Complete Works of Achilles Tatius
Page 78
19. At these words Thersander was utterly distracted; he loved, he was wroth. Anger and love are two flames: yes, anger possesses a second fire, as opposite as possible to the other in its nature, but of equal strength. The one stirs up to hatred, the other forces on to love; and near to each other are the sources of both; the one has its seat in the bile, (Literally, the liver. But the mention of that organ seems medical, and almost ridiculous to our ears in such a connexion.) the other flutters madly round the heart. When both these passions together attack a man, his soul becomes a balance between them, with fire in either of its scales; they fight as to which shall weigh down the balance, and generally love wins, if it attain the object of its desire; but if the beloved scorn it, it calls in anger to be its ally; like a true neighbour it responds to the call, and both combine together in making the flames burn more fiercely. But (The whole of the rest of this chapter is a τόποs or patch, half physiological and half psychological, of a character extremely tiresome to modern readers. It is difficult to translate into any English that does not appear to us ludicrous, and I have departed more than usual from a closely literal rendering of the Greek.) if once anger, associating with love, has driven it from its proper place and keeps it without, it is an implacable foe, and will not fight together with it as a friend with a view of accomplishing its desire, but rather keeps it bound as its desire’s serf; it will not allow it, even though it be anxious to do so, to come to terms with the beloved. Then love is overwhelmed by anger and sinks in its flood; and when it wishes to revert to its former power, it is no longer free, but is forced to hate the object of its affections. Anger, however, first froths up to its full and has complete fruition of its power; then it grows weary and begins to weaken from satiety, and when the weakening has once begun its power relaxes: then love takes the offensive, puts desire into arms, and wins the mastery over anger which has already begun to doze. It sees the wrongs which it has done to those very dear to it in its moment of frenzy; il feels remorse, it expresses its sorrow to the beloved and proposes terms of agreement, promising to soften anger by the power of pleasure. If it gains the object of its desires, it becomes agreeable and gentle; but if it is once more rejected, it is again overwhelmed by anger, which is aroused from its slumbers and acts as it did before. Anger is the ally of love suffering under scorn.
[1] Ὁ Θέρσανδρος οὖν τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐλπίζων εἰς τὸν ἔρωτα εὐτυχήσειν ὅλος Λευκίππης δοῦλος ἦν: ἀτυχήσας δὲ ὧν ἤλπισεν ἀφῆκε τῷ θυμῷ τὰς ἡνίας. Ῥαπίζει δὴ κατὰ κόρρης αὐτὴν ‘ὦ κακόδαιμον ἀνδράποδον’ λέγων ‘καὶ ἀληθῶς ἐρωτιῶν: πάντων γάρ σου κατήκουσα. [2] Οὐκ ἀγαπᾷς ὅτι σοι λαλῶ, καὶ μεγάλην εὐτυχίαν δοκεῖς τὸν σὸν καταφιλῆσαι δεσπότην, ἀλλὰ ἀκκίζῃ καὶ σχηματίζῃ πρὸς ἀπόνοιαν; Ἐγὼ μέν σε καὶ πεπορνεῦσθαι δοκῶ: καὶ γὰρ μοιχὸν φιλεῖς. [3] Ἀλλ̓ ἐπειδὴ μὴ θέλεις ἐραστοῦ μου πεῖραν λαβεῖν, πειράσῃ δεσπότου.’ Καὶ ἡ Λευκίππη ‘κἂν τυραννεῖν ἐθέλῃς κἀγὼ τυραννεῖσθαι, πλὴν οὐ βιάσῃ:’ καὶ πρὸς τὸν Σωσθένην ἰσοῦσα ‘μαρτύρησον’ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ‘πῶς πρὸς τὰς αἰκίας ἔχω: σὺ γάρ με καὶ [4] μᾶλλον ἠδίκησας.’ Καὶ ὁ Σωσθένης αἰσχυνθεὶς ὡς ἐληλεγμένος ‘ταύτην’ εἶπεν ‘ὦ δέσποτα, ξανθῆναι μάστιξι δεῖ καὶ μυρίαις βασάνοις περιπεσεῖν, ὡς ἂν μάθῃ δεσπότου μὴ καταφρονεῖν.’
20. Thersander then, when he first hoped to be successful in his passion, was wholly Leucippe’s slave: but when he was disappointed of his hopes, he gave free rein to his anger. “Wretched slave,” he cried, striking her on the face, “miserable, love-sick girl; I heard all your ravings. Are you not delighted that I even speak to you? Do you not think it a great piece of good fortune to be able to kiss your master? No, instead of that, you give yourself airs and make yourself out to be mad. A harlot you must be, for it is an adulterer that you love. Since, then, you will not take me as a lover, you shall experience me as a master.”
“Very good,” said Leucippe, “if you choose to play the tyrant, and I have to suffer your oppression; but you will never ravish me by violence. I call you to witness,” she said, turning to Sosthenes, “how I bear outrage; your treatment of me has been still worse.” Sosthenes, full of shame at being thus convicted of his wrong-doing, cried: “A good taste of the lash is what this trollop wants, and an experience of all kinds of tortures, until she learns not to look down on her lord and master.”
[1] ‘Πείσθητι τῷ Σωσθένει’ φησὶν ἡ Λευκίππη: ‘συμβουλεύει γὰρ καλῶς: τὰς βασάνους παράστησον. Φερέτω τροχόν: ἰδοὺ χεῖρες, τεινέτω. Φερέτω καὶ μάστιγας: ἰδοὺ νῶτον, τυπτέτω. Κομιζέτω πῦρ: [2] ἰδοὺ σῶμα, καέτω. Φερέτω καὶ σίδηρον: ἰδοὺ δέρη, σφαζέτω. Ἀγῶνα θεάσασθε καινόν: πρὸς πάσας τὰς βασάνους ἀγωνίζεται μία γυνὴ καὶ πάντα νικᾷ. Εἶτα Κλειτοφῶντα μοιχὸν καλεῖς, αὐτὸς μοιχὸς ὤν; οὐδὲ τὴν Ἄρτεμιν, εἰπέ μοι, τὴν σὴν φοβῇ, ἀλλὰ βιάζῃ παρθένον ἐν πόλει παρθένου; Δέσποινα, ποῦ σοι τὰ τόξα;’ ‘Παρθένος σύ;’ εἶπεν ὁ Θέρσανδρος: [3] ‘ὢ τόλμης καὶ γέλωτος. Παρθένος τοσούτοις συννυκτερεύσασα πειραταῖς; εὐνοῦχοί σοι γεγόνασιν οἱ λῃσταί; φιλοσόφων ἦν τὸ πειρατήριον; οὐδεὶς ἐν αὐτοῖς εἶχεν ὀφθαλμούς;’
21. “You had better listen to Sosthenes,” said Leucippe; “he gives you admirable advice. Set out your tortures, bring up the wheel. Here are my arms, (The victim was “spread-eagled” on the wheel, the hands and feet drawn as far apart as possible.) stretch them out. Bring your scourges too: here is my back, smite upon it. Bring your fire; here is my body, burn it. Bring also the sword; here is my neck, pierce it. Feast your eyes with a new sight; one woman contends against all manner of tortures, and overcomes all her trials. Then do you dare to call Clitophon an adulterer when you are an adulterer yourself? Tell me, pray, have you no fear of your own patroness Artemis, that you would ravish a virgin in the virgin’s (Diana of the Ephesians, who was in reality rather, I believe, a goddess of fertility than of chastity.) city? Queen, where are thy avenging arrows?”— “Virgin indeed!” cried Thersander. “The ridiculous impudence of the baggage! You a virgin, who passed night after night among a gang of pirates! I suppose your pirates were eunuchs? Or was the pirates’ lair a Sunday-school? Or perhaps none of them had eyes?”
[1] Καὶ ἡ Λευκίππη εἶπεν ‘εἰ παρθένος καὶ μετὰ Σωσθένην ἐγὼ πυθοῦ Σωσθένους: οὗτος γὰρ ὄντως γέγονέ μοι λῃστής: ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ ἦσαν ὑμῶν μετριώτεροι, [2] καὶ οὐδεὶς οὐδεὶς αὐτῶν ἦν οὕτως ὑβριστής: εἰ δὲ ὑμεῖς τοιαῦτα ποιεῖτε, ἀληθινὸν τοῦτο πειρατήριον. Εἶτα οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε ποιοῦντες ἃ μὴ τετολμήκασιν οἱ λῃσταί; λανθάνεις δὲ ἐγκώμιόν μοι διδοὺς πλεῖον διὰ ταύτης σου τῆς ἀναισχυντίας: καί τις ἐρεῖ, ἂν νῦν μαινόμενος φονεύσῃς, ‘Λευκίππη παρθένος καὶ μετὰ βουκόλους, παρθένος καὶ μετὰ Χαιρ�
�αν, παρθένος καὶ μετὰ Σωσθένην.’ Ἀλλὰ μέτρια ταῦτα: [3] τὸ δὲ μεῖζον ἐγκώμιον, καὶ μετὰ Θέρσανδρον παρθένος, τὸν καὶ λῃστῶν ἀσελγέστερον: ἂν ὑβρίσαι μὴ δυνηθῇ, [4] φονεύει. Ὁπλίζου τοίνυν, ἤδη λάμβανε κατ̓ ἐμοῦ τὰς μάστιγας, τὸν τροχόν, τὸ πῦρ, τὸν σίδηρον, συστρατευέσθω δέ σοι καὶ ὁ σύμβουλος Σωσθένης: ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ γυμνὴ καὶ μόνη καὶ γυνὴ ἓν ὅπλον ἔχω τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἣ μήτε πληγαῖς κατακόπτεται μήτε σιδήρῳ κατατέμνεται μήτε πυρὶ κατακάεται. Οὐκ ἀφήσω ποτὲ ταύτην ἐγώ: κἂν καταφλέγῃς, οὐχ οὕτως θερμὸν εὑρήσεις τὸ πῦρ.’
22. “Virgin I am,” said Leucippe, “even after passing through Sosthenes’ hands; if you do not believe me, ask him. He was the real brigand to me: the others had more command over their passions than both of you, and none of them shewed the brutal lust that you shew. If you behave like this, here is the true pirates’ lair. Do you feel no shame in acting as the pirates never dared to act? You do not seem to realize that by this very shamelessness of yours, you are piling up the greater eulogies for me; if you kill me now in your mad passion, people will say; ‘Here is Leucippe, who remained a virgin after falling among buccaneers, who remained a virgin after her abduction by Chaereas, who remained a virgin after passing through the hands of Sosthenes!’ This would be but little; I shall have a still greater meed of praise; ‘She remained a virgin even after her encounter with Thersander, who is more lecherous than any robber; if he cannot gratify his lust, he kills its object!’ Take up then all your instruments of torture, and at once; bring out against me the scourges, the wheel, the fire, the sword, and let Sosthenes, your counsellor, take the field with you. I am defenceless, and alone, and a woman; but one shield I have, and that is my free soul, which cannot be subdued by the cutting of the lash, or the piercing of the sword, or the burning of the fire. That is a possession I will never surrender; no, not I: and burn as you will, you will find that there is no fire hot enough to consume it!”
BOOK VII.
[1] Ταῦτ̓ ἀκούσας ὁ Θέρσανδρος, παντοδαπὸς ἦν: ἤχθετο, ὠργίζετο, ἐβουλεύετο: ὠργίζετο μὲν ὡς ὑβρισμένος, ἤχθετο δὲ ὡς ἀποτυχών, ἐβουλεύετο δὲ ὡς ἐρῶν. Τὴν οὖν ψυχὴν διασπώμενος, οὐδὲν εἰπὼν πρὸς τὴν Λευκίππην ἐξεπήδησεν. [2] Ὀργῇ μὲν δῆθεν ἐκδραμών, δοὺς δὲ τῇ ψυχῇ σχολὴν εἰς τὴν διάκρισιν τῆς τρικυμίας, βουλευόμενος ἅμα τῷ Σωσθένει, πρόσεισι τῷ τῶν δεσμῶν ἄρχοντι, δεόμενος διαφθαρῆναί με φαρμάκῳ. [3] Ὡς δ̓ οὐκ ἔπειθεν (ἐδεδίει γὰρ τὴν πόλιν: καὶ γὰρ ἄλλον ἄρχοντα πρὸ αὐτοῦ ληφθέντα τοιαύτην ἐργασάμενον φαρμακείαν ἀποθανεῖν) δευτέραν αὐτῷ προσφέρει δέησιν, ἐμβαλεῖν τινα εἰς τὸ οἴκημα, ἔνθα ἔτυχον δεδεμένος, ὡς δὴ καὶ αὐτὸν ἕνα τῶν δεσμωτῶν, προσποιησάμενος βούλεσθαι τἀμὰ δἰ ἐκείνου μαθεῖν. [4] Ἐπείσθη καὶ ἐδέξατο τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ἔμελλε δ̓ ἐκεῖνος ὑπὸ τοῦ Θερσάνδρου δεδιδαγμένος τεχνικῶς πάνυ περὶ τῆς Λευκίππης λόγον ἐμβαλεῖν, ὡς εἴη πεφονευμένη τῆς Μελίτης συσκευασαμένης τὸν φόνον. [5] Τὸ δὲ τέχνασμα ἦν τῷ Θερσάνδρῳ εὑρεθέν, ὡς ἂν ἀπογνοὺς ἐγὼ μηκέτι ζῶσαν τὴν ἐρωμένην κἂν τὴν δίκην φύγωμι, [6] μὴ πρὸς ζήτησιν αὐτῆς ἔτι τραποίμην. Προσέκειτο δὲ ἡ Μελίτη τῷ φόνῳ, ἵνα μὴ τετελευτηκέναι τὴν Λευκίππην δοκῶν, τὴν Μελίτην γήμας ὡς ἂν ἐρῶσαν αὐτοῦ μένοιμι κἀκ τούτου παρέχοιμί τινα φόβον αὐτῷ τοῦ μὴ μετὰ ἀδείας Λευκίππην ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ μισήσας ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς τὴν Μελίτην ὡς ἂν ἀποκτείνασάν μου τὴν ἐρωμένην ἀπαλλαγείην ἐκ τῆς πόλεως τὸ παράπαν.
1. AT these words Thersander was utterly distracted: he felt grief, anger, and the need of taking further counsel; the first, for his insulting repulse; the second, for his ill-success in his desires; and the third, because he was still in love. His soul there fore torn every way, he made no reply to Leucippe, but rushed from the hut. Although he flung away in a passion, he then allowed his mind the leisure to try to escape from the grievous quandary in which he found himself: and, after consulting Sosthenes, he went to the chief gaoler and asked that I might be put out of the way by means of poison. He could not persuade him, because the gaoler was afraid of the people’s vengeance, a predecessor of his having been found guilty of a similar poisoning and put to death: so he made a second request, that he would put a second inmate, in the guise of another prisoner, into the cell where I was lying shackled, with a view to learning my whole story by means of confidences made to him. The gaoler agreed, and the man was sent: he had had full instructions from Thersander, and he was to relate to me a story most artfully composed about Leucippe, to the effect that she had been killed by the contrivance of Melitte.
The plot was composed by Thersander with this object: that if I were acquitted at my trial, I should believe that my loved one existed no more, and should therefore make no efforts to look for her; and Melitte was associated with her murder, so that I might not marry Melitte with the idea that she was still in love with me, thinking that Leucippe was dead, and so remain in the town and give constant anxiety to Thersander and prevent him from enjoying Leucippe at his ease, but should rather, as was natural, detest Melitte as the cause of my darling’s murder, and leave Ephesus once and for all.
[1] Ὡς οὖν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐγένετό μου πλησίον, τοῦ δράματος ἤρχετο. Ἀνοιμώξας γὰρ πάνυ κακούργως ‘τίνα βίον’ ἔφη ‘βιωσόμεθ̓ ἔτι καὶ τί φυλαξόμεθα πρὸς ἀκίνδυνον ζωήν; οὐ γὰρ αὐτάρκης ἡμῖν ὁ δίκαιος τρόπος: ἐμπίπτουσαι δὲ αἱ τύχαι βαπτίζουσιν ἡμᾶς. Ἔδει γάρ με μαντεύσασθαι τίς ἦν ὁ συμβαδίζων [2] μοι καὶ τί πεπραχὼς εἴη.’ Καθ̓ ἑαυτὸν δὲ ταῦτα ἔλεγε καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ζητῶν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἐπ̓ ἐμὲ τοῦ λόγου τέχνης, ὡς ἂν πυθοίμην τί εἴη παθών. [3] Ἀλλ̓ ἐγὼ μὲν ἐφρόντιζον ὧν ὅδ̓ ᾤμωζεν ὀλίγον: ἄλλος δέ τις τῶν συνδεδεμένων (περίεργον γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἀτυχῶν εἰς ἀλλοτρίων κακῶν ἀκρόασιν, ἐπεὶ φάρμακον αὐτῷ τῆς ὧν ἔπαθε λύπης ἡ πρὸς ἄλλον εἰς τὸ παθεῖν κοινωνία) ‘τί δέ σοι συμβέβηκεν’ [4] εἶπεν ‘ἀπὸ τῆς Τύχης; εἰκὸς γάρ σε μηδὲν ἀδικήσαντα πονηρῷ περιπεσεῖν δαίμονι. Τεκμαίρομαι δὲ ἐκ τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ.’ Καὶ ἅμα τὰ οἰκεῖα κατέλεγεν, ἐφ̓ οἷς ἦν δεδεμένος. Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδενὶ τούτων προσεῖχον.