Complete Works of Achilles Tatius

by Achilles Tatius

  “melting.”) heart.” Leucippe, on hearing this, was naturally delighted that nothing further had passed between myself and Melitte. She said that, if leave were given her, she would look for the necessary herbs in the fields, and set off thither; for she thought that she would not be believed if she said that she had no knowledge of magic, and this was the reason, I suppose, that she promised to do her best. Melitte, through the action of hope alone, became somewhat more calm: the thought of future joys, even though they are not yet apparent, exercises a soothing effect by means of hope.

  [1] Ἐγὼ δὲ τούτων ἐπιστάμενος οὐδὲν ἠθύμουν μὲν σκοπῶν πῶς ἂν διακρουσαίμην καὶ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν νύκτα τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ πῶς ἂν συντυχεῖν Λευκίππῃ δυναίμην. [2] Ἐδόκει δέ μοι κἀκείνη τὴν ἴσην σπουδὴν ποιεῖσθαι τοῦ ἀπελθεῖν δἰ αὐτὴν εἰς τοὺς ἀγρούς, καὶ περὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν αὖθις ἥκειν. Ἔμελλε τῇ Λευκίππῃ παρέξειν ὄχημα καὶ Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν πότον ᾖμεν. [3] Ἄρτι δὲ κατακλιθέντων ἡμῶν θόρυβος πολὺς κατὰ τὸν ἀνδρῶνα ἀκούεται καὶ συνδρομή, καὶ εἰστρέχει τις τῶν θεραπόντων, ἀσθμαίνων ἅμα καὶ [4] λέγων ‘Θέρσανδρος ζῇ καὶ πάρεστιν.’ Ἦν δὲ ὁ Θέρσανδρος οὗτος ὁ τῆς Μελίτης ἀνήρ, ὃν ἐνόμιζε τεθνηκέναι κατὰ θάλασσαν. Τῶν γὰρ συνόντων αὐτῷ τινες οἰκετῶν, ὡς περιετράπη τὸ σκάφος, σωθέντες καὶ νομίσαντες ἀπολωλέναι, τοῦτο ἀπαγγείλαντες ἔτυχον. Ἅμα οὖν ὁ οἰκέτης εἶπε καὶ ὁ Θέρσανδρος κατὰ πόδας εἰστρέχει: πάντα γὰρ τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ πυθόμενος κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν, ἔσπευδε φθάσας καταλαβεῖν με. [5] Ἡ μὲν δὴ Μελίτη ἀνέθορεν ὑπ̓ ἐκπλήξεως τοῦ παραλόγου καὶ περιβάλλειν ἐπεχείρει τὸν ἄνδρα: ὁ δὲ τὴν μὲν ὡς εἶχεν ὠθεῖ μάλα ἐρρωμένως, ἐμὲ δὲ ἰδὼν καὶ εἰπὼν ‘ὁ μοιχὸς οὗτος’ ἐμπηδᾷ καὶ ῥαπίζει με κατὰ κόρρης πληγὴν θυμοῦ γέμουσαν, ἑλκύσας δὲ τῶν τριχῶν ῥάσσει πρὸς τοὔδαφος καὶ προσπίπτων κατακόπτει με πληγαῖς. [6] Ἐγὼ δὲ ὥσπερ ἐν μυστηρίῳ μηδὲν ᾔδειν, μήθ̓ ὅστις ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἦν μήθ̓ οὗ χάριν ἔτυπτεν, ὑποπτεύσας δὲ μανικὸν εἶναι ἐδεδοίκειν ἀμύνασθαι, καίτοι δυνάμενος. [7] Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκάμομεν ὁ μὲν τύπτων, ἐγὼ δὲ φιλοσοφῶν, λέγω πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀναστὰς ‘τίς ποτε εἶ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, καὶ τι με οὕτως ᾐκίσω;’ Ὁ δὲ ἔτι μᾶλλον ὀργισθεὶς ὅτι καὶ φωνὴν ἀφῆκα, ῥαπίζει πάλιν καὶ καλεῖ δεσμὰ καὶ πέδας. Δεσμεύουσιν οὖν με καὶ ἄγουσιν εἴς τι δωμάτιον.

  23. I knew nothing of all this, and was in great distress; I was wondering how to put off Melitte for the coming night, and how I could manage to meet Leucippe face to face, who seemed to be aiming at the same object, in going, in a carriage provided by Melitte, into the country and returning towards evening. (The text is here corrupt, and one or two words must certainly be lost. The translation represents the sense of the passage, though even so it is inconsistent with ch xxvi. § 12, where Melitte says that Leucippe (instead of returning to Ephesus in the evening) was to spend the night in the country gathering the magic herbs by moonlight.) We were now coming to the time for taking wine, and had but just sat down to it, when a great shouting and sound of running about arose in the men’s quarters, and a servant came running in, panting, and crying out: “Thersander is alive and here!” Now this Thersander was Melitte’s husband, believed by her to have perished at sea: some of the servants, who happened to be with him when his boat was overturned, had afterwards been saved, and, thinking that he had perished, had spread the report of his death. The servant was still speaking when Thersander rushed in close on his heels: he had heard all about me on his way back, and was hurrying so as to be sure to catch me. Melitte jumped up, thunderstruck at the strangeness of the situation, and made as if to embrace her husband; but he thrust her violently from him, and, seeing me, “There is the gallant,” he cried; he leaped at me and struck me on the forehead a blow full of fury. He then seized me by the hair, bore me to the floor, and, falling upon me, rained blows on me. I knew as little as though I were at the celebration of some secret mystery who the man was or why he was beating me; though, suspecting that there was something wrong, I was afraid to defend myself, though I could have done so. When he grew tired of pounding me (and I of my reasoning), I rose and said: “Who are you, sir, and why have you assaulted me in this way?” He was still more angry at my speech and struck me again, and then called for chains and fetters; his servants bound me and threw me into a closet.

  [1] Ἐν ᾧ δὲ ταῦτα ἐπράττετο, λανθάνει με διαρρυεῖσα ἡ τῆς Λευκίππης ἐπιστολή: ἔτυχον γὰρ αὐτὴν εἴσω τοῦ χιτωνίσκου προσδεδεμένην ἐκ τῶν τῆς ὀθόνης θυσάνων ἔχων: καὶ ἡ Μελίτη ἀναιρεῖται λαθοῦσα: ἐδεδίει γὰρ μή τινα τῶν πρός με αὐτῆς γραμμάτων ἦν. [2] Ὡς δὲ ἀνέγνω καθ̓ ἑαυτὴν γενομένη καὶ τὸ τῆς Λευκίππης εὗρεν ὄνομα, βάλλεται μὲν εὐθέως τὴν καρδίαν γνωρίσασα τοὔνομα, οὐ μὴν αὐτὴν ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι τῷ πολλάκις αὐτὴν ἀκοῦσαι τετελευτηκέναι. [3] Ὡς δὲ προϊοῦσα καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐνέτυχε, πᾶσαν μαθοῦσα τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐμεμέριστο πολλοῖς ἅμα τὴν ψυχήν, αἰδοῖ καὶ ὀργῇ καὶ ἔρωτι καὶ ζηλοτυπίᾳ: ᾐσχύνετο τὸν ἄνδρα, ὠργίζετο τοῖς γράμμασιν, ὁ ἔρως ἐμάραινε τὴν ὀργήν, ἐξῆπτε τὸν ἔρωτα ἡ ζηλοτυπία, καὶ τέλος ἐκράτησεν ὁ ἔρως.

  24. While all this was happening, I did not observe that I had dropped Leucippe’s letter: I had happened to have fastened it under my coat to the border of my shirt. Melitte privately picked it up, fearing that it was one of her letters to me. When she was alone she read it, and directly she found the name of Leucippe, she was cut to the heart on recognizing the name; she never guessed that the woman could be she, as she had heard so often that she had perished. When she went on and finished the rest of what was written, and so learned the whole truth, her heart was the scene of conflicting emotions — shame, and anger, and love, and jealousy.

  She felt shame as regarded her husband, and anger at the letter: love made her anger inclined to cool, while jealousy fired her love, though love was in the end victorious.

  [1] Ἦν δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέραν, καὶ ἔτυχεν Θέρσανδρος ἐκ τῆς πρώτης ὀργῆς πρὸς ἑταῖρόν τινα τῶν ἐγχωρίων ἐκθορών. Ἡ δὲ διαλεχθεῖσα τῷ τὴν φυλακὴν τὴν ἐμὴν πεπιστευμένῳ εἰσέρχεται πρός με λαθοῦσα τοὺς ἄλλους, θεράποντας δύο τοῦ δωματίου προκαθίσασα, [2] καὶ καταλαμβάνει χαμαὶ καταβεβλημένον. Παραστᾶσα οὖν πάντα ἤθελεν εἰπεῖν ὁμοῦ, καὶ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ προσώπου το
σαῦτα εἶχεν, ὅσα εἰπεῖν ἤθελεν. ‘Ὦ δυστυχὴς ἐγὼ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ἐμαυτῆς κακῷ τεθεαμένη σε, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἀτέλεστα ἐρασθεῖσα καὶ μετὰ πάσης ἀνοίας, ἣ καὶ μισουμένη τὸν μισοῦντα φιλῶ καὶ ὀδυνωμένη τὸν ὀδυνῶντα ἐλεῶ, καὶ οὐδὲ ὕβρις τὸν ἔρωτα παύει. [3] Ὦ ζεῦγος κατ̓ ἐμοῦ γοήτων, ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικός. Ὁ μὲν τοσοῦτόν μου χρόνον κατεγέλα, ἡ δὲ ἀπῆλθε κομιοῦσά μοι φίλτρον: ἐγὼ δὲ ἡ κακοδαίμων ἠγνόουν αἰτοῦσα παρὰ τῶν ἐχθίστων [4] κατ̓ ἐμαυτῆς φάρμακον.’ Καὶ ἅμα τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τῆς Λευκίππης μοι προσέρριψεν. Ἰδὼν οὖν καὶ γνωρίσας ἔφριξα καὶ ἔβλεπον εἰς γῆν ὡς ἐληλεγμένος: ἡ δὲ ἐτραγῴδει πάλιν ‘οἴμοι δειλαία τῶν κακῶν: καὶ γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα ἀπώλεσα διὰ σέ, οὐδὲ ἂν ἔχοιμι σὲ τοῦ λοιποῦ χρόνου κἂν μέχρι τῶν ὀμμάτων τῶν κενῶν, [5] ἐπεὶ μὴ δεδύνησαι τούτων πλέον. Οἶδα ὅτι ὁ ἀνήρ με μισεῖ καὶ μοιχείαν κατέγνωκεν ἐπὶ σοί, μοιχείαν ἄκαρπον, μοιχείαν ἀναφρόδιτον, ἧς μόνον τὴν λοιδορίαν κεκέρδακα. Αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλαι γυναῖκες μισθὸν τῆς αἰσχύνης ἔχουσι τὴν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἡδονήν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἡ δυστυχὴς τὴν μὲν αἰσχύνην ἐκαρπωσάμην, [6] τὸ δὲ τῆς ἡδονῆς οὐδαμοῦ. Ἄπιστε καὶ βάρβαρε: ἐτόλμησας οὕτως ἐρῶσαν γυναῖκα κατατῆξαι, καὶ ταῦτα Ἔρωτος καὶ σὺ δοῦλος ὤν; Οὐκ ἐφοβήθης αὐτοῦ τὰ μηνίματα; οὐκ ᾐδέσθης αὐτοῦ τὸ πῦρ; οὐκ ἐτίμησας αὐτοῦ τὰ μυστήρια; οὐ κατέκλασέ σε ταῦτα τὰ ὄμματα δακρύοντα; [7] Ὦ καὶ λῃστῶν ἀγριώτερε: δάκρυα γὰρ καὶ λῃστὴς αἰσχύνεται. Οὐδέν σε ἠρέθισεν εἰς ἀφροδίτην κἂν μίαν, οὐ δέησις, οὐ χρόνος, οὐχ ἡ τῶν σωμάτων συμπλοκή, ἀλλά, τὸ πάντων ὑβριστικώτατον, προσαπτόμενος, καταφιλῶν οὕτως ἀνέστης ὡς ἄλλη γυνή. [8] Τίς αὕτη τῶν γάμων ἡ σκιά; Οὐ μὲν δὴ γεγηρακυίᾳ συνεκάθευδες οὐδ̓ ἀποστρεφομένῃ σου τὰς περιπλοκάς, ἀλλὰ καὶ νέᾳ καὶ φιλούσῃ, εἴποι δ̓ ἂν ἄλλος ὅτι καὶ καλῇ. Εὐνοῦχε καὶ ἀνδρόγυνε καὶ κάλλους βάσκανε, ἐπαρῶμαί σοι δικαιοτάτην ἀράν: οὕτω σε ἀμύναιτο ὁ Ἔρως εἰς τὰ σά.’

  25. It was now towards evening; Thersander, in his first fit of rage, had rushed out to the house of one of his friends who lived close by. Melitte addressed herself to the man to whom had been entrusted the charge of watching over me, and came secretly to me, setting a couple of her servants at the door to watch. She found me lying on the ground, and, as she stood over me, she seemed to design to give utterance to all her thoughts at once: in the expression of her face gleamed all the different emotions to which she would have liked to give vent in speech. “How wretched am I,” she said, “who saw you first to my own undoing, who loved with a love that had no fulfilment and was mere folly, who was hated and love him that hated me, who was wounded and pity him that wounded me; and even the insults I have suffered do not extinguish my love. A fine pair you are of magicians, male and female, working your arts against me: one of you was laughing at me the whole time, while the other went off to bring me a love-philtre — I, poor I, did not know that I was begging for a magical drug, to be used against myself, from my deadliest enemies.” As she spoke, she threw down Leucippe’s letter in front of me; when I saw it and recognised what it was, I shuddered, and kept my eyes fixed on the ground like a man caught in the commission of some crime. Then she went on again in the same emotional style: “Wretched, wretched woman that I am! I have lost my husband for you, and now, after this, I may not even possess you to the extent of seeing you, which is as much pleasure as you have yet vouchsafed me; I know that my husband has come to hate me, and has believed me guilty of adultery on your account — a fruitless, pleasureless adultery, from which my only gain has been abuse. Other women at least obtain as a reward of their shame the pleasurable satisfaction of their desires; I have reaped the shame well enough, poor I, but have nowhere found the pleasure. Faithless, savage wretch! How could you bear to see a woman thus pining away for love, when you too were Love’s slave? Did you not fear his wrath? Had you no apprehension of his fire? No respect for his mysteries? Could not these weeping eyes of mine melt you? More brutal than a pirate! A pirate is at least moved by tears. Could nothing rouse you even to one trance of love, not my prayers, not the time you spent in my company, not our mutual embrace, breast to breast? No, and what is of all the most cruel insult to me, you have clung to me and kissed me, and then risen from my side as passionless as another woman. What is this wretched shadow of a marriage? It was not as if your mate had been an old woman or one who rejected your embraces; I am young and inclined to love, and anybody else would say that I was fair. Miserable eunuch — woman-man — beauty’s wet-blanket (βάσκανα: impotence is supposed to be in a special degree due to magic. The frigidi ad venerem are regularly called in mediaeval Latin maleficiati.); I call down upon you the justest curse of all: may Love requite you in your passions the same treatment that you have meted out to mine.” Thus she spoke, and at the same moment burst into tears.

  [1] Ταῦτα ἔλεγε καὶ ἅμα ἔκλαεν: ὡς δὲ ἐσιώπων ἐγὼ κάτω νενευκώς, μικρὸν διαλιποῦσα λέγει μεταβαλοῦσα ‘ἃ μὲν εἶπον, ὦ φίλτατε, θυμὸς ἔλεγε καὶ λύπη: ἃ δὲ νῦν μέλλω λέγειν, ἔρως λέγει. Κἂν ὀργίζωμαι, [2] κάομαι: κἂν ὑβρίζωμαι, φιλῶ. Σπεῖσαι κἂν νῦν, ἐλέησον: οὐκέτι δέομαι πολλῶν ἡμερῶν καὶ γάμου μακροῦ, ὃν ἡ δυστυχὴς ὠνειροπόλουν ἐπὶ σοί: ἀρκεῖ μοι κἂν μία συμπλοκή: μικροῦ δέομαι φαρμάκου πρὸς τηλικαύτην νόσον. Σβέσον μοι ὀλίγον τοῦ πυρός: εἰ δέ τί σοι προπετῶς ἐθρασυνάμην, σύγγνωθι, [3] φίλτατε: ἔρως ἀτυχῶν καὶ μαίνεται. Ἀσχημονοῦσα οἶδα, ἀλλ̓ οὐκ αἰσχύνομαι τὰ τοῦ Ἔρωτος ἐξαγορεύουσα μυστήρια. Πρὸς ἄνδρα λαλῶ μεμυημένον: οἶδας τί πάσχω: τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ἀθέατα τὰ βέλη τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις ἐπιδεῖξαι δύναιτο τὰ τοξεύματα, μόνοι δὲ οἴδασιν οἱ ἐρῶντες τὰ τῶν ὁμοίων τραύματα. [4] Ἔτι μόνον ἔχω ταύτην τὴν ἡμέραν: τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἀπαιτῶ. Ἀναμνήσθητι τῆς Ἴσιδος, αἰδέσθητι τοὺς ὅρκους τοὺς ἐκεῖ. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ καὶ συνοικεῖν ἤθελες, ὥσπερ ὤμοσας, οὐκ ἂν ἐφρόντισα Θερσάνδρων μυρίων: ἐπεὶ δὲ Λευκίππην εὑρόντι σοι γάμος ἀδύνατος ἄλλης γυναικός, ἑκοῦσά σοι τοῦτο παραχωρῶ: οἶδα νικωμένη: οὐκ αἰτῶ πλέον ἢ δύναμαι τυχεῖν: κατ̓ ἐμοῦ γὰρ πάντα καινά: ἀναβιοῦσι καὶ νεκροί. [5] Ὦ θάλα�
�σα, πλέουσαν μέν με διέσωσας, σώσασα δὲ μᾶλλον ἀπολώλεκας, δύο ἀποστείλασα κατ̓ ἐμοῦ νεκρούς: ἤρκει γὰρ Λευκίππη μόνη ζήσασα, ἵνα μηκέτι λυπῆται Κλειτοφῶν: νῦν δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄγριος Θέρσανδρος ἡμῖν πάρεστι. [6] Τετύπτησαι βλεπούσης μου, καὶ βοηθεῖν ἡ δυστυχὴς οὐκ ἠδυνάμην: ἐπὶ τοῦτο τὸ πρόσωπον πληγαὶ κατηνέχθησαν, ὦ θεοί. Δοκῶ, τυφλὸς Θέρσανδρος ἦν. [7] Ἀλλὰ δέομαι, Κλειτοφῶν δέσποτα （δεσπότης γὰρ εἶ ψυχῆς τῆς ἐμῆς）, ἀπόδος σεαυτὸν τήμερον πρῶτα καὶ ὕστατα: ἐμοὶ δὲ ἡμέραι τὸ βραχὺ τοῦτο πολλαί. Οὕτω μηκέτι Λευκίππην ἀπολέσειας, οὕτω μηκέτι μηδὲ ψευδῶς ἀποθάνοι. [8] Μὴ ἀτιμάσῃς τὸν ἔρωτα τὸν ἐμόν, δἰ ὃν τὰ μέγιστα εὐτυχεῖς. Οὗτός σοι Λευκίππην ἀποδέδωκεν. Εἰ γάρ σου μὴ ἠράσθην ἐγώ, εἰ γάρ σε μὴ ἐνταῦθα ἤγαγον, ἦν ἂν ἔτι σοι Λευκίππη νεκρά. [9] Εἰσίν, ὦ Κλειτοφῶν, καὶ Τύχης δωρεαί. Ἤδη τις θησαυρῷ περιτυχὼν τὸν τόπον τῆς εὑρέσεως ἐτίμησε, βωμὸν ἤγειρε, θυσίαν προσήνεγκεν, ἐστεφάνωσε τὴν γῆν: σὺ δὲ παῤ ἐμοὶ θησαυρὸν Ἔρωτος εὑρὼν ἀτιμάζεις τὴν εὐεργετήσασαν. [10] Νόμιζέ σοι τὸν Ἔρωτα δἰ ἐμοῦ λέγειν ‘ἐμοὶ χάρισαι τοῦτο, Κλειτοφῶν, τῷ σῷ μυσταγωγῷ: μὴ ἀμύητον τὴν Μελίτην ἀπέλθῃς καταλιπών: καὶ τὸ ταύτης ἐμόν ἐστι πῦρ.’ Ἄκουσον δὲ ὡς καὶ τἆλλα μοι μέλει περὶ σοῦ. [11] Λυθήσῃ μὲν γὰρ ἄρτι τῶν δεσμῶν, κἂν Θερσάνδρῳ μὴ δοκῇ: καταγωγῆς δὲ τεύξῃ τοσούτων ἡμερῶν, ὅσων ἂν θέλῃς, πρὸς ἐμὸν σύντροφον: ἕωθεν δὲ καὶ τὴν Λευκίππην παρέσεσθαι προσδόκα. [12] Διανυκτερεύσειν γὰρ ἔλεγεν εἰς τὸν ἀγρὸν βοτανῶν ἕνεκεν χάριν, ὡς ἐν ὄψει τῆς σελήνης αὐτὰς ἀναλάβοι. Οὕτως γάρ μου κατεγέλα: ᾔτησα γὰρ φάρμακον παῤ αὐτῆς ὡς Θετταλῆς κατὰ σοῦ. Τί γὰρ ἠδυνάμην ἔτι ποιεῖν ἀποτυγχάνουσα ἢ βοτάνας ζητεῖν καὶ φάρμακα; αὕτη γὰρ τῶν ἐν ἔρωτι δυστυχούντων ἡ καταφυγή. [13] Ὁ Θέρσανδρος δέ, ὡς καὶ περὶ τούτου θαρρήσῃς, ἐξεπήδησε πρὸς ἑταῖρον αὑτοῦ, ἐξιστάμενος ἐμοὶ τῆς οἰκίας ὑπὸ ὀργῆς: δοκεῖ δ̓ ἔμοιγε θεός τις αὐτὸν ἐντεῦθεν ἐξεληλακέναι, ἵνα σου τὰ τελευταῖα ταῦτα δυνηθῶ τυχεῖν. Ἀλλά μοι σαυτὸν ἀπόδος.’