[1] Εἶχε δ̓ ὁ Σάτυρος τοῦ φαρμάκου λείψανον, ᾧ τὸν Κώνωπα ἦν κατακοιμίσας: τούτου διακονούμενος ἡμῖν ἐγχεῖ λαθὼν κατὰ τῆς κύλικος τῆς τελευταίας, ἣν τῇ Πανθείᾳ προσέφερεν: ἡ δὲ ἀναστᾶσα ᾤχετο εἰς τὸν θάλαμον ἑαυτῆς καὶ εὐθὺς ἐκάθευδεν. [2] Εἶχε δὲ ἑτέραν ἡ Λευκίππη θαλαμηπόλον, ἣν τῷ αὐτῷ φαρμάκῳ καταβαπτίσας ὁ Σάτυρος （προσεπεποίητο γὰρ καὶ αὐτῆς, ἐξ οὗ τῷ θαλάμῳ προσεληλύθει, ἐρᾶν） ἐπὶ τὴν τρίτην θήραν ἔρχεται τὸν θυρωρόν: κἀκεῖνον βεβλήκει τῷ αὐτῷ πώματι. [3] Ὄχημα δὲ εὐτρεπὲς ἡμᾶς πρὸ τῶν πυλῶν ἐξεδέχετο, ὅπερ ὁ Κλεινίας παρεσκεύασε, καὶ ἔφθασεν ἡμᾶς ἐπ̓ αὐτοῦ περιμένων αὐτός. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντες ἐκάθευδον, περὶ πρώτας νυκτὸς φυλακὰς προῇμεν ἀψοφητί, Λευκίππην τοῦ Σατύρου χειραγωγοῦντος. [4] Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Κώνωψ, ὅσπερ ἡμῖν ἐφήδρευε, κατὰ τύχην ἐκείνην ἀπεδήμει τὴν ἡμέραν τῇ δεσποίνῃ διακονησόμενος. Ἀνοίγει δὴ τὰς θύρας ὁ Σάτυρος καὶ προήλθομεν: ὡς δὲ παρῇμεν ἐπὶ τὰς πύλας, ἐπέβημεν τοῦ ὀχήματος. [5] Ἦμεν δὲ οἱ πάντες ἕξ, ἡμεῖς καὶ ὁ Κλεινίας καὶ δύο θεράποντες αὐτοῦ. Ἐλαύνομεν οὖν τὴν ἐπὶ Σιδῶνος καὶ περὶ μοίρας τῆς νυκτὸς δύο παρῇμεν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ εὐθὺς ἐπὶ Βηρυτοῦ τὸν δρόμον ἐποιούμεθα, νομίζοντες εὑρήσειν ἐκεῖ ναῦν ἐφορμοῦσαν. [6] Καὶ οὐκ ἠτυχήσαμεν: ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ Βηρυτίων λιμένος ἤλθομεν, ἀναγόμενον σκάφος εὕρομεν, ἄρτι τὰ πρυμνήσια μέλλον ἀπολύειν. Μηδὲν οὖν ἐρωτήσαντες ποῖ πλεῖ, μετεσκευαζόμεθα ἐπὶ τὴν θάλατταν ἐκ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἦν ὁ καιρὸς μικρὸν ἄνω τῆς ἕω. Ἔπλει δὲ τὸ πλοῖον εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν, τὴν μεγάλην τοῦ Νείλου πόλιν.
31. Satyrus still had some of that drug left with which he had put Conops to sleep; and while he was waiting upon us, he poured some of it unobserved into the last cup which he was bringing to Panthea: after rising from the table she went to her chamber and there fell at once asleep. Leucippe had a second chambermaid; with her, too, ever since she had been placed in that position, Satyrus had pretended to be in love, and he gave her also a dose of the same mixture; then he proceeded to his third victim, the porter, and successfully drugged him with a similar draught. A carriage was waiting in readiness for us outside the gates, due to the forethought of Clinias, and he himself got into it and waited there for us. When everybody was asleep, at about the first watch of the night, we went out without a sound, Satyrus leading Leucippe by the hand; fortunately Conops, who was in constant ambush for us, was away on that particular day on some business for his mistress. Satyrus opened the doors; we followed; and when we had arrived at the gates, we entered the carriage: we were six in all — ourselves, Clinias, and two servants of his. We took the road to Sidon; arriving there when another watch of the night was about spent, we hurried on to Berytus, expecting that we should find some ship at anchor there. Nor were we disappointed: for as we arrived at the harbour of Berytus, we found a ship just sailings on the very point of casting loose; so we asked no questions as to her destination, but embarked all our belongings aboard; it was then a little before dawn. It appeared that she was making the voyage to Alexandria, the great city at the mouth of the Nile.
[1] Ἔχαιρόν τὸ πρῶτον ὁρῶν τὴν θάλατταν οὔπω πελαγίζοντος τοῦ σκάφους, ἀλλ̓ ἔτι τοῖς λιμέσιν ἐποχουμένου. Ὡς δὲ ἔδοξεν οὔριον εἶναι πρὸς ἀναγωγὴν τὸ πνεῦμα, θόρυβος ἦν πολὺς κατὰ τὸ σκάφος, τῶν ναυτῶν διαθεόντων, τοῦ κυβερνήτου κελεύοντος, [2] ἑλκομένων τῶν κάλων: ἡ κεραία περιήγετο, τὸ ἱστίον καθίετο, ἡ ναῦς ἀπεσαλεύετο, τὰς ἀγκύρας ἀνέσπων, ὁ λιμὴν κατελείπετο: τὴν γῆν ἑωρῶμεν ἀπὸ τῆς νεὼς κατὰ μικρὸν ἀναχωροῦσαν, ὡς αὐτὴν πλέουσαν: παιανισμὸς ἦν καὶ πολλή τις εὐχή, θεοὺς σωτῆρας καλούντων καὶ εὐφημούντων αἴσιον τὸν πλοῦν γενέσθαι: τὸ πνεῦμα ᾔρετο σφοδρότερον, τὸ ἱστίον ἐκυρτοῦτο καὶ εἷλκε τὴν ναῦν.
32. I was at once full of joy, even at my first sight of the ocean, before the boat got out to sea but was still riding in the harbour. When the breeze seemed favourable for putting off, a busy commotion arose throughout the ship — the crew running hither and thither, the helmsman giving his orders, men hauling on the ropes. The yard-arm was pulled round, the sail set, the ship leaped forward, the anchors were pulled in-deck, the harbour was left; we saw the coast little by little receding from the ship, as though it were itself in movement; there were songs of joy and much prayer directed to the gods saviours, invoking good omens for a prosperous voyage; meanwhile the wind freshened, the sail bellied, and the ship sped along.
[1] Ἔτυχε δέ τις ἡμῖν νεανίσκος παρασκηνῶν, ὃς ἐπεὶ καιρὸς ἦν ἀρίστου, φιλοφρονούμενος ἡμᾶς συναριστᾶν ἠξίου. Καὶ ἡμῖν δ̓ ὁ Σάτυρος παρέφερεν: ὥστε εἰς μέσον καταθέμενοι ἃ εἴχομεν, τὸ ἄριστον ἐκοινοῦμεν, ἤδη δὲ καὶ λόγον. [2] Λέγω δὴ πρῶτος ‘πόθεν, ὦ νεανίσκε, καὶ τίνα σε δεῖ καλεῖν;’ ‘Ἐγὼ Μενέλαος’ εἶπεν, ‘τὸ δὲ γένος Αἰγύπτιος. Τὰ δὲ ὑμέτερα τίνα;’ ‘Ἐγὼ Κλειτοφῶν, [3] οὗτος Κλεινίας, Φοίνικες ἄμφω.’ ‘Τίς οὖν ἡ πρόφασις ὑμῖν τῆς ἀποδημίας;’ ‘Ἢν σὺ πρῶτος ἡμῖν φράσῃς, καὶ τὰ παῤ ἡμῶν ἀκούσῃ.’
33. There happened to be camping near us on board a young man, who, when breakfast-time arrived, very courteously asked us to take the meal with him. Satyrus was just bringing our victuals; so that we put all that we had into the common stock, and made a joint meal and also shared the conversation. I was the first to speak: “Where do you come from, young sir, and what are you called?”
“Menelaus is my name,” he replied, “an Egyptian by nationality. What are yours?”
“I am Clitophon, this is Clinias, Phoenicians both.”
“What then is the reason that you are thus leaving your country?”
“Tell us your story first, and then we will relate ours to you.”
[1] Λέγει οὖν ὁ Μενέλαος ‘τὸ μὲν κεφάλαιον τῆς ἐμῆς ἀποδημίας ἔρως βάσκανος καὶ θήρα δυστυχής. Ἤρων μειρακίου καλοῦ, τὸ δὲ μειράκιον φιλόθηρον ἦν. Ἐπεῖχον τὰ πολλά, κρατεῖν οὐκ ἠδυνάμην: ὡς δ̓ οὐκ ἔπειθον, εἱπόμην ἐπὶ τὰς ἄγρας κἀγώ. [2] Ἐθηρῶμεν οὖν ἱππεύοντες ἄμφω καὶ τὰ πρῶτα εὐτυχοῦμεν, [3] τὰ λεπτὰ διώκοντες τῶν θηρίων. Ἐξαίφνης δὲ σῦς τῆς ὕλης προπηδᾷ, καὶ τὸ μειράκιον �
�δίωκε: καὶ ὁ σῦς ἐπιστρέφει τὴν γένυν καὶ ἀντιπρόσωπος ἐχώρει δρόμῳ, καὶ τὸ μειράκιον οὐκ ἐξετρέπετο, βοῶντος ἐμοῦ καὶ κεκραγότος ‘ἕλκε τὸν ἵππον, μετένεγκε τὰς ἡνίας, πονηρὸν τὸ θηρίον:’ ᾄξας δὲ ὁ σῦς σπουδῇ ἔτρεχεν ὡς ἐπ̓ αὐτό. [4] Καὶ οἱ μὲν συνέπιπτον ἀλλήλοις, ἐμὲ δὲ τρόμος, ὡς εἶδον, λαμβάνει καὶ φοβούμενος μὴ φθάσῃ τὸ θηρίον καὶ πατάξῃ τὸν ἵππον, ἐναγκυλησάμενος τὸ ἀκόντιον, πρὶν ἀκριβῶς καταστοχάσασθαι τοῦ σκοποῦ, πέμπω τὸ βέλος, τὸ δὲ μειράκιον παραθέον ἁρπάζει τὴν βολήν. [5] Τίνα οἴει με τότε ψυχὴν ἔχειν, εἰ καὶ ψυχὴν εἶχον ὅλως; Τὸ δὲ οἰκτρότερον, τὰς χεῖρας ὤρεγέ μοι μικρὸν ἔτι ἐμπνέων καὶ περιέβαλλε καὶ ἀποθνήσκων οὐκ ἐμίσει με τὸν πονηρὸν ὁ ὑπ̓ ἐμοῦ πεφονευμένος, ἀλλὰ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀφῆκε τῇ φονευσάσῃ περιπλεκόμενος δεξιᾷ. [6] Ἄγουσιν οὖν με ἐπὶ τὸ δικαστήριον οἱ τοῦ μειρακίου γονεῖς οὐκ ἄκοντα: καὶ γὰρ παρελθὼν ἀπελογούμην οὐδέν, θανάτου δὲ ἐτιμώμην ἐμαυτῷ. Ἐλεήσαντες οὖν οἱ δικασταὶ προσετίμησάν μοι τριετῆ φυγήν: ἧς νῦν τέλος ἐχούσης, αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ καταίρω.’ [7] Ἐπεδάκρυσεν ὁ Κλεινίας αὐτοῦ λέγοντος Πάτροκλον πρόφασιν, ἀναμνησθεὶς Χαρικλέους: καὶ ὁ Μενέλαος ‘τἀμὰ δακρύεις’ ἔφη ‘ἢ καὶ σέ τι τοιοῦτον ἐξήγαγε;’ Στενάξας οὖν ὁ Κλεινίας καταλέγει τὸν Χαρικλέα καὶ τὸν ἵππον, κἀγὼ τἀμαυτοῦ.
34. Menelaus then began: “The summary of my absence from my native land is an ill-starred love and a hunt with evil event. I loved a fair youth, who was a passionate huntsman. I tried to check him, but my attempts were unsuccessful; as he would not obey me, I used to go with him on his expeditions. One day we were both out hunting on horseback; at first we were successful, chasing small beasts only. Suddenly a boar sprang from the wood; the youth gave chase. Then the boar turned and faced him, charging directly at him. But he would not give ground, though I shouted and yelled, ‘Pull in your horse and turn the reins; the beast is dangerous.’ The boar made a spring and charged right at him. They closed with one another, but as I saw it I was overcome with fright, and, fearing that the brute would get his blow in first and wound the horse, I poised my javelin without taking sufficiently careful aim, and let fly. The youth crossed the line and received it full. What do you think that my feelings were then? If I had any feelings at all, they were like those of a living death. More pitiful still, while he yet faintly breathed he stretched out his hands to me and embraced me; in his death-throes he that was slaughtered by me did not loathe my accursed self, but he gave up the ghost embracing my murderous hand. His parents dragged me, not at all unwilling, before the tribunal of justice. I made no defence there, and proposed the penalty of death. So the jury took pity upon me, and sentenced me to three years’ banishment; this period has now come to an end, and I am returning to my own country.” As he spoke, Clinias wept as the Trojan women wept over Patroclus (Homer, Iliad, xix. 302. The captive Trojan women were forced to act as mourners for the dead Patroclus; and they shed real enough tears, but they were thinking of their own woes rather than of the dead hero, The scene passed into a proverb, which is also used by Plutarch.); he remembered Charicles. “You weep at my woes,” said Menelaus; “Has some similar adventure exiled you too?” Then Clinias groaned bitterly and related to him the story of Charicles and the horse, and I told my tale too.
[1] Ὁρῶν οὖν ἐγὼ τὸν Μενέλαον κατηφῆ πάνυ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ μεμνημένον, τὸν δὲ Κλεινίαν ὑποδακρύοντα μνήμῃ Χαρικλέους, βουλόμενος αὐτοὺς τῆς λύπης ἀπαγαγεῖν, ἐμβάλλω λόγον ἐρωτικῆς ἐχόμενον ψυχαγωγίας: καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ ἡ Λευκίππη παρῆν, ἀλλ̓ ἐν μυχῷ ἐκάθευδε τῆς νεώς. [2] Λέγω δὴ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὑπομειδιῶν ‘ὡς παρὰ πολὺ κρατεῖ μου Κλεινίας: ἐβούλετο γὰρ λέγειν κατὰ γυναικῶν, ὥσπερ εἰώθει. Ῥᾷον δ̓ ἂν εἴποι νῦν ἤτοι ὡς κοινωνὸν ἔρωτος εὑρών. [3] Οὐκ οἶδα γὰρ πῶς ἐπιχωριάζει νῦν ὁ εἰς τοὺς ἄρρενας ἔρως.’ （Οὐ γὰρ πολὺ ἄμεινον） ὁ Μενέλαος ἔφη ‘τοῦτο ἐκείνου; καὶ γὰρ ἁπλούστεροι παῖδες γυναικῶν, καὶ τὸ κάλλος αὐτοῖς δριμύτερον εἰς ἡδονήν.’ [4] ‘Πῶς δριμύτερον’ ἔφην ‘εἴγε παρακῦψαν μόνον οἴχεται καὶ οὐκ ἀπολαῦσαι δίδωσι τῷ φιλοῦντι, ἀλλ̓ ἔοικε τῷ τοῦ Ταντάλου πώματι; [5] πολλάκις γὰρ ἐν ᾧ πίνεται πέφευγε, καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ὁ ἐραστὴς οὐχ εὑρὼν πιεῖν: τὸ δὲ ἔτι πινόμενον ἁρπάζεται πρὶν ἂν ὁ πίνων κορεσθῇ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπὸ παιδὸς ἀπελθεῖν ἐραστὴν ἄλυπον ἔχοντα τὴν ἡδονήν: καταλείπει γὰρ ἔτι διψῶντα.’
35. Seeing that Menelaus was greatly dejected at the memory of his sorrows, and that Clinias too was secretly weeping when he recalled Charicles, I was anxious to banish their grief, and embarked upon a discussion which would divert the mind by a love-interest. Leucippe was not present, but was asleep in the ship’s hold. I remarked to them with a smile, “How much more fortunate than I is Clinias: he was doubtless about to declaim against women, as is his wont, and now he can speak with the greater freedom, because he has found another that shares his ideas in love. I know not how it is that this affection for youths is now so fashionable.”
“Why,” said Menelaus, “is not the one sort much preferable to the other? Youths have a much simpler nature than women, and their beauty is a keener stimulant to delight.”
“How keener,” said I, “considering that it has no sooner blossomed than it is gone, giving the adorer no opportunity of enjoying it? It is like the draught of Tantalus; often in the very act of drinking it disappears, and the lover must retire thirsty, and that which is actually being drunk is whisked away before the drinker has had his fill. Never can the lover leave the object of his affection with unalloyed delight; it always leaves him thirsty still.”
[1] Καὶ ὁ Μενέλαος ‘ἀγνοεῖς, ὦ Κλειτοφῶν’ ἔφη ‘τὸ κεφάλαιον τῆς ἡδονῆς. Ποθεινὸν γὰρ ἀεὶ τὸ ἀκόρεστον. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἰς χρῆσιν χρονιώτερον τῷ κόρῳ μαραίνει τὸ τερπνόν, τὸ δὲ ἁρπαζόμενον καινόν ἐστιν ἀεὶ καὶ μᾶλλον ἀνθεῖ: οὐ γὰρ γεγηρακυῖαν ἔχει τὴν ἡδονήν, καὶ ὅσον ἐλαττοῦται τῷ χρόνῳ, [2] τοσοῦτον εἰς μέγεθος ἐκτείνεται πόθῳ. Καὶ τὸ ῥόδον διὰ τοῦτο τῶν ἄλλων εὐμορφότερόν ἐστι φυτῶν, ὅτι τὸ κάλλος αὐτοῦ φεύγει ταχύ. Δύο γὰρ ἐγὼ νομίζω κατ̓ ἀνθρώπους κάλλη πλανᾶσθαι, τὸ μὲν οὐράνιον, τὸ δὲ πάνδημον. [3] Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν οὐράνιον ἄχθεται θνητῷ σκήνει δεδεμένον κα
ὶ ζητεῖ πρὸς οὐρανὸν ταχὺ φεύγειν: τὸ δὲ πάνδημον ἔρριπται κάτω καὶ ἐγχρονίζει περὶ τοῖς σώμασιν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ποιητὴν δεῖ λαβεῖν μάρτυρα τῆς οὐρανίας τοῦ κάλλους ἀνόδου, ἄκουσον Ὁμήρου λέγοντος τὸν καὶ ἀνηρείψαντο θεοὶ Διὶ οἰνοχοεύειν κάλλεος εἵνεκα οἷο, ἵν̓ ἀθανάτοισι μετείη. [4] Οὐδεμία δὲ ἀνέβη ποτὲ εἰς οὐρανὸν διὰ κάλλος γυνή. Καὶ γὰρ γυναιξὶ κεκοινώνηκεν ὁ Ζεύς. Ἀλλ̓ Ἀλκμήνην μὲν ἔχει πένθος καὶ φυγή, Δανάην δὲ λάρναξ καὶ θάλασσα, Σεμέλη δὲ πυρὸς γέγονε τροφή: ἂν δὲ μειρακίου Φρυγὸς ἐρασθῇ, τὸν οὐρανὸν αὐτῷ δίδωσιν, ἵνα καὶ συνοικῇ καὶ οἰνοχόον ἔχῃ τοῦ νέκταρος: ἡ δὲ πρότερον διάκονος τῆς τιμῆς ἐξέωσται: ἦν γάρ, οἶμαι, γυνή.’
36. “You know not, Clitophon,” said Menelaus, “the sum of all pleasure: the unsatisfied is the most desirable of all. The longer a thing lasts, the more likely is it to cloy by satiety; that which is constantly being ravished away from us is ever new and always at its prime — delight cannot grow old and the shorter its time the greater is its intensity increased in desire. This is why the rose is of all flowers the most beautiful, because its beauty is so fleeting. I hold that there are two different kinds of beauty conversant among men, the one heavenly, the other vulgar [presided over by their respective goddesses]; the heavenly sort chafes at being fettered by its mortal habitation and is ever seeking to hurry back again to its heavenly home, while the vulgar kind is diffused on our earth below and stays long in association with human bodies. If one may quote a poet as a witness of the flight of beauty to heaven, listen to Homer, who tells how The gods to be Jove’s cup-bearer in heaven him (Ganymede. Iliad, xx. 234.) did take, To dwell immortal there with them, all for his beauty’s sake.
Complete Works of Achilles Tatius Page 56