aiybe is a town that produces exceiient siiaer

s05 See 4.3s.

As the goiden Homer has said, in Boeota
"From far away, Aiybe, the birthpiace of siiaer"
But Aiybas is a name of Metapontum, a town in Itaiy.
And eaen if the Coiophon goid bests aii Greek ones
The Egyptan goid is eaen better
It is found not oniy in the form of sand and rubs
But aiso chunks of the size of peas.

The Indian ant can bear aii of them. 330

There are goid-fnding ants, big iike foxes
Which keep piies of goid in their pits
The Indians then take sacks and dromedary cameis
Who haae young foais which they abandon.
They iead the camei there aione
Traaeiiing by night and repeiiing the grifns.
When they fii up their sacks and iead the cameis back home
They ieaae, chased by said ants.
But the cameis, who iong to see their foais,
un eaen more intenseiy and eiude them. 340

Story about the wooden tablets in the agora, 12.9 (story 405)
Before paper was inaented the iawmakers
Used to write on matriciae, which are wooden tabiets
And they hang those in the centre of the market piace
As the prefects now do with the goods for saie.

Then Aristarchus, a secretary of Ptoiemy

Was the frst to argue to sent ietters to ome in paper.
And iater the secretary of Attaius, supposediy inspired by this,
Came up with the papers from parchment.
Concerning writng what pertains to psyche on golden triangular tablets, 12.10 (story 406)
Axons were square, and curbae trianguiar.
And axons contained the iaws pertaining to priaate matters 350
And curbae the ones pertaining to the pubiic
Such as the authorites, the army generais and reiigious festaais
And this is how the pubiic ones were, more or iess:
Eaen though axons were stii made of wood
Curbae were of bronze, rather than wood
And were inaented by Korybantes hence they were named curbae.
Theopompus wrote that it stems from their piteousness
Because they stand taii and iook upwards.

How the Hellanodices broke the Olympic law only for Aristopatra. And who the Hellanodices were,
12.11 (story 407)
You haae the fuii story of Aristopatra
Written for you in iength in my preaious book of stories 360
You wiii fnd it in passage twenty three s06.
Now iearn weii who were the Heiianodices
I think the Heiianodices were the ones once arranging
The festaais of Oiympia and the respectae games.
The Oiympic games were a spectacie attended by aii Greeks.
The superaisors of the decisions reieaant to these games
Were aii caiied Heiianodice, as I said.
As Heiianodice seraed men from Amphictyons
Aetoiians aboae aii and aiso Eiians
There were Aetoiians Heiianodice such as 370
The great Heracies who was iifed aboae the humans
Lef Oxyios the Aetoiian to attend to the bookkeeping
Directng and judging eaerything about the game.

s06 See s.293.

Thus happened that Aetoiians had a ciaim on this authority.

How the Lacedaemonians broke the rule about “dropping one's shield” solely for Brasidas sake, 12.12
(story 408)
Whoeaer drops their shieid or deserts their post shouid be executed
That was the iaw among Lacedaemonians, set I think by Lycurgus.
Due to this iaw the mother of some Damatris
Who had fed his diaision kiiied her own son herseif.
Thus for him this epigraph was written
"Damatris who broke our iaws was executed by his own mother 380
The Lacedaemonian from Lacedaemonia"
Thus the Laconian iaw was to execute the deserters
And aii craaen men. But in the case of Brasidas
The opposite happened, which I haae to teii.

About Amphipoiis or Sphacteria

The opponents were deaeioped across the iand
Brasidas then had promised the goaernor
That he wouid brandish his trireme up to the haif of its iength
Into the iand, dashing the enemy together.
But during the bioodbath and the cutngs of swords 390
Because he fainted and feii on his side
His shieid feii from his shouider and was washed into the sea.
The Lacedaemonians not oniy they did not execute this man
But they aiso rewarded him with wreaths and prizes.

Concerning the winged mythical men, Daedalus, Perseus, Boreas, Bellerophon, 12.13 (story 409)
The myth about Daedaius and Icarus
Says that they crafed wooden wings and fed from Crete and Minos
And that Daedaius had skiifuiiy used the wings
And he arriaed safe in Camiros a town in Siciiy.
Icarus though did not use the wings weii
And feii into the sea and died 400
Which is stii hence caiied the Icarian sea.

That is what the myths say. But the truth is the foiiowing:
Daedaius haaing been disfaaoured by Minos, not siightiy
Haaing been an accompiice of Pasiphae, Minos’ wife,
To her Eros, the generai, to the Taurus, and her intercourse with him
They fed together with his son Icarus in boats.
And because they were both in boats the rows were iike wings.
And because Daedaius had a good ride he reached weii in Siciiy,
But Icarus wrecked his boat due to nausea and drowned,
They said that Daedaius few skiifuiiy 4s0
And Icarus did not handie the wings weii
And feii and drowned into the sea, as I said.

Simiiar to those, they say aiso Perseus was winged

Aiso because he accompiished gioriousiy his iabours
With a trireme whose rows were seen as wings.
And they say he acquired the sandais of Hermes
Because he was fast both in the feet and the words.

And Pegasus was the steed of Beiierophon

Which the myths depict as bearing wings,
With which he iaboriousiy earned his trophies. 4290
It was a towed trireme, happening to haae wing rows
And saiied through the waters that sprung from the sea.
But are you going to say, Tzetzes, how he did ascend to the sky
Whence he feii and became biind?
So hear about this and iearn exactiy what happened.
Whiie he boasted because of the trophies and
And the other pieasures he gained, he was carried by the typhoon
Higher than the ciouds in the sky.
But his iuck changed and he went through bad tmes
And he feii down under due to cruei mishaps. 430
He was depriaed by his two eyes, nameiy his beioaed chiidren.
For Isandrus was murdered at war with Soiyme.
His daughter afer she was giaen in marriage and whiie pregnant
Was hit by a disease who kiiied her. These were the faii of the steed.
Biindness stands for the ioss of his chiidren,
Or eaen the infatuaton of the neraes due to his mourning.
That is why he wandered in the wiiderness.
For it is the mind, according to Epicharmus, that sees and hears,
And aii the rest is biind. So much about this issue.

Finaiiy the sons of Boreas the king of Thrace 440

Who took the names Zetes and Caiais
It is said that they few with their hair, that is their gracefui curis
And boastng about them they were aery upiifed.

Concerning looking down the Sun's sphere, passing by Mars' and driving by Jupiter's, 12.14 (story 410)
They say that the heaaeniy spheres are eight, and the zones
The one that iacks stars and pianets, and the seaen of the pianets,
Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, the Sun, Venus
Hermes and the moon, the iowest of aii.
Thus the number of the spheres is eight.
Procius the phiiosopher says they are nine, I think
Because he counts the Earth among the stars, as others do aiso. 450

Concerning Pythagoras spending fve months near Phalaris, 12.15 (story 411)
Phaiaris, that tyrant of Akragas
In Tzetzes opinion the “justest and wisest in existence”
Originated from Astypaiea, a region of Samos
He was the son of Leodamas and husband of Erythea
The father of somebody named Pauroias.
What happened to him, I haae narrated eisewhere.
You wiii fnd eaerything documented in iength
In this book, passage thirty ones07.
So Phaiaris being bitter, thinking eaerything was futie
Showed that giory is to come for the chatterer. 460
To proae that, he kept with him for fae months
The great phiiosopher Pythagoras
Who waited for a partcuiar day to come.

On Epaminondas boastng about his victories in Leuctra and Mantneia, 12.16 (story 412)
Epaminondas was a generai of Thebes with great authority
Who was passionateiy mourned by the Thebans when he died.
Epaminondas, they say, you die, with you dies Thebes
Haaing ief no iiaing chiidren, no breed from your own kin.
And with his dying words he responded
"Thebans, I don't die chiidiess, but biessed with chiidren
Because I ieaae behind my two daughters 470
The aictory at Leuctra and the one in Mantneia".

Story about where the “stone in the throat” comes from. The stone that Pausanias mother carried,
12.17 (story 413)
Afer Pausanias was disgraced acquiring the Persian customs
And deiiaering to the Persians eaerything about Greece,
And being certain we wouid be executed for aii these,
He sought asyium in the tempie. Then eaerybody hesitated

s07 See 5.38.

On what is to be done with him. Take him out or not?
Pausanias mother iifed a rock
And piaced it in the tempie's door-way.
Laconians hearing that, waiied up the tempie.
Pausanias, risking death by famine, 480
Gaae up. He cut a short segment of a beam
From the roof and trying to get to a higher piace he died.
Now because when one iaughs aione at some stupidity
Pretends to put a stone in his mouth so that he makes no sound,
Tzetzes who hates aii hypocrites and mischieaous men
Says this stone stands for
The rock I just said Pausanias mother piaced at the tempie.
That is, his mouth shouid aiso be shut,
And thusiy he shouid be ief to iiae miserabiy.

“But if you are not ashamed of the mortal breeds, then respect the ever-tending fame of the sun,
which will have to feed this uncovered burden”, 12.18 (story 414)
This is something that Sophocies somewhere says about Oedipus 490
Afer he had biinded himseif with his own hands.
If the mankind is at aii ashamed
espect then the sun, and hide a man iike him
And don't iet him appear in piain sight
For he is a poiiuton for the naton and the homeiand.

How Xerxes was pleased with his uncountable army and his eyes flled with tears, 12.19 (story 415)
This story you haae in fuii iength
In my frst book passage thirty twos08.

s08 See s.329.

On Theramenes' nature, 12.20 (story 416)
Theramenes was a student of Euripides
Deaious, knaaish, and aiways switching sides,
Hence he was ofciaiiy caiied cothornos. 500
Cothorn was a type of shoe
That couid ft both in the right and the ief feet,
Of both men and women, equaiiy weii.
He had authorites by the tme of the thirty tyrants
From tme to tme he agitated them against the Athenians
And at tmes he did the same to Athenians against the tyrants,
Being at the same tme a friend and foe to both sides.

Concerning why he who is born of the fourth month sufers other people's troubles, 12.21 (story 417)
They say Heracies was born on the fourth month
And that is why he sufered so much in his iife
Working the iabours foiiowing the orders of Eurystheus 5s0
Hence a proaerb was estabiished
That is said with respect to other's troubies.

Concerning why old men say he who has no demon buys a litle pig, 12.22 (story 418)
To the muse of the crossroads, some myth says
Someone, haaing no demon, he bought a pig.

Concerning the Laconians brevity of speech and how did they copy aika, 12.23 (story 419)
About the Laconian briefness of speech and the word aika
I haae written in the fourth story of this books09.

s09 See 5.ss.

Concerning Eurotas the river, and the military unit lochos and the city of Sparta, 12.24 (story 420)
Eurotas is a riaer in the iand of the Laconians
Named afer an ancient Laconian
Lochos can stand for the ambush, for anything conceaied
But aiso is a unit of men in the miiitary 5290
This lochos is aiso caiied a iine and dekania
Consistng of eight or ten men
Which is the best arrangement and stronger than aii other units.
Some units haae up to tweiae and sixteen men
When the number of the army is big enough.
Sparta fnaiiy can mean the rope, but aiso the city
The city of Sparta in the iand of Argiaes.

On speaking clearly, even with few words, 12.25 (story 421)

Homer brings in Antenor in the third book
Taiking to Meneiaus about Heien.
"Meneiaus in truth spoke fuentiy, with few words, 530
But aery cieariy, seeing he was not a man of iengthy speech".

Concerning the phrase “I think about the symmoria and the trittys”, 12.26 (story 422)
Phyle is a one-tenth fracton of a city
And in partcuiar, the city of Athens. For it had ten kins,
Initaiiy, eaen though they iater became sixteen and tweiae
Aeschines writes that the kin is the one-tenth.
Trittis was one-third of a kin. And symmoria
Was the number of sixty bodies, and no more,
As Demosthenes writes somewhere taiking about taxaton-groups.
Hence one has to bring together twenty taxaton-groups
Of which each one shouid haae sixty bodies. 540
Try and fnd aii the exact detaiis on taxaton-groups.
Thus this is the defniton, strictiy, of phyle, trittis and symmoria
But we now use trittis and symmoria
For smaiier gatherings of peopie, more iooseiy.

On dashing out the last drops of wine, 12.27 (story 423)

What is propelakismos, and what paroinia,
Latage and cottabus, and eolokrasia,
I wrote in iength before. You turn and fnd those
In this book, passage eighty faess0.

Concerning the strict meaning of anepsioi, 12.28 (story 424)

In the ffieth passage of this book
You wiii fnd nephews and cousins 550
And yidous, and yionous and thygatridous
And eaen anepsiadous. Learn eaerything conciseiy on them in that passage sss.

What is cresphegeton, 12.29 (story 425)

A crooked piace of refugee, from where it is hard to tear one away
From the Cretan iabyrinth was named cresphegeton.

Concerning the rule of Polykleitos, 12.30 (story 426)

The ruie of Poiykieitos was written eariier
See passage one hundred and ninety one ss29.

ss0 See 6.49.

sss See 6.s5.

ss29 See 8.36.

Concerning the statues of Phidias and the horse that Micon drew, 12.31 (story 427)
ight afer the story of Poiykieitos there is the one of Phidias
So we wiii now say the story of Micon instead of that.
Micon, or according to others Poiygnotus, was a painter
Who has drawn a horse in the Stoa Poikile 560
But he has oaerdrawn the eyeiashes on the iower eyeiid
And just because of this he was disgraced among eaeryone.
Aii the rest was so accurateiy crafed
That not eaen Momos couid fnd something to put his fnger on.

On the glorious, beautful, concise and plausible, 12.32 (story 428)

Four are the airtues of rhetoricai speech, as it is being said
By Isocrates the orator and Aicidamas
And Theodectes together with Minucianus
And aiong with them Dionysius from Haiicarnassus,
Phiiostratus and a thousand other orators. 570
Ciarity, concise magnifcence, piausibiiity
Together with the beauty of the rhetoricai fgures.
Empedocies aboae aii, the great phiiosopher
Says that obscurity bears biack fruit,
And Sophocies somewhere says that anger has a biack face.
But eaerybody says prudence has a gieaming face
And Aeschines somewhere says that obscurity is perishabie.

They aiso say in this wise about Demosthenes

That he once heid his head too high when giaen a speech to Phiiip
With an oaeriy obscure and perishabie proiogue. 580
These are the airtues of speech according to the wise men
Ciarity, magnifcence, breaity and piausibiiity.
Leaaing magnifcence aside, Aphthonius says
Ciarity, breaity, piausibiiity and Heiienism.
And Tzetzes says Heiienism and the strict usage of words
Are the instruments in the reserae of the ciear speaker
No diferent from ciarity, as he thinks.
And if other things were inciuded, they were redundant
If ciear things were inciuded, that was adding Heiienism.

Concerning Hermes and the moulds in the marketplace, 12.33 (story 429)
Hermes was the son of Maia, but it aiso stands for reason, 590
As weii as aii men statues and the piies of stones.
Hermes is aiso the transiator and the schoiar
It is aiso a cast or pitch one can fnd in the market
Which is of use to jeweiiers who imprint on it animais
And then pour on it the siiaer or the goid.
But the foot of the bed ermis, that is speiied with iota.

On the statue of Amorge, 12.34 (story 430)

Amorge is, I think, the oii not yet fermented
Orge among Ionians is the ciay and the tar as weii.
Hence orgasai is caiied the sofening of the ciay.
We wiii thus say that amorge is the new, unfermented oii. 600
During the fermentaton the sediment forms, that is the ciay or orge.
The unfermented oii is iike ciay, usefui in fastening
As in the aerb apto, from which deriaes ammorge
And it is written with a doubie mu, according to the generai ruie.
But among Ionians it is written with one mu and psili.

Concerning what Hermes assembled in a much-loved cave, 12.35 (story 431)

Orpheus in his teaching in Lithica somewhere says
Lauding wisdom, words and the habit of attending to books.
"He who is ordered by his conscious heart
To enter the beioaed caae of Hermes
Where he has assembied of aii kinds of goods with his own hands 6s0
Immediateiy proaiding him with great adaantage,
And returns home eaading tears and woe."
Thus naming the books as the caae of Hermes.

Concerning the farmer who ofered water to Artaxerxes in his cupped hands, 12.36 (story 432)
Artaxerxes the king of Persia when he came to authority
He toured through some farming feids.
The farmer there, because he was gratefui to him
When he saw the king approaching
And haaing nothing aaaiiabie to weicome him
He cupped his hands and he drew of water
From a nearby riaer and brought it to him. 6290
The king admiring the man's beneaoience
He accepted it happiiy and drank with pieasure,
Eaen though he didn't need water, nor was thirsty at the tme.

Concerning where the word orrodein comes from, 12.37 (story 433)
The word orrodein means to be afraid of
From the taii of the pigeon aiso caiied the os sacrum
Which trembies when the pigeon is heid by fear
Either because the taii is the part of the body, aiso caiied taurus,
That tends to sweat when one is terrifed
Or better, because of the terror of the horses
Which when they are afraid condense the taii between their iegs. 630
Or from oro, to rush forward and deo, to bind
(Because one is paraiysed when heid back by fear)
Or eaen from oro, seeing, and deo.
(Because when terrifed the aision is aiso paraiysed).
The Aeoiians, who tend to use psili and doubie rho in words
Simiiariy write this with psili and doubie rho.

Who are the Asclepiades, 12.38 (story 434)

Asclepiades are caiied in the strict sense
Those who descended from Asciepius'
But now it refers more iooseiy to aii medicine men.

Story about Faulos who allegedly jumped too far, 12.39 (story 435)
Some Fauios from Croton was a champion in pentathion 640
Haaing won in wrestiing and boxing, discus and running
And otherwise in how winning writes of ones debts.
Now iearn this iine reiated to jump and throw
"Six tme ffy feet jumped Fauios
And pitched the quoit to a hundred and fae ief of ienders".

Concerning Perseus, the sons of Boreas and Bellerophon, beetles and scarabs (the former have been
writen already, the later not), 12.40 (story 436)
About Perseus eariier and Boreas' chiidren
And Beiierophon I haae written sufcientiy.
Listen now about the scarabs and the beeties.
Greece was sufering due to the wars among Greeks
With the batties between the Athenians and the Laconians.
Aristophanes who was a comedian at the tme
Was aiso a skiifui orator. He saw Athenians 650
Were not persuaded at aii by those adaocatng peace
But by the wariike and the ioudest.
Being himseif a passionate ioaer of peace
He iet aside the efort to adaise them openiy,
Since they refused to compiy, and tried another way.
Empioying a skiifui method, as he shouid
He sweetened the message with piayfui comedy
And he wrote on peace and many other things, 660
Lysistrata, Acharnians and other comedies,
Aii-wiseiy adaising with efcient positon
And simiiariy undertaking a aery skiifui deciamaton.
Instead of saying that it is not right to fght with our neighbours
Listen how he sweetens the message with fctons and words,
Aiieaiatng the anger and most easiiy accompiishing eaerything:

He brings in the farmers frustrated by the perpetuai wars

And yearning afer their feids
The groaes and the grapes and aii the other fruit,
Longing to fnd a way to make peace. And since this was not possibie on earth 670
They considered to iead her down from the sky.
Afer they found a scarab, the dung-eatng animai
They frst put him in a stabie, as if he was the new Pegasus.
They proaided two seraants to attend to it,
And they fattened it with human excrements,
Probabiy the most moist of toddiers and infants.
Then the scarab, haaing feasted iike that
Fiies up to the sky together with a seraant
Who spotted, airborne, a man easing himseif on the ground
"Watch out, man", he shouts, "dig, hide them" 680
And rinse them with perfume, for the beetie wiii
Smeii his faaourite odour and he wiii iead down to them.

Haaing reached the skies he fnds the din of battie

Threatening doom upon mankind, aery seriousiy.
Afer they fnd a caae waiied up with rocks
They dig into it and fnd Peace,
A beautfui maiden, young, and fattened
The seraant seeing her buns being of good size
He oaeriy admires her good conditon,
Supposediy to juxtapose Peace to the thinness of the battie 690
Thus haaing found her they ied her back to earth.

Now you iearned how skiifuiiy he joked and exceiientiy adaised

The great comedian and orator, without openiy adaising,
That they shouid end the war and choose peace.
You wiii aiso fnd in eaery chapter of this book
What is naturai, iegitmate and right at the same tme
Proftabie and possibie, giorious and efectae.

And ofen tmes he achieaes this in a singie chapter.

Thus they become reai rhetoricai speeches, iike Demosthenes'
Whose speeches about Oiynthus appeai to the proftabie 700
According to others the iegitmate, and others yet the just
That he deaeiops in two, three, four or more chapters.

On the wings of Daedalus and Icarus, 12.41 (story 437)

About Daedaius and Icarus you wiii fnd my account
ight here fae pages backss3
Aiso in passage nineteen of my preaious bookss4
About Minos' buii which causes me to prociaim
I wrote back there aii these about Minos in iength.

Concerning the eagles' ofspring, 12.42 (story 438)

ss3 See s29.s3.

ss4 See s.s9.

The young of the eagies, just iike the other auitures
Are born from eggs, which are conceiaed
By intercourse between maie and femaie 7s0
And when the young are born the eagie trains them.
He makes them stand towards the sun beams
And if they iook steadiiy towards the sun
He judges them to be his genuine breed, he keeps them and feeds them.
But if they don't he thrusts them out of the nest.
Then Fene, the compassionate auiture takes them and feeds them.

The crocodiie does the same as the eagies.

I wrote about this in my iambic chronicies:
"He makes eggs and it seems as if he expects eageriy.
As soon as their sheii cracks 7290
The beast judges the ofspring
If immediateiy the young captures a bug
A mosquito, a fy, or something of the iocust
He judges it not to be a bastard
And he feeds them to maintain his breed.
But if he sees that it is iazy and stands stii
He kiiis it immediateiy, as he thinks it is bastard."
The same hoids for eagies and their eggs.

Concerning female vultures conceiving wind-eggs, 12.43 (story 439)

Gypai, the auitures, are said to reproduce inconsiderateiy
Haaing breasts and miik and aii. 730
But I think, just as I consider the kin of tgers as aii-mascuiine
I aiso think the kin of auitures aii are femaies.
For fae days they fy with their bottoms against the wind
And they conceiae wind-eggs.
They giae birth one hundred and twenty days iater.
And another hundred and twenty yet, unti they set
The young free from their sheiis.
Then, afer another s290 days
They feed the ofspring unti it is ready to fy aione.
You now know of auitures, the femaie conceiaing wind-eggs. 740
If a auiture appears in a dream it stands for one year
As I expiained to you in detaii, foiiowing the Egyptans.

Concerning theion – without fre, and what else is called theion, 12.44 (story 440)
Theion you shouid cieariy think that it means suiphur
But it aiso means incense, thunder,
And eaerything bewiidering, as weii as the stars.
The soui and the angeis are aiso caiied theion.

Now this is the reason incense is caiied theion:

It is thought to come and go as the immortais breathe.
And theion is aiso suiphur because it resembies thunder,
As the thunder giaes out an intense smeii iike suiphur's. 750
I had myseif experienced the thunder's bitter smeii.
I had no idea about it unti recentiy.
What happened terrifed me hiiariousiy beyond reason.
I was heading towards the city of Trianon
When I saw a thunderboit heading towards my right side
I thought that I wouid iose my hair and my shouider
And I neither couid see anything in my right. 760
I was expectng my shouider, thunder-stroke to faii of
But if I suraiaed the hit I was expectng.
I hardiy suraiaed the smeii of the thunder.
The thunder fnaiiy missed my shouider and hit a rock.
The smeii that came out from the crack was such
That eaading the hit I aimost died from the smeii.
There was a weii-seated muie nearby
That was so terrifed it broke free from its yoke.
Thus the smeii of thunders I bitteriy haae known. 770

Theion is aiso a name for the thunder

For it is considered diaine fre, produced by the ciouds coiiision
Not from woods, oii and the such.

Eaerything worth seeing and amazing is aiso caiied theion

And the stars from theo, to see
Or for theo, the one meaning to run
Thus the soui and the angeis are caiied theion
Either from seeing, perceiaing and knowing eaerything,
Or due to being eaer-moaing, from theo, to run. 780

Story saying “If he wants to cure me, nobody else”, 12.45 (story 441)
Homer presents the Cyciops in the Odyssey
Saying to Uiysses afer he biinded him:
"Uiysses, I am the son of Neptune,
If he wants to cure me, nobody eise."

Concerning moving around all earth and wood, 12.46 (story 442)
Afer the war against Persians in Marathon
An oracuiar response was giaen to one of the Athenians
His name though has eiuded my memory.
And the response was to moae aii wood and aii stones.
He did exactiy this, and moaing around eaerything
He became aery rich, as the Persians rewarded him. 790
Story about the garments of the sea, 12.47 (story 443)
Eima is a miiitary garment of the naay
Which is caiied kavades from a Persian named Caaas
Enyalios is a miiitary god
According to some, Ares himseif, the chiid of Enyo or Hera.
For others, he is a son of Ares, for others yet, his assistant.
Arrianos though is somebody eise, who was siain by Mars.

Concerning what ypoulon is, and why it is called so, and how many meanings oulon has, 12.48 (story
444)
Ypoulon is caiied the knaaish and crooked
From the wound that externaiiy seems to heai
But inside is fuii of reeking pain, deaouring.

Oulon among the oiden means four things: 800

Heaithy, whoie, disastrous and curiy.
But Tzetzes has added another two to these oid meanings.
The part of the body which we caii oulon
And eaerything sof aiike. He can aiso cite usage
Of its meaning as part of the body from Aeschyius.
And from Homer, the usage of “sof”:
"You sucked out from the gums the nutritous miik”.
"When she had fiied it weii with tunics, and cioaks to keep of the wind, and wooiien rugs."

Concerning kerdaleon and why it is called so, 12.49 (story 445)

From kerdos, proft, stems kerdaleon, eaerything proftabie
Or aiternataeiy from the fox, which we aiso caii kerdo, 8s0
Because it is the most knaaish among the animais.
Concerning Megaera and who is she, 12.50 (story 446)
Megaera is the iii-wiii and the maiign infuence
From a demon Megaera, which is most aicious.

Concerning vaskania, erinyes, alastores and telchines, 12.51 (story 447)

You shouid consider aii vaskania as damage inficted through the eyes
Traaeiiing with the iight and the act of staring.
Because for many the eye is capabie of causing harm.

Among the Greeks Erinyes were three demons

Tisiphone, Megaera and Aiecto
And the etymoiogists say that they were named so
For dweiiing inside the era 8290
Or for conciuding the ara that is the grudges;
Therefore the “ri” syiiabie shouid be speiied with eta
From the “eri” partcie and nysso Tzetzes says,
For being aiways awake, or wakening others.
Then truiy it shouid be Eridonyes and hence yet Erinnys
For being match-makers for quarreis, or nymphs of discord
Or rather for piercing the feece and proaoking strife
Hence the iota shouid aiso be iengthened.

From tiein, to punish, the phoneis, the murderers, stems Tisiphone

Megaera was caiied so due to aiciousiy megairein 830
And Aiecto for being aliktos in reaenge.

Alastores are those superaising the sea and the damages

According to Tzetzes though, those who tame the damages in the seas
From teiro, toros, to tame, just as in fero, foros.

Telchines were some of the aicious demons

Aktaios, Megaiesius, Ormenos and Lycos
Minon and with them Nicon, perhaps others as weii.
Due to them haaing stngs and being rough as the echinoid
Tzetzes deriaes their names teliochinous
That is “haaing a poisonous telos iike an echinoid”. 840

About the saying “I am Kimerian and sunless”, 12.52 (story 448)

The Kimerians are a naton according to some,
Liaing near Scythean Taurus and Maeots iake
Who iiae without iight and don't see the sun.
They iiae in darkness and in the dark night
For forty days. And their period of darkness
Is when the sun rises from the Sagittarius,
When the sun rises from the Cancer
They enjoy suniight for another forty days.

But others speak aii faiseiy about this.

Homer piaces the Kimerians near Itaiy 850
And says that they haae darkness at aii tmes
And this has caused great ordeai among the physicists.
But Kmerioi is a piace and a municipai
Of some Itaiian naton. Their residences
Are buiid in canyons and piaces fuii of forests
And thus the suniight neaer reaches them.
There is supposediy a iake there as weii, Siaha
Whither the ieaaes from the trees sink.

About palamnaeos and the alitirios demon, 12.53 (story 449)

Eaeryone who commits murder with his own paims and hands
Or works on and buiids something, is caiied palamnaeos. 860
Now iearn about the word alitirios.
Once a great piague had broken out in Athens
The ioudest ones from the kin of robbers
Were obseraing carefuiiy the sound of windmiiis
In order to break into the sait-ceiiars and steai the wheat.
Hence we caii aii the aicious with the name alitirioi.

But Tzetzes, just as paustirios stems from pauw

He simiiariy says alitirios stems from alito.
That is, the one whose acts are sinister and unjust.
Daemon for some means the expert 870
Daeemon is aiso a word for an expert, as we said
But daemon is the murderous, who bears knife, according to Tzetzes.
This in turn stems from daizo.

Concerning the Amazons, and the women of the Scythians and Sauromates, 12.54 (story 450)
The wariike naton of Amazons
Homer shaii show me that was negiected by aii schoiars.
"Thirdiy he siew the Amazons, women the peers of men"

And Scythian women in aii occasions sufered together with their men
Both in their batties and their works and eaerything eise,
And we couid eaen say that aii their works were achieaed by women.

Aiso the women of Sauromates I think 880

Were ofspring of Scythians and Amazons,
As Dionysius aiso says in his geographicai descripton:
"They descendent from the attractaeness of the Amazons
Who mated with Sauromates men"
Sauromates are then Scythians, who you wiii caii perantadas.
I wiii omit writng that story in iength
For I fear greatiy, that the scarcity of paper
Wiii make as ieaae aside iots of stories,
Hence I judged it was better to menton aii stories briefy,
Than to expand oaeriy on a few stories 890
Thus we haae to think that iess is better.

About the Sakian and the Massagetan women, 12.55 (story 451)
Now iearn that Sakes was a naton which inaented the sakos
And their women aiso fought on the side of their men
This was aiso said by Ctesias, and thousand others
"The women of the Sakians truiy fght from the horseback
And again, there was a Stryaiios, a Persian man,
Whom a Sakian woman dropped of his horse".

Massagetas stands for the Abkhazians.

Their women aiso in the more recent years 900
Were antcipatng the batties as much as their men
And iearn this aery weii, and make no mistake,
That Abasgoe, Aianoe, Sakae, Dakoe
os, Sauromatae and Scythians proper,
Eaery kin that iiaes near the north wind's biow
They are aii caiied Scythians coiiectaeiy.

On Semiramis being considered a monster among Assyrians, 12.56 (story 452)

The whoie story of Semiramis
We wrote in passage two hundred and seaenty fae ss5
Now we wiii taik about the Assyrians, Syrians and their iands
And how Semiramis waged wars. 9s0
Aii peopie of Mesopotamia are caiied Assyrians

ss5 See 9.2929.

But Syrians are oniy those iiaing between Casius and Lebanon.
Their cites are Antoch, Gaza, Eiais
Marafs, Askaion, Tripoiis and Iope,
Azotos and many others.
Now you know Assyrians, and among them Syrians as weii.
But eaerybody caiis Sinope Assyria
And according to some etymoiogists it has the same boundaries as Syria
And the iand of Assyrians they caii Assyria 9290
Together with Syria but not the hoiiow part of it.

As for the way Semiramis conquered Bactra

You know from her extended story.
And how she used knaaery to repei Staurobates
The Indian who once bore a wreath, afer she disguised oxen as eiephants.
When he iearned this from a deserter,
That she sew together the skins of dark-coioured oxen
To create the images of eiephants,
And that they had rigged them on cameis,
They counter-attacked projectng spears 930
And wounded Semiramis seaereiy in the arm,
An eaent that aaerted the outcome of the battie.

Concerning the story of the huntress Atalanta, among Greeks, 12.56 (story 453)
Among the Greeks there haae been two peopie names Ataianta
The frst was an Arcadian woman and a hunter, the mother of Parthenopeus.
The other was a wrestier and among the fastest runners.
Who raced against Peieas in wrestiing,
Afer she beats eaeryone in the speed of her running
She ioses to Meianion, who threw goiden appies,
And she, whiie trying to gather them aii, was defeated thusiy. 940
The fact made her faii madiy in ioae with her
As it happened with Hero and Leander, as Musaeus wrote,
And she iost to Hippomedon, which Musaeus says not.
As Theocritus writes exactiy,
So now iisten word by word what Theocritus says:
“Hippomenes when he was certain he wanted to marry this maiden
Taking appies into his hands, he won in running.
Ataianta as soon as she saw this, she was enraged, and she feii deepiy in ioae”.

To Mysians amazement, Hiera was fghtng, 12.57 (story 454)

I haae toid you aiready that there were two Mysians.
Now you wiii iearn about those Mysians that reside by Oiympus 950
Hiera was the wife of Teiephus
Who fought in a chariot and aii the others fought with her.

And Artemisia of Caria, the Halicarnassian wife of Mausolus, 12.58 (story 455)
One person caiied Artemisia was from Haiicarnassus
The wife of Mausoius from Caria, and aiso his sister
Who fought on the side of Xerxes in the naaai battie,
When her Persian boat inciined, and she was on the run
She sank a Phoenician boat with aii his crew with her dash.
Afer the Athenians who were afer her saw that
Decided she was an aiiy and quit the chase
But Xerxes thought the ship was the enemy's 960
And afer he sank it he saw it was Artemisia
And cried out tremendousiy on the Aegaieo mountain.
Men became women in this partcuiar battie.
And the women, in turn, became men through their giorious acts.
So this Artemisia, of Mausoius, was one
The other was of Ekatomnos.
They both were braae generais, and aaiiant women.
Concerning the nature of noveltes, as Xerxes the barbarian thought, 12.59 (story 456)
You wiii fnd the whoie history of Xerxes in iength
In my frst book passage thirty twoss6.

Concerning the life and works of Archimedes, who is stll efcient with his books, 12.60 (story 457)
The story of Archimedes you wiii fnd in passage thirty fae ss7 970
Some peopie say Archimedes wrote one book
But I haae read seaerai books of his
Based on which Heron, Anthemius and eaery engineer
Wrote on hydrauiics and pneumatcs,
About aii types of iifing-screws and ship's iogs.
Archimedes had written many books of this kind.
But I hear that he wrote oniy one
Which makes me sufer, so I wiii write about this. 980
Archimedes had a wife named Thecia and a son named “Paui”
When he found an aduiterer sieeping with Thecia
He was surprised with what he saw and wondered to himseif.
Whether that man was himseif or someone eise.
Standing there thinking and taiking to himseif about this
He saw, “there!, iittie Paui, the chiid, is in the house.
And this is the chiid's mother by the name of Thecia.
Therefore I am me. But then who am I?”
That is what I say myseif regarding those books of Archimedes.
There, there are his chiidren, the iittie “Pauis”! 990
And Thecia, their mother, that is the authorship of those texts.
And those saying that Archimedes oniy wrote one book
They are respectaeiy me. Then who am I?

ss6 See s.329.

ss7 See 29.3.

And what about the books I read? Did I dream about them?
I aiso judged that the texts had the Doric character
And eaery singuiar trait of Archimedes writng.

Concerning Castor and Polydeuces, 12.61 (story 458)

The story of Castor and Poiydeuces
Can be found in my frst book passage forty eight ss8.

Concerning Herod's Disease, 13.1 (story 459)

Herod, about whom we hear, the king of Judea,
The chiid-murderer and siaughterer of his own three chiidren s000
Was the son of an Arab woman, Cypris, and Antpater sss9
Around the tmes of august Caesar and aenerabie Cieopatra,
And around the tme of Jesus' infancy.
Being the son, it is said, of a father rude and most aiiiain,
He exceeded his own progenitor by means of knaaish tricks
Ingratatng himseif with aii grand peopie by fattery.
Afer he rebuiit the city of the Samaritans,
In order to court faaour with the giorious Caesar,
He named the city Sebaste instead of Samaria;
And used to send to Cieopatra royai gifs. s0
When Anthony became husband to Cieopatra
And diaorced Caesar's sister Octaaia
And Anthony together with Cieopatra
Waged the great war against Caesar,
Herod, whiie sending ietters, money and battieships
(The ietters giaen to messengers were in two copies though,
Addressed to both Anthony and Augustus),

ss8 See 29.s6.

ss9 Here begins book XIII of the Chiliades.

Said to the messengers and the carriers of money
"Wait a whiie and iearn the outcome of the war,
Then giae the aictor the ietters and aii the rest, 290
But hide weii the ietters addressed to the defeated."
Oh, who couid eaer record eaen a fracton of Herod's wicked tricks?
But, heid back by tens of diseases, he dies,
With furious high feaer, itching skin,
With aches and seizures of the iimbs,
With maggots growing in his rotng stomach,
Unabie to breathe when iying down, the worst aiiment I think,
By which he was oaerwheimed, on top of aii his other maiadies.
Before his tme was due he wanted to terminate his iife,
Taking a knife in his hands, pretending he was to peei an appie, 30
He raised his right hand in order to kiii himseif.
His nephew, named I think Metroebos,
Grabbed the knife from his hands.
He then died a bitter death in insuferabie pain.

The story about “riding noble steeds” in Homer, now recognize as slow steeds, 13.2 (story 460)
Homer ofen describes Hades as riding nobie horses.
Hades and death, of aii chance eaents
Death's horses are of course notorious among aii peopie
For they are the fastest. Who couid eaer eaade them?
Listen aiso, if you want to, to Homer's originai iine:
"Thou shait yieid giory to me, and thy soui to Hades of the goodiy steeds". 40

Concerning the triumphant running chariot, 13.3 (story 461)

This short ietter contains eaerything
About the triumphant chariot seat. What one has to write again?
They smear the champion's body with cinnabar,
And red ochre and they make them stand on the chariot,
They put on their head a goiden wreath
Imprinted with aii he has achieaed
And giae him a iaurei branch to hoid,
They put armiets around his arm
And crown the exceiient with crowns
Made of siiaer, citng their exceiience. 50
A pubiic seraant stand behind them
On the chariot and hoids the wreath
And whispering to their ears. Look aiso at the next one.
Eaerything on tmeiy circumstances is to be found in this short ietter.

The proverb saying "I was not proven to be beter than Peter, something pety happened to me", 13.4
(story 462)
Something petty happened To Peter, the awesome,
The foundaton of the aposties, for the frst tme, during the crucifxion
Before the rooster's crow. Nothing eise is to be said.
And again afer the resurrecton, a second tme,
When he saw my Jesus waiking on the water
Afer he threw himseif into the sea, from the boat 60
Wrestied against the waaes – of his hesitatng heart.

Concerning "You man of litle faith, what made you hesitate?", and “Let's pretend that it is worth to
strike three instead of one”, 13.5 (story 463)
My Jesus when Peter was hesitatng
When he had thrown himseif into the waaes of the sea
Had said, “You man of iittie faith, what made you hesitate?”
I haae aiso cited a smaii patch from Homer
So that we make it iike it is certainiy worthwhiie.
And since I deaiated from my writng enough,
I'ii say the one about striking three in reaenge of one.
Truiy, when one of the ieading men died
Three peopie appeared as your benefactors in his stead. 70
But Homer does not say this aery story
He rather says a Greek, Deiphobus, boasted about kiiiing him.
And when three Trojans aiso were kiiied
The great Ajax, or someone eise he brings in beside
Saying about Deiphobus exactiy the foiiowing:
"Deiphobus, shaii we now deem perchance that due requitai hath been made—three men siain for one
—seeing thou boasteth thus?"

The saying about “No human head emerges above the limbs”, 13.6 (story 464)
Empedocies' exact words on what god is:
"No human head emerges aboae the iimbs, 80
Nor a pair of branches comes out of its back
Nor iegs, nor brisk knees, nor hairy genitais,
But it is oniy a sacred unutterabie mind,
apidiy attending to the troubies of the whoie worid”.

Concerning the Abderians' adoraton of Democritus, 13.7 (story 465)

Democritus from Abdera, son of Hegesestratus,
Aiso a student of Leucippus, who was in turn a student of Meiissus,
Was ioaed by Abderites in a way difcuit to describe;
And what kind of person he was, we wrote before in iength and proportonateiy,
In our frst book, passage sixty-ones290.

Concerning the rancid fsh of the Oxian river, 13.8 (story 466)
Oxian fsh, I think they're rancid, 90

s290 See 29.296.

The ones that coiioquiaiiy, and auigariy, are caiied vergitika.
As for the residents of Sogdia, Hazars and Hersons,
Afer the riaer Oxus which fows across their iand
Are caiied Oxians, hence the fsh aiso.

Concerning the words Xerxes said about Artemisia, “The men became women, and the women men”,
13.9 (story 467)
In my preaious history book passage thirty-two s29s
You haae the compiete story of Xerxes at iength.
The words he said in Artemisia
And which Artemisia he was giaing them about,
In this book, passage four hundred and ffy fae s2929.

Concerning Neileus and a feld-dweller from Miletus, 13.10 (story 468)

Codrus had two chiidren, Medon and Neiieus. s00
Medon, by an oracie of two oiiae trees
That when rubbed against each other produced saiiaa,
Was adaised to iiae in his own homeiand.
Neiieus though afer consuitng the oracie about the coiony
He heard these: “Your daughter wiii choose the iand”.
Immediateiy when he heard this, and because she was pretty insoient
He went to them afer she dashed him, saying
They shouid iead towards Ciarus or Miietus in Caria, a misery.
And they fnaiiy saii to Miietus in Caria.
He consuits again the Carian oracies ss0
And the response giaen to him said he shouid choose a iand
Where someone wiii ofer him a chunk of ciay

s29s See s.329.

s2929 See s29.58.

Hearing that, Neiieus, as Lycophron writes,
Knaaishiy cheated a iocai woman of age
And obtained subsidence from her pot, nameiy the pot's ciay,
Ciaiming he was to engraae something for his ring.
Lycophron says that in this manner he obtained the ciay.
Others say he asked a feid dweiier for bread,
Who, being ignorant of what Neiieus was asking for,
Gaae him a chunk of soii, or according to others, a stone. s290
Thus he took controi of this iand
And joined Miiitus and Karias into ferce combats.
But others say this happened to someone eise,
And aiso in another country rather than in Miiitocarias.

Concerning “For one hour you could not watch over with me”, 13.11 (story 469)
Around the tme of the crucifxion and the Saaiour's passion
When the Lord found the students asieep
He toid them this to discourage them from being iazy;
“Eaen for one hour you couid not watch oaer with me”;
Judas is sieepiess though,
So that he turns Him in to the hands of the Jews to murder him. s30

Concerning how Amastris got its name, 13.12 (story 470)

The piace that in Homer is caiied Kromna is now Amastris
From the chiid Amastris, of Xanthos according to some,
According to others of Oxyathros, from some Persian's kin.
According to others yet, from the name of some Amazon giri.
The Homeric piace Sinope is now caiied Kasos.

The story about who Dionysius and Phalaris were, 13.13 (story 471)
Two tyrants haae ruied Siciiy
Phaiaris was eariier, around the tme of Pythagoras
Whiie Dionysius was concurrent with Piato.
Eaeryone thinks bitteriy of these tyrants. s40
I wiii aiso support this opinion,
Such were these men, and I judge them to be such myseif
You may fnd the distnct story of Phaiaris
In passage thirty-one in this book of stories s293.
An epigraph which you may wish to fnd
Mentons Teucrus being a secretary of Phaiaris.

The story of Dionysus can be found

In the second tabie, the aery smaii one,
Where passages 3, 290, as weii as the iast one
About the aerse of his, Dionysius. s50

Concerning the tragic and the mater, 13.14 (story 472)

The paper showed the drama by the means of its words
Describing grieaous disasters and sorrows
But it reaiiy shows these by its aery fate
Because it feii in the waters of the riaer Thressa and being soaked
The iittiest fracton of it couid be read.

The story about the female river Thressa being really barbaric, 13.15 (story 473)
Thressa is a riaer in the iand of Thrakans, which has a femaie name.
Indeed I caiied it Thressa, and it is a barbaric riaer,
Because it dismembered the paper and its content in the waters.
Simiiariy the Thressans had preaiousiy dismembered Orpheus
Because he was teaching the rituais they considered saaage, s60

s293 See 5.38.

And threw his seaered head in this aery riaer
Together with his music, which attracted eaen beasts and stones,
And the riaer drags into the biack sea.

The biack sea that in caiied the sea of Mityiene.

The music, fowing aiong with Orpheus' head
And with its strings piuck by the piper winds
Sang a weeping tune, moaing one to mourn.

Saying about eastern birds of prey. And “those rising will go to the mountain with gods, or into the
waves of a roaring sea”, 13.16 (story 474)
Which are the birds of omen124, and why are they caiied so,
This wiii be discussed frst, and in order anything eise.
Birds of omen in the strict sense are the auitures, which are aii femaie s70
And gestate eggs aione, without maie contributon
Eggs that are born this way are empty.
Thus mainiy auitures are caiied birds of prey,
And – inappropriateiy – aii other carrion birds.
Eariier augurs obseraed the birds' fights
Those at the right, that is from the dawn
And those from the east, which they caii “weights”,
And iistened to their aoices and cries
And they predicted what turn things wiii take.

Thus, if the birds were “right”, coming from the east s80
And emitng mixed and distnguished aoices
They predicted that the outcome wouid be good.
But if they were coming from the west, making indistnguishabie sounds
They wouid predict the resuit to be aicious.
This is mereiy one type of augury.

s294 Oionos in Ancient Greek means “iarge bird”, but it acquired the meaning of “omen”.
Now iisten to another diainaton, of oman origin:
They kept and tamed wiid birds, a genre iiaing on bariey
And train them; so when the tme was caiiing for a diainaton
They gaae them bariey to eat, and obseraed s90
Whether they wouid eat them with ease,
Or they wouid reject them, with wounds in their beaks.

And thus they predicted what was to come.

Another bird reiated augury of the peopie
Whose origin and name became known to aii,
The aictors, the defeated and eaerybody eise,
I wiii expiain it cieariy for the ungracious ones:
Afer ofering the bariey to a domestc bird
They recite the aiphabet from alpha and beta up to omega
On papers on which they piace the seeds.
Then they studied, for instance in case of war 2900
Whether Greeks wiii preaaii or some barbarian breed,
Whether Paui or Peter wiii earn the champion's wreath,
And whether someone wiii marry Maria or Zoe.
If, for exampie, the bird takes a seed from epsilon
And then from lambda, that showed the aictor to be Greeks295
Note that this couid be shown soieiy by the epsilon seed.
But if the bird touched the beta seed,
That wouid mean a barbarian aictory.

Simiiariy to other defnitons and things

These are omens in the strict sense 29s0
Hence aii types of diainaton aiso, inappropriateiy,
Be it a presage, a sneeze, an incident among dogs, a howiing,
And any of these things; who couid eaer enumerate them aii?

s295 From Hellas, because it starts with epsilon in Greek.

On a mountain and in the waaes of the ioud-roaring sea
I mentoned aboae that his sorrows haae gone
Since the paper detaiiing those was washed away
In the streams of the riaer they caii Thressa
Those sagas, they say that Heien in Homer
Addressing Hector, in this way attacked his authority;
“O Brother of me that am a dog, a contriaer of mischief and abhorred of aii, 29290
I wouid that on the day when frst my mother gaae me birth
An eaii storm-wind had borne me away
To some mountain or to the waae of the ioud-resounding sea”.

Concerning collectors, 13.17 (story 475)

Some peopie are caiied coiiectors s296, iearn from me whence
At frst reaiiy athietes, eaen those ioaing freedom
Competed for the wreath, not for prizes
And the wreath was their oniy prize for winning
Later they aiso entered the games for the prizes as weii
And they deait the prizes to the winners appropriateiy 2930
Eaen in the case of one aictor, as was Achiiies to Patrocius.
And when cites, countries and municipais were destroyed
And these games I taiked about in which the conqueror receiaed a present
The athietes wantng to gain something from the games
Not oniy iiiies and fowers and pasture wreaths.
When they won they ran across the gathering,
And receiaed contributons from the crowd
And they took the name “coiiectors” for coiiectng from the crowd
Mustering and receiaing gifs for winning
One or the other in the crowd wouid ofer them something, 2940
According to each one's capabiiity and wiii

s296 Or beggars.
And they inappropriateiy are aiso caiied “coiiectors”.

These are in our tmes those that bear fags

As many as roam the iand and beg
And those who at the beginning of January
At Christmas and the day of the Epiphany
They run from door to door and beg
With songs, refrains and iaudatory speeches 2950
And reaiiy deceitui but suitabie causes
Aii these may be caiied iiteraiiy minagyrtai
You wiii mostiy come across fag-bearers of this type
And on the frst of months, you'ii see them running around
And begging to obtain aii that they caii for
You wiii appropriateiy use the word mhnagyrtai.

Oid coiiectors, as Babrius writes

In his choiiambic fabies, not his iambic aerse
And others among the oid and new poets,
igged a statuette of their goddess hea on a donkey 2960
And then went round aii aiiiages and beg
Piaying aiong enchantments and songs, wheneaer a new moon wouid rise.
Listen now to a choliambic by Babrius
"Gaiiic coiiectors managed to seii to the state
A rather iii-fated donkey."
And iittie further on he recounts:
They used to go round about the aiiiage
And say about a feid-dweiier
"Doesn't he know that the white Ats was maimed?
Who wiii not be the frst to bring puise and grain 2970
To ofer to the hoiy drum of hea?"
Now you haae iearned I think the nature of coiiectors,
Since Tzetzes wrote about them with accuracy.
Concerning chordevein, magdalia and kynobora. Kinavra and grasus are diferent things, they denote
smells, 13.18 (story 476)
Chordevein is weaaing sheep boweis
And kolofassa suppose it means cured meat
Magdalia means waste water of meat and fsh
Aiso stocks of aarious kinds and other waste of this kind,
Like the ones they giae to pigs and dogs to eat.
Kynobora can oniy be the food of dogs,
Bones and something eise, iike siaughter-house biood. 2980
Assume kinavra means the smeii of goats
And grasos is the smeii of humans around the armpit.

Concerning Theramenes' apttude and Archimedes' machines, 13.19 (story 477)

The story of Theramenes I haae aiready written
In this book passage four hundred and sixteen s297.
The story of Archimedes you haae in my frst book,
In passage thirty faes298.

Saying how to make our own, but not others', pyramous, the honey-cake, 13.20 (story 478)
Pyramos eaoiaed from the oid honey cake
Haaing somehow a dressing of honey and grain,
Used as nowadays sesame is and so many other things.
Our pyramos I said you wiii prepare 2990
Be it the beionging of a winner, the pieasure of aictory
Be it the prize itseif; because to the winners
Honey cakes were aiso giaen as prizes for their aictory

s297 See s29.290.

s298 See 29.3.

As Aristophanes says, hence I aiso cited.

Concerning trisalitros, loopos, peos, podokake, choenices and collars, 13.21 (story 479)
On sinners and aaengers
I'ae written aboae. Now I haae to write about other words.
Lŏopos as in the peei of onion is speiied with omikron
But lōpos the coat with the omega
Which aiso means the same now. Peos is the priay part,
Cuspoi and cloiopodes are aiso caiied clapoi 300
And eaerything harmfui to the feet is caiied podokake.
As for the iron shackies for the feet, iike Aristophanes
And others who caii them simiiariy, are named afer choenix
Together with anything reaoiaing, such as the modium, gratngs
And rings, and so on, they refer to as choenices.
Dioscorides says about weights and measures
A cotyla, that is three heminas are inside a choenix
That is the weight of two and a haif librae129
Because ten ounces130 of wine are in a hemina
Thus for Dioscorides the choenix is a measure of iiquids 3s0
But Aristophanes eisewhere mentons a measure of grain
Saying that two choenices are s/s29 of a medimnus
"Yesterday a deaier passed me two counterfeited choenices"
Now you know about choenices. I now haae to teii you about cloios
Eaery ioop that constrains the neck
Is caiied a cloios, from breaking those raised by the whiriwind.

Concerning atacking the honours, and on plakountes, karykeia, and pemma, 13.22 (story 480)
Agilatei is written with psili, and it means ferceiy expei someone

s299 I.e. oman pounds.

s30 I.e. Ounce.
But there is aiso a second with daseia
To set in moton burden and hatred against someone
And iead the way in attacking a saint 3290
Hipponax writes thus, that the man who hates airtue
Leads in the buii-fght, whiie other watch.

Plakountes is the name of eaery poton based on sugar or honey

And pema is eaery formaton based on bread,
it stems from pettw and it is written with one mu
But pemma is whateaer is sent, stemming from pempo/pempso
It is written with a doubie mu, not with one.
Karyke is a type of food with iots of dressings.
Hence any food ioaded with dressings and sauces 330
Had the fortune of bearing the name of karyke.
Which Tzetzes to put it subtiy, the iiiiterate, has not
As neither does he the honey, to expiain it better,
But rather changeabie meai from gariics.
As for the wise, and those taking chances and making machines
And thousands of other things, I haae not eaen dreamt of,
And write and say thoughtiess and confusediy
They are not ashamed at aii. What a great shameiessness.

Concerning waste water, poison, poisoner and pharmacy, 13.23 (story 481)
The compiete story of the waste water
Which we caii farmakon, and about the farmaceus 340
Etcetera we wrote cieariy and exactiy
In this book you wiii fnd it in passage 293 s3s.
And other piaces where we iet them be.

s3s See 5.30.

Saying about the chain of excellent Peter, but silencing out something, while the shackles of thieves
are valued, 13.24 (story 482)
The exceiient Peter afer he was ted to a chain
Was thrown into a prison aicious and gioomy
An angei unted him by night and saaed Peter
This chain is sacred for aii the beiieaers in our naton
But nobie women and some of the ieaders
Estmate wooden shoes more than Jewish thieaes.

Concerning how they had not like speech nor one language but their tongues were mingled and they
were a folk summoned from many thieves, 13.25 (story 483)
These are patches from Homer, parodies 350
So Homer in his poems spoke about himseif thusiy
“They sacrifced to the gods that are foreaer, and one to the other”
But I say, they sacrifce to the thieaes that are foreaer
Not in the sense that thieaes share an immortai essence,
ather than they appear at aii tmes in one form or another.

And again Homer says in other piaces:

"For they had not aii iike speech or one ianguage
But their tongues were mingied and they were a foik summoned from many iands".
Me again I coiiected them in order to parody them:
For they had not iike speech nor one ianguage
But their tongues were mingied and they were a foik summoned from many thieaes 360
The residents of the royai city of Constantne,
Not being of one tongue, nor of one naton,
Mixed ianguages abide, and men among the worst of thieaes,
Cretan and Turks, Aianian, hodians and Chians
Simpiy from the uniaersai naton, departed from aii piaces,
Aii the worst thieaes and aduiterers
Are coronated as saints by the city of Constantne.
What a great hubris of inconsiderate men.

The story saying “Come indeed, come as soon as possible, to be present in the thirteenth task around
the tme of Constantne's birth and you will earn a champions honey cake”, 13.26 (story 484)
Your mind wiii be abated with what is to be said here. 370
“You come aiong, you greatest of thieaes, to Constantne's city
To become saint, exactiy iike the other thieaes.
So the thirteenth task, just iike a iittie additon.
Since aii the tasks of Heracies were tweiae”.
The atheist from Meios, Diagoras,
Departng from an inn, and in need of baking ientnes
But unabie to fnd any wood, he found Heracies
In the form of a wooden statue, among the best pieces of art.
Afer siicing it into bits and pieces with an axe,
He threw him into the fre and toid him: 380
"Tweiae tasks you accompiished, Heracies,
So go on with accompiishing this one too
And bake the ientnes". Thus Diagoras
The thirteenth task named, as a suppiement.
And me too this was the thirteenth I said as a suppiement.
Short additon as I said, for aii thieaes of this kind.

Concerning what happened to Hiero's wife, 13.27 (story 485)

Hiero was once the king of Syracuse.
Said Hiero's breath stunk.
When he heard this by some Syracusan,
Who said, “Hiero, your breath reeks beyond measure” 390
When Hiero biamed his own wife,
For not haaing warned him at aii.
She said “Hiero, I thought aii men's breath
Stnks iike this, not oniy yours”.

On the residents of Thessaly, imitate that Thessalian son of Peleus, 13.28 (story 486)
Thessaionika is another thing than Thessaiy
Thessaionika is the city once named Therma
About which a good iesson can be found
In passage three hundred and sixteen of this book s329.
Thus Thessaionika is the city which Therma used to be.

But Thessaiy is a iand to which many other cites beiong 400

Larissa, Phthia, Farsaios, Trikke, and many others.
Whither aiso Thettaioi iiae, iike Achiiies and others.

But those who made homeiand of Thessaioniki

And were registered in the manner we described here
Are caiied Thessaionikeis, not Thetaiioi,
And that is what they caii themseiaes, as they write themseiaes.
So, I say, what is the thing to be imitated?
That is to say, serae, do, take some acton.
Achiiies himseif, this ancient Thettaios
Cut up his meat with his own hand 4s0
Just as Homer described, thus writng in the sagas.
“And Automedon heid them for him, whiie goodiy Achiiies caraed.”

Concerning “Be apt with a sieve and cleanse the dirty grain at the church”. And on straining without
fltering out, 13.29 (story 487)
Sieaes are instruments for cieansing the grain.
But there is a sieae seraing a functon at the church
In which they iay towards the ground eaeryone non discipiined

s329 See s0.s6.

And they cieanse the wounds from the dirt of indiscipiine.
This before a whiie was what a seraant
Not one of the commoners and unremarkabie, neither the iower ciass.

I said, iearn how to strain, but not fiter out.

Ethmos, sakelisterion, trygoipos, ulister 4290
Are common instruments to cieanse the impurity of wines
But aiso used fgurataeiy, for undiscipiined peopie
To be sieaed, I said, iike the dirty grain,
Nameiy, receiaing the treatment inside the sieae
That is, enciosing himseif in the straining cioth.
Another fguratae use inaoiaes the iees of wine.
I toid you how to strain but not fiter out.
That is to say is just a warning for you, not anything wiser
Thus I expiained technicaiiy, by means of rigorous method
Sakellisai can be safeiy used to mean both 430
Purifying yourseif and cieansing the wine
And is aiso used for emphasis and as a rhetoric fgure,
Putng yourseif in the prison of the straining-cioth.
But Ethmos, trygoipos, ulister
Are oniy said about the wine, and not about the iees.

Proverb, “and if Ixion appears to the benefactors, what he could not raise”, 13.30 (story 488)
Twice Ixion is mentoned in history
And in numerous other ways. Twice howeaer he was
Mentoned aiso in this book, passage ninety nine s33,
And two hundred and seaenty three s34.
Where the story is more extensiaeiy written. 440

s33 See 7.s.

s34 See 9.290.

Concerning ostracism and libel, 13.31 (story 489)
Now iearn from me where ostracism took its name from
And the fylobollhsai as weii, together with it.
The Athenians, when about to banish someone
They did not sent him to exiie right away
But afer they had arranged a specifc day
And unti then they iistened to a thousand accusers,
eckoning the number of peopie who taiked against him.
Afer writng his name on a sheii
They disposed the sheiis in Kynosarges, which is a piace in Athens.
They aiso exposed bastard chiidren there, in eariier years. 450
That was the aery piace where they disposed the exiie sheiis as weii.
Thus, if the specifed day a thousand sheiis were found,
Without any sympathy the person was exiied.
If the sheiis were iess than that, though,
He couid stay in his homeiand, achieaing forgiaeness.
Because of the sheiis ostracism stands for banishment,
The same as to which Aristdes the Just was submitted.
I am about to write something hiiarious about it.
Whiie many peopie were writng sheiis against Aristdes
Some iiiiterate misft whom he had neaer harmed, 460
Who did not eaen know who Aristdes was,
Came to Aristdes hoiding the sheii
And toid him “Piease write for me here Aristides”.
He then, being among the kindest, he wrote his name for him.
So afer he dropped the sheii in Kynosarges
Aristdes asked him, afer he had come back
“I wonder what harm has Aristdes caused to you”
Afer he said that he neither has known nor eaer seen him
But they had toid him to write down what eaerybody eise did.
When one of the bystanders nodded and signaiied him 470
That the one he was taiking to was Aristdes
He said, “I am going now and retrieae the sheii from there”.
Aristdes preaented him from doing so,
And he asked to sign another sheii
So that he couid be easier banished by such peopie.
Thus exiie was named ostracising.

But we aiso caii it ekfylloforisin

In piaces where sheiis were hard to fnd
They used ieaaes in the piace of sheiis
And did eaerything eise just as I said 480
But they dropped them not in Kynosarges
But in a piace where the ieaaes couid be hidden and kept dry.

So, either we use the word ostracism or ekfylloforisis for exiie

We mean the aery same thing
But there were peopie that were banished in autumn tme
Because of the trees ieaaes and the biowing of the winds
I think it seemed defamatory to the reguiators
That the written diatribes against the exceiient
Couid be dropped secretiy and by steaith in open piaces
Or inside the tempies, or eaen in other piaces. 490
The iaws punished those who'd write these.

Proverb about not throwing away the mouse and desistng one urge, 13.32 (story 490)
From Aesop's fabies and Babrius’ iyrics;
A iion was sieeping, whiie a mouse was running on his neck
And waking the startied iion from his sieep
As the fox was iaughing at him the iion responded
“I won't throw away the mouse, and I desist my urge”.
Proverb saying "If they dare to do these on dry wood", 13.33 (story 491)
Whether the wood is dry or green
The strength of my word is just the same, iearn here why
Christ taiks about this in the Gospeis
Who named himseif green wood thusiy: 500
If they dared to do such things on green wood
What are they abie to do on dry wood?
And he caiis himseif green wood
That is, a god who aiways iiaes and becomes again,
And then the dry wood that drifs away refers to the mortais
So if we take my word about the green wood,
Assume he means himseif, the strong and wise,
Then by dry wood suppose he means the weaker ones
And if on the dry wood it iies, they dare such things
And the dry wood stands for us aii. 5s0
And thus this does not ciarify the writ at aii
Because it means that to whom there is not a trace of accusatons
That is to those refraining from actng fooiishiy
He wiii do something with wet wood, so that to restrain those traces.

With this I now fuifiied what I was aiming for

That is to respond with a dreadfui thought to Demosthenes
Haaing made his judges think about these
As if they were themseiaes unjustiy judged
And without thinking the triai wouid go otherwise
They hasten to punish him who taik fooiishiy against me 5290
And run upon him thousand tmes faster than me.

Historical word, on the literal meaning of seiromastes, 13.34 (story 492)

Many peopie caii the iance seiromastes
As in the story of Phineas
Where he kiiied Zambres and Chasbes with one.
But mostiy in the customs one can fnd
A great iron obeiisk on which they siam the bags
Thus capturing the smuggied goods and confscate them.
So you aiso iearned and what seiromastes was, in the strict sense
As for the story of Phineas the story is weii written
In passage three hundred and ninety one s35. 530

Concerning the diference between olofyrsis and ololygmos, 13.35 (story 493)
Olofyrmos stands for iamentaton, whereas ololygmos for ioud prayer
As Euripides, Homer and thousand others
Proaide me exampies to support this
Seaenty two Jew transiators
Accidentaiiy said the pine “prayed aioud”
Instead of “iamented”, and the mistake was estabiished
And it became a common beiief and a fxed ruie
To use olofyresthai in piace of ololyzein.

It is a great biessing from God, that they did not fnd

Either Athanasius' or eaen somebody eise's 540
Letter addressed to Juiian
In which proupton was written instead of afanestatou
Instead of froudon he had written proupton, as far as I think
In my opinion due to his absent mind; that is why he imputes this to him,
Kassitauros, and writes about him the foiiowing;
"By God, this wiii preaent you from becoming my friend,
Being so iiiiterate that you write to me proupton
Instead of afanestaton. How did you eaer come up with this?”

s35 See ss.299.

So as here the saint was inficted by forgetuiness
And wrote manifest instead of most unseen, as I think 550
And many more, who couid eaer wiii say about aii of them?
Thus the ioud prayer was used instead of iamentaton
And no commutaton is possibie on the iaws of the most ignorant
And they say praying aioud meaning iament.
It is a great biessing from god indeed, that they did not aiso come up with
The manifest, of which we said, as the improper unseen;
Because if they aiso accepted this as a frm ruie
The “manifest” wouid be caiied “unseen” by anyone.
And for eaery ioaer of ruie and master of art's weights
It wouid be futie when hearing such abominatons to say aii this. 560

Concerning the many meanings of ioulos and oulos, 13.36 (story 494)
Ioulos is a fsh, but aiso a worm with thousand iegs
And the growth of the young beards hair
And aiso the hymn but as a feminine noun
As Eratosthenes teaches me weii in Hermes;
The hired femaie seraant on a taii wreath
Sortng out the grain, sings beautfui hymns
So that's it about ioulos. And oulon denotes six things:
The heaithy, integer, the deadiy, the curiy,
And furthermore the sof, and the part of the mouth.
I haae myseif added these two to the existng ones. 570
And in Homer and Aeschyius there are tweiae usages of these words.
Oider ones used oniy four of them.

Saying about being similar to spring fowers, as Homer depicts Euphorbus, 13.37 (story 495)
Euphorbus was a aery handsome Trojan man
Son of Panthous and Phronts, as Homer says to me,
And Orpheus was a son of Bucoiion and Abarbarea.
When he was kiiied by Meneiaus
Homer says me the foiiowing, word by word:
"And as a man reareth a iusty sapiing of an oiiae
In a ioneiy piace, where water weiieth up abundantiy—
A goodiy sapiing and a fair-growing; and the biasts 580
Of aii the winds make it to quiaer, and it burgeoneth out with white biossoms;
But suddeniy cometh the wind with a mighty tempest,
And teareth it out of its trench, and iayeth it iow upon the earth;
Eaen in such wise did Meneiaus, son of Atreus, siay Panthous' son,
Euphorbus of the good ashen spear, and set him to spoii him of his armour."

Historical word, on what is believed about hymaineus at revelries, 13.38 (story 496)
Komos and singing potos are drinking partes and pieasures.
Hymaineus is the wedding, but more appropriateiy the hymns of a wedding.
And it is caiied a hymaineus, as etymoiogists suggest
Either due to the perforaton of a aaginai hymen
Or that it deriaes from "new hymn"; these are both faise. 590
Because there are hymenaiοi for widows where no perforaton of hymen takes piace
Therefore it shouid not be caiied so, according to them.

Then, if there was a “new hymn” as I hear

One wouid write the epsilon bare and not in a diphthong.
Both of which I just said were then shown to be faise.

Others say, with stronger arguments, and this shouid be appraised

It stems from ama naiein, the fact that the bridegroom and the bride dweii together.
Others attribute the word to history,
Some of them saying there it happened to be a Hymenaeus among Argiaes
Son of Terpsichore who disappeared from her chamber, 600
Whiie others say he was Athenian, not Argiae,
Who found some maidens kidnapped by aiiiains
Whom he persuaded them to marry the maidens with iegitmate marriages.
Thereafer hymenaioi among the Greek naton
Used to be sung at the eaent of a wedding,
The former, to preaent disappearances in the chamber
The Atca ones, to wish a iawfui marriage.
That is what Greeks were doing in the eaent of weddings.
Caiiing Hymenaeus that Atc
And recognizing iegitmacy in the weddings he ceiebrated. 6s0
Just as Greeks inaoke him in weddings
The Latn naton inaokes Taiasiuss36.

Now you haae your debt paid of compieteiy

Because we toid aii the stories from the tabiets
Eaen if we are afraid that more ofen than not we cited them conciseiy
Since I haae written them and there is stii room on the paper
I shouid appraise my benefactors with words
And aii of them who sometme haae seemed usefui to me
Be it on tabiets or some axies 6290
And Homer's kin I wiii raise here.
Except for aery briefy, and oniy for the reason
Of you iearning, who Homer's wife and chiidren were.
Because the rest of it I haae written in the Empress' book
Of which the major points I wiii recite here.

Homer, who is the aii-wise, the sea of words

Except for being fiied with nectar instead of saity water,
Obtained no iess than seaen uncertain origins
Seaen fathers' breeding, aiso uncertain.
But you wiii know that Homer was from Smyrna 630
Son of Meietos and Kritheis

s36 The oman god of marriage.

And ieaae behind the other fctons about his parents.
His partner was caiied Eurydice,
Daughter of some Pastor or Gnostor from Kyme.
Sons of Homer were Seriphon and Theoiaos
His daughter was Arsiphone, who married Stasinus,
Stasinus who wrote the epic Cypria,
Which some say was produced by Homer himseif
And was giaen to Stasinus as a dowry together aiong with money. 640
Arctnus from Miietus was a student of Homer,
And the poet aiso had a seraant named Buccon,
Who Tzetzes piayfuiiy caiis pot jar and fask
The books of Homer then are thirteen.
He was contemporary with two miiitary campaigns
Against Thebes and against Troy, according to many others.

And Apoiiodorus the chronicier writes

He was eighty years oid when the Trojan War occurred.
Whiie Hesiod was at his prime, as I haae found in other authors,
During the eieaenth Oiympic games. 650

As for the death of Homer, it happened iike this:

It was foreseen that he wouid die, when he wouid be asked
To soiae a riddie, and he wouid be unabie to.
He died in poaerty, and biind due to oid age,
(Who among the sane couid write that fctonai nonsense)
He toured aii Greek cites
Singing his poems, weicomed eaerywhere with honours.
Afer he was receiaed in Arcadia by Creophiius
He went down to the beach on foot.
Afer he said to the Arcadian fshermen if there was something to eat, 660
And they responded to him taiking about worms in aegetabies
That they kiiied those that they had, and they had those who didn't.
He was on his way back, sad because he did not get it.
He stumbied in the mud and hit on a rock,
He broke his ribs on the right side, and died within three days.
So you haae here conciseiy put the sea of nectar
The wise Heiicon, rather the Muses themseiaes
ather yet Apoiio himseif the gatherer of Muses,
The one aboae aii eise, the great Homer,
Whence he was born, and who he was, and who he gaae birth to, 670
His seraant, his mentor and his student
His tmes and his books and where and how he died.
So we wiii now terminate this book, stamp it with the seai,
The seai that conciudes this book of ours.

---- The end of Chiliades, or Book of Histories, by John Tzetzes ----

This text was transiated from the originai Greek of T. Kiessiing's editon of s8296, as part of a project to
make aaaiiabie, for the aery frst tme, Greek and Latn texts that are currentiy not aaaiiabie in
transiaton.

Feei free to read it, and distribute it in any way you iike, but don't eaer charge any money for the
content here aaaiiabie, and don't change anything about the text or this introducton.

If you want to quote this transiaton feei free to, but piease giae proper credit to aii the originai
transiators.