Complete Works of Achilles Tatius

by Achilles Tatius

  [1] “γίνεται δὲ καὶ γάμος ἄλλος ὑδάτων διαπόντιος, καὶ ἔστιν ὁ μὲν ἐραστὴς ποταμὸς Ἠλεῖος, ἡ δὲ ἐρωμένη κρήνη Σικελική. Διὰ γὰρ τῆς θαλάττης ὁ ποταμὸς ὡς διὰ πεδίου τρέχει. [2] Ἡ δὲ οὐκ ἀφανίζει τὸν γλυκὺν ἐραστὴν ἁλμυρῷ κύματι, σχίζεται δὲ αὐτῷ ῥέοντι, καὶ τὸ σχίσμα τῆς θαλάττης χαράδρα τῷ ποταμῷ γίνεται: καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀρέθουσαν οὕτω τὸν Ἀλφειὸν νυμφοστολεῖ. Ὅταν οὖν ᾖ ἡ τῶν Ὀλυμπίων ἑορτή, πολλοὶ μὲν εἰς τὰς δίνας τοῦ ποταμοῦ καθιᾶσιν ἄλλος ἄλλα δῶρα: ὁ δὲ εὐθὺς πρὸς τὴν ἐρωμένην κομίζει καὶ ταῦτά ἐστιν ἕδνα ποταμοῦ. [3] Γίνεται δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἑρπετοῖς ἄλλο ἔρωτος μυστήριον, οὐ τοῖς ὁμογενέσι μόνον πρὸς ἄλληλα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις. Ὁ ἔχις ὁ τῆς γῆς ὄφις εἰς τὴν σμύραιναν οἰστρεῖ: ἡ δὲ σμύραινά ἐστιν ἄλλος ὄφις θαλάσσιος, εἰς μὲν τὴν μορφὴν ὄφις, εἰς δὲ τὴν χρῆσιν ἰχθύς. [4] Ὅταν οὖν εἰς γάμον ἐθέλωσιν ἀλλήλοις συνελθεῖν, ὁ μὲν εἰς τὸν αἰγιαλὸν ἐλθὼν συρίζει πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν τῇ σμυραίνῃ σύμβολον, ἡ δὲ γνωρίζει τὸ σύνθημα καὶ ἐκ τῶν κυμάτων ἀναδύεται. Ἀλλ̓ οὐκ εὐθέως πρὸς τὸν νυμφίον ἐξέρχεται （οἶδε γὰρ ὅτι θάνατον ἐν τοῖς ὀδοῦσι φέρει）, ἀλλ̓ ἄνεισιν εἰς πέτραν καὶ περιμένει τὸν νυμφίον καθῆραι τὸ στόμα. [5] Ἑστᾶσιν οὖν ἀμφότεροι πρὸς ἀλλήλους βλέποντες, ὁ μὲν ἐραστὴς ἠπειρώτης, ἡ δ̓ ἐρωμένη νησιῶτις. Ὅταν οὖν ὁ ἐραστὴς ἐξεμέσῃ τῆς νύμφης τὸν φόβον, ἡ δὲ ἐρριμμένον ἴδῃ τὸν θάνατον χαμαί, τότε καταβαίνει τῆς πέτρας καὶ εἰς τὴν ἤπειρον ἐξέρχεται καὶ τὸν ἐραστὴν περιπτύσσεται καὶ οὐκέτι φοβεῖται τὰ φιλήματα.”

  18. “There is even an example of wedlock between waters, which takes place across the sea. In this case the lover is a river of Elis, the beloved a fountain in Sicily; the river traverses the sea as though it were a plain, and the sea, far from overwhelming the lover’s fresh waters with its salt billows, makes an opening for the river’s flow and thus becomes a sort of watercourse for it; so that it may fairly be said to be the match-maker between the spring Arethusa and the river Alpheus: thus when the Olympic games are in progress, it is the custom for many of those present at the Festival to throw various objects into the waters of the river, and these are borne directly by the river to the beloved, serving as wedding presents.

  Among reptiles, there is an even more extraordinary mystery of love, because it is not merely the affection of two individuals of the same race towards one another, but that of a member of one species for a member of another. The viper, which is a land snake, has a burning passion for the lamprey, a snake of the sea, which has the outward appearance indeed of a snake, but is essentially a fish; so when these wish to join together in matrimony, the viper goes down to the shore and hisses seaward, as a signal to the lamprey, who recognizes it as the agreed sign, and comes out of the water. However, she does not go straight to the bridegroom, knowing that he carries a deathly poison in his fangs, but climbs a rock and waits until he has been able to purify his mouth, and so they stay looking at one another, the lover of the land and the beloved of the sea. After the lover has been able to vomit forth that which has so greatly frightened his bride, and she has seen the death spat out on the ground, she comes down from the rock to the mainland and embraces her lover, and is no longer in terror of his kisses.”

  [1] Ταῦτα ἅμα λέγων ἐνέβλεπον τῇ κόρῃ πῶς ἔχει πρὸς τὴν ἀκρόασιν τὴν ἐρωτικήν: ἡ δὲ ὑπεσήμαινεν οὐκ ἀηδῶς ἀκούειν. Τὸ δὲ κάλλος ἀστράπτον τοῦ ταῶ ἧττον ἐδόκει μοι τοῦ τῆς Λευκίππης εἶναι προσώπου. Τὸ γὰρ τοῦ σώματος κάλλος αὐτῆς πρὸς τὰ τοῦ λειμῶνος ἤριζεν ἄνθη: ναρκίσσου μὲν τὸ πρόσωπον ἔστιλβε χρόαν, ῥόδον δὲ ἀνέτελλεν ἐκ τῆς παρειᾶς, ἴον δὲ ἡ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐμάρμαιρεν αὐγή, αἱ δὲ κόμαι βοστρυχούμεναι μᾶλλον εἱλίττοντο κιττοῦ. [2] Τοιοῦτος ἦν Λευκίππης ἐπὶ τῶν προσώπων ὁ λειμών. Ἡ μὲν οὖν μετὰ μικρὸν ἀπιοῦσα ᾤχετο: τῆς γὰρ κιθάρας αὐτὴν ὁ καιρὸς ἐκάλει: ἐμοὶ δὲ ἐδόκει παρεῖναι, ἀπελθοῦσα γὰρ τὴν μορφὴν ἐπαφῆκέ μου τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς. [3] Ἑαυτοὺς οὖν ἐπῃνοῦμεν ἐγώ τε καὶ ὁ Σάτυρος: ἐγὼ μὲν ἐμαυτὸν τῆς μυθολογίας, ὁ δὲ ὅτι μοι τὰς ἀφορμὰς παρέσχεν.

  19. While recounting all these stories, I kept at the same time glancing at the maiden, to see how she felt while hearing all this talk of love; and there were some indications that she was not listening without pleasure. The gleaming beauty of the peacock seemed to me nothing in comparison with Leucippe’s lovely face; indeed, her beauty was rival of the flowers of the meadow. Her skin was bright with the hue of the narcissus, roses sprang from her cheeks, the dark gleam of her eyes shone like the violet, the ringlets of her hair curled more tightly than the ivy — Leucippe’s whole appearance was that of a flowery meadow. She soon turned and left the garden, as the time for her harp-playing claimed her: but she seemed to me to be still present, as even when she had gone she was able to fix the image of her form in my eyes. So Satyrus and I were then equally well satisfied with ourselves — I for the learned subjects I had been able to discuss, and he because he had given me my starting-cue.

  BOOK II.

  [1] Ἅμα δὲ ἑαυτοὺς ἐπαινοῦντες ἐπὶ τὸ δωμάτιον ἐβαδίζομεν τῆς κόρης, ἀκροασόμενοι δῆθεν τῶν κιθαρισμάτων: οὐ γὰρ ἠδυνάμην ἐμαυτοῦ κἂν ἐπ̓ ὀλίγον κρατεῖν τὸ μὴ ὁρᾶν τὴν κόρην. Ἡ δὲ πρῶτον μὲν ᾖσεν Ὁμήρου τὴν πρὸς τὸν λέοντα τοῦ συὸς μάχην: ἔπειτα δέ τι καὶ τῆς ἁπαλῆς μούσης ἐλίγαινε: ῥόδον γὰρ ἐπῄνει τὸ ᾆσμα. [2] Εἴ τις τὰς καμπὰς τῆς ᾠδῆς περιελὼν ψιλὸν ἔλεγεν ἁρμονίας τὸν λόγον, οὕτως ἂν εἶχεν ὅ λόγος: ‘εἰ τοῖς ἄνθεσιν ἤθελεν ὁ Ζεὺς ἐπιθεῖναι βασιλέα, τὸ ῥόδον ἂν τῶν ἀνθέων ἐβασίλευε. Γῆς ἐστι κόσμος, φυτῶν ἀγλάισμα, ὀφθαλμὸς ἀνθέων, λειμῶνος ἐρύθημα. [3] Ἔρωτος πνεῖ, Ἀφροδίτην προξενεῖ, εὐώδεσι φύλλοις κομᾷ, εὐκινήτοις πετάλοις τρυφᾷ, τὰ πέταλα τῷ Ζεφύρῳ γελᾷ.’ Ἡ μὲν ταῦτα ᾖδεν: ἐγὼ δὲ ἐδόκουν τὸ ῥόδον ἐπὶ τῶν χειλέων αὐτῆς ἰδεῖν, ὡς εἴ τις τῆς κάλυκος τὸ περιφερὲς εἰς τὴν τοῦ στόματος ἔκλεισε μορφήν.

  1. THUS congratulating one another we repaired to the maiden’s chamber to hear her play on the h
arp, for I could not bear, even for a short time, to let her out of my sight: First of all she performed Homer’s fight (Iliad, xvi. 823.) between the boar and the lion, then she changed to a tenderer strain, her song celebrating the praises of the rose. Neglecting the modulations of the music, one might describe thus the bare theme of the composition: “If Zeus had wished to give the flowers a king, that king would have been the rose; for it is the ornament of the world, the glory of the plants, the eye of all flowers, the meadows’ blush, beauty itself glowing; it has the breath of Love, it is the go-between of Aphrodite; its foliage is of sweet-smelling leaves, it glories in its rustling petals which seem to smile at the approach of the Zephyr.” Thus she sang; but to me it seemed as if I saw that rose upon her lips, as it were a flower converted into the shape of her sweet mouth.

  [1] Καὶ ἄρτι πέπαυτο τῶν κιθαρισμάτων καὶ πάλιν τοῦ δείπνου καιρὸς ἦν. Ἦν γὰρ ἑορτὴ προτρυγαίου Διονύσου τότε. Τὸν γὰρ Διόνυσον Τύριοι νομίζουσιν ἑαυτῶν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν Κάδμου μῦθον ᾄδουσι: [2] καὶ τῆς ἑορτῆς διηγοῦνται πατέρα μῦθον, οἶνον οὐκ εἶναί ποτε παῤ ἀνθρώποις, οὐ τὸν μέλανα τὸν ἀνθοσμίαν, οὐ τὸν τῆς Βιβλίνης ἀμπέλου, οὐ τὸν Μάρωνος τὸν Θρᾴκιον, οὐ τὸν Χῖον τὸν ἐκ Λακαίνης, οὐ τὸν Ἰκάρου τὸν νησιώτην, ἀλλὰ τούτους μὲν ἅπαντας ἀποίκους εἶναι Τυρίων ἀμπέλων, τὴν δὲ πρώτην παῤ αὐτοῖς φῦναι τῶν οἴνων μητέρα. [3] Εἶναι γὰρ ἐκεῖ φιλόξενόν τινα βουκόλον, οἷον τὸν Ἰκάριον Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσι, καὶ τοῦτον ἐνταῦθα τοῦ μύθου γενέσθαι πατέρα. Ἐπὶ τοῦτον ἧκεν ὁ Διόνυσος τὸν βουκόλον, ὁ δὲ αὐτῷ παρατίθησιν ὅσα γῆ φέρει καὶ ἅμαξα :βοῶν: ποτὸν δὲ ἦν παῤ αὐτοῖς οἷον καὶ ὁ βοῦς ἔπινεν: [4] οὔπω γὰρ τὸ ἀμπέλινον ἦν. Ὁ Διόνυσος ἐπαινεῖ τῆς φιλοφροσύνης τὸν βουκόλον καὶ αὐτῷ προπίνει κύλικα φιλοτησίαν: τὸ δὲ ποτὸν οἶνος ἦν. Ὁ δὲ πιὼν ὑφ̓ ἡδονῆς βακχεύεται καὶ λέγει πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ‘πόθεν, ὦ ξένε, σοὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦτο τὸ πορφυροῦν; [5] οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἐκεῖνο τὸ χαμαὶ ῥέον. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὰ στέρνα καταβαίνει καὶ λεπτὴν ἔχει τὴν ἡδονήν: τοῦτο δὲ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ στόματος τὰς ῥῖνας εὐφραίνει καὶ θιγόντι μὲν ψυχρόν ἐστιν, εἰς τὴν γαστέρα δὲ καταθορὸν ἀνάπτει κάτωθεν πῦρ ἡδονῆς.’ Καὶ ὁ Διόνυσος ἔφη ‘τοῦτό ἐστιν ὀπώρας ὕδωρ.’ Ἄγει πρὸς τὴν ἄμπελον ὁ θεὸς τὸν βουκόλον, [6] καὶ τῶν βοτρύων λαβὼν ἅμα καὶ θλίβων καὶ δεικνὺς τὴν ἄμπελον ‘τοῦτο μέν ἐστιν’ ἔφη ‘τὸ ὕδωρ, τοῦτο δὲ ἡ πηγή.’ Ὁ μὲν οὖν οἶνος οὕτως ἐς ἀνθρώπους παρῆλθεν, ὡς ὁ Τυρίων λόγος, ἑορτὴν δὲ ἄγουσιν ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνῳ τῷ θεῷ.

  2. Hardly had she ended when the time of dinner was again at hand. It happened at that season to be the festival of Dionysus Lord of the Vintage; for the Tyrians claim him as their own proper deity, singing on the subject Cadmus’ (Cadmus, the mythical founder of Thebes and introducer into Greece of the art of writing, was himself a Tyrian.) myth, which they relate as the origin of the festival; and this is it. In early days men had no wine; neither the dark, fragrant kind, nor that from the Biblian vine, not Maron’s (Ulysses’ wine which proved so fatal to the Cyclops was a present to him from Maron, priest of Apollo (Od ix. 197).) Thracian sort, not the white Chian (The excellence of Chian wine is a commonplace in Latin poets: particularly in Horace, by whom it is often mentioned as on a par with Falernian, the most highly prized wine of Italy.) kind, not the island wine of Icarus, (Icarus, who was a friend of Bacchus, was given a cutting of the vine by him. Cultivating this, and manufacturing wine from the grapes, he wished to impart the new gift to men: but unfortunately he began by administering it to some ignorant shepherds, who at first drank greedily of it, but when they began to feel its effects they thought that they were poisoned, and killed their unlucky benefactor.) but all these, they said, were derived from Tyrian vines, the original mother of all wines being a plant of their country. There was a certain shepherd noted for his hospitality, just as the Athenians describe Icarus, from whom this Tyrian story derives its origin, so that it almost seems an Attic tale. Dionysus once paid a visit to this herdsman, who set before him the produce of the earth and the result of the strength of his oxen: but their drink was the same as that of the oxen, since vines did not yet exist. Dionysus thanked the herdsman for his kindly cheer, and pledged him in a friendly cup; but his drink was wine. The herdsman, drinking of it, danced for joy, and said to the god: “Where did you get this purple water, my friend? Wherever did you find blood so sweet? For it is not that water which flows on the ground — that, as it descends into the midriff, affords but a faint pleasure, while this delights the sense of smell before ever it reaches the mouth; when you touch it, it is cold, but it leaps down into the belly and there, far down, lights up the fires of delight.”

  “This,” said Dionysus, “is harvest (Or, perhaps, “the water of fruit.”) water, the blood of the grape”: then the god led the herdsman to the vine, and took hold of the clusters and squeezed them; and then, pointing to the vine, “Here is your water,” said he, “this is its source.” That is the way in which wine came to men, as the Tyrian story goes, (3) and they keep that day as Dionysus’ festival.

  [1] Φιλοτιμούμενος οὖν ὁ πατὴρ τά τ̓ ἄλλα παρασκευάσας ἐς τὸ δεῖπνον ἔτυχε πολυτελέστατα καὶ κρατῆρα παρέθηκε τὸν ἱερὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, μετὰ τὸν Γλαύκου τοῦ Χίου δεύτερον. [2] Ὑάλου μὲν τὸ πᾶν ἔργον ὀρωρυγμένης: κύκλῳ δὲ αὐτὸν ἄμπελοι περιέστεφον ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κρατῆρος πεφυτευμέναι: οἱ δὲ βότρυες πάντη περικρεμάμενοι: ὄμφαξ μὲν αὐτῶν ἕκαστος ὅσον ἦν κενὸς ὁ κρατήρ: ἐὰν δὲ ἐγχέῃς οἶνον, κατὰ μικρὸν ὁ βότρυς ὑποπερκάζεται καὶ σταφυλὴν τὴν ὄμφακα ποιεῖ: Διόνυσός τε ἐντετύπωται τῶν βοτρύων, ἵνα τὴν ἄμπελον γεωργῇ. [3] Τοῦ δὲ πότου προϊόντος ἤδη καὶ ἀναισχύντως ἐς αὐτὴν ἑώρων. Ἔρως δὲ καὶ Διόνυσος, δύο βίαιοι θεοί, ψυχὴν κατασχόντες, ἐκμαίνουσιν εἰς ἀναισχυντίαν, ὁ μὲν κάων αὐτὴν τῷ συνήθει πυρί, ὁ δὲ τὸν οἶνον ὑπέκκαυμα φέρων: οἶνος γὰρ ἔρωτος τροφή. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ περιεργότερον εἰς ἐμὲ βλέπειν ἐθρασύνετο. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἡμῖν ἡμερῶν ἐπράττετο δέκα: καὶ πλέον τῶν ὀμμάτων ἐκερδαίνομεν ἢ ἐτολμῶμεν οὐδέν.

  3. My father, wishing to celebrate it with splendour, had set out all that was necessary for the dinner in a rich and costly fashion; but especially a precious cup to be used for libations to the god, one only second to the famous goblet (Presumably that mentioned in Herodotus, i. 25. Glaucus was a contemporary of Gyges.) of Glaucus of Chios.
The material of it was wrought rock-crystal; vines crowned its rim, seeming to grow from the cup itself, their clusters drooped down in every direction: when the cup was empty, each grape seemed green and unripe, but when wine was poured into it, then little by little the clusters became red and dark, the green crop turning into the ripe fruit; Dionysus too was represented hard by the clusters, to be the husbandman of the vine and the vintner. As we drank deeper, I began to look more boldly and with less shame at my sweetheart: Cupid and Dionysus are two of the most violent of the gods, they can grasp the soul and drive it so far towards madness that it loses all restraint; Cupid fires it with the flames which are his attribute, while Dionysus supplies wine which is as fuel to the fire: for wine is the very sustenance of love. She too became more hardy, and scrutinized me more curiously. In this state of affairs ten days passed, but we made no other progress nor ventured further than this duel of eyes.