“Thersander challenges Melitte and Leucippe — I think I have heard that is the harlot’s name. Melitte, if she has not had to do with this foreigner during the time that I was abroad, is to enter the sacred water of the Styx, take the oath and be cleared, if she can, of the charges brought against her. As for the other, if she is found to be a woman of whom man has had carnal knowledge, she is to remain in slavery to her proper inaster, for such women can only enter the shrine of Artemis if they are slaves; if however, she persists in declaring that she is a virgin, she is to be shut into the grotto of the pan-pipes.”
We at once accepted this challenge, having been sure that it would be made: and Melitte, who was encouraged by the fact that during the time of Thersander s absence abroad nothing more serious than words had passed between her and me, also complied. “Certainly,” she said, “I accept this challenge; and I will even add something to it on my own account; the most important part of which is that I never allowed anybody, whether citizen or foreigner, to enter into such relations with me during the time of which you speak. And now, what ought your penalty to be if you are proved to be a maker of false charges?”
“Whatever fine,” said he, “that the jury like to inflict.” These terms settled, the court broke up, and it was decided that the business of the challenge should be determined on the following day.
[1] Τὸ δὲ τῆς Στυγὸς ὕδωρ εἶχεν οὕτως. Παρθένος ἦν εὐειδής, ὄνομα Ῥοδῶπις, κυνηγίων ἐρῶσα καὶ θήρας: πόδες ταχεῖς, εὔστοχοι χεῖρες, ζώνη καὶ μίτρα καὶ ἀνεζωσμένος εἰς γόνυ χιτὼν καὶ κατὰ ἄνδρας κουρὰ τριχῶν. Ὁρᾷ ταύτην Ἄρτεμις, καὶ ἐπῄνει καὶ ἐκάλει καὶ σύνθηρον ἐποιήσατο, καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα κοινὰ ἦν αὐταῖς θηράματα. [2] Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὤμοσεν ἀεὶ παραμενεῖν καὶ τὴν πρὸς ἄνδρας ὁμιλίαν φυγεῖν καὶ τὴν ἐξ Ἀφροδίτης ὕβριν μὴ παθεῖν. Ὤμοσεν ἡ Ῥοδῶπις, καὶ ἤκουσεν ἡ Ἀφροδίτη καὶ ὀργίζεται καὶ ἀμύνασθαι θέλει τὴν κόρην τῆς ὑπεροψίας. [3] Νεανίσκος ἦν Ἐφέσιος καλὸς ἐν μειρακίοις ὅσον Ῥοδῶπις ἐν παρθένοις: Εὐθύνικον αὐτὸν ἐκάλουν: ἐθήρα δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὡς Ῥοδῶπις, καὶ τὴν Ἀφροδίτην ὁμοίως οὐκ ἤθελεν εἰδέναι. [4] Ἐπ̓ ἀμφοτέρους οὖν ἡ θεὸς ἔρχεται καὶ τὰς θήρας αὐτῶν εἰς ἓν συνάγει: τέως γὰρ ἦσαν κεχωρισμένοι: ἡ δὲ Ἄρτεμις τηνικαῦτα οὐ παρῆν. Παραστησαμένη δὲ τὸν υἱὸν τὸν τοξότην ἡ Ἀφροδίτη εἶπε ‘τέκνον, ζεῦγος τοῦτο ὁρᾷς ἀναφρόδιτον καὶ ἐχθρὸν ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων μυστηρίων: ἡ δὲ παρθένος καὶ θρασύτερον ὤμοσε κατ̓ ἐμοῦ: ὁρᾷς αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν ἔλαφον συντρέχοντας. [5] Ἄρξαι καὶ σὺ τῆς θήρας ἀπὸ πρώτης τῆς τολμηρᾶς κόρης: καὶ πάντως γε τὸ σὸν βέλος εὐστοχώτερόν ἐστιν.’ Ἐντείνουσιν ἀμφότεροι τὰ τόξα, ἡ μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ἔλαφον, ὁ δὲ Ἔρως ἐπὶ τὴν παρθένον: καὶ ἀμφότεροι τυγχάνουσι, καὶ ἡ κυνηγέτις μετὰ τὴν θήραν ἦν τεθηραμένη: [6] καὶ εἶχεν ἡ μὲν ἔλαφος εἰς τὰ νῶτα τὸ βέλος, ἡ δὲ παρθένος εἰς τὴν καρδίαν: τὸ δὲ βέλος, Εὐθύνικον φιλεῖν. [7] Δεύτερον δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦτον οἰστὸν ἀφίησι. Καὶ εἶδον ἀλλήλους ὁ Εὐθύνικος καὶ ἡ Ῥοδῶπις, καὶ ἔστησαν μὲν τὸ πρῶτον τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἑκάτεροι, μηδέτερος ἐκκλῖναι θέλων ἐπὶ θάτερα: κατὰ μικρὸν δὲ τὰ τραύματα ἀμφοῖν ἐξάπτεται, καὶ αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἔρως ἐλαύνει κατὰ τουτὶ τὸ ἄντρον, οὗ νῦν ἐστιν ἡ πηγή, καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸν ὅρκον ψεύδονται. [8] Ἡ Ἄρτεμις ὁρᾷ τὴν Ἀφροδίτην γελῶσαν καὶ τὸ πραχθὲν συνίησι καὶ εἰς ὕδωρ λύει τὴν κόρην ἔνθα τὴν παρθενίαν ἔλυσε. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο, ὅταν τις αἰτίαν ἔχῃ ἀφροδισίων, εἰς τὴν πηγὴν εἰσβᾶσα ἀπολούεται: ἡ δέ ἐστιν ὀλίγη καὶ μέχρι κνήμης μέσης. [9] Ἡ δὲ κρίσις: ἐγγράψασα τὸν ὅρκον γραμματείῳ μηρίνθῳ δεδεμένον περιεθήκατο τῇ δέρῃ: κἂν μὲν ἀψευδῇ τὸν ὅρκον, μένει κατὰ χώραν ἡ πηγή: ἂν δὲ ψεύδηται, τὸ ὕδωρ ὀργᾷ καὶ ἀναβαίνει μέχρι τῆς δέρης καὶ τὸ γραμματεῖον ἐκάλυψε.
12. This is the story of the water of the Styx. There was a maiden fair to see, called Rhodopis, passionately fond of hunting and the chase. She was swift of foot and a sure shot: she wore a girdle and a cap, her tunic was girt up at the knee, and her hair was cut short like a man’s. Artemis once saw her, and was delighted with her pursuits; she summoned her, associated her with her in the chase, and many is the time that they hunted together: she took an oath that she would always remain with the goddess; that she would shun the company of men, and that she would never suffer the violence that Aphrodite inspires. Rhodopis swore: Aphrodite heard her, was wroth, and desired to punish the maid for her disdain. Now there was a young man at Ephesus, as fair among the striplings of that town as Rhodopis was among its maidens; Euthynicus was his name, and he was as passionate for the chase as was Rhodopis, and he too desired to know nothing of the power of Aphrodite. So the goddess was determined to attack them both, and brought to the same place the quarries they were hunting; for until that time they had never met, and on that occasion Artemis happened to be away. Aphrodite therefore sent for her son, the Archer; “My child,” said she, “seest thou this pair that reck nought of love and hate us and our mysteries? And the virgin has even sworn a rash oath against me. Seest thou too how they are both following the same hind? Do thou begin the sport and that with this too daring maid; and thy dart shall surely miss not its aim.” Both bend their bows — she at the hind, and Love at her; both hit, and after the quarry now is the huntress stricken. The hind received the arrow in its flank, the virgin in her heart; and her arrow was that she should love Euthynicus. Then Love shot another bolt, now at the youth; and then Euthynicus and Rhodopis saw one another. At first they kept their eyes fixed, each on the other, and neither could turn them away: little by little both their wounds began to burn, and then Love drove them to this very cave, where the spring now is, and there they belied their oath. Artemis saw Aphrodite laughing and understood what had happened, and she changed the maiden into a water-spring on the very spot where she had changed her virginity for womanhood. On this account, if a woman is called into question over affairs of love, she has to go down into the spring and bathe. Now the water is low, reaching only half way to the knee, and this is the procedure of the ordeal. She writes her oath on a tablet, which she then suspends by a string round her neck. If she has sworn a true oath, the spring remains in its place; but if she has perjured herself, the water boils up, rises to the height of her neck, and covers the written tablet.
We talked over these matters, and as it was now drawing towards evening, we retired, each to his own bed, to sleep.
[1] Ταῦτα εἰπόντες, καὶ τοῦ καιροῦ προελθόντος εἰσἑσπέραν, ἀπῄειμεν κοιμησόμενοι, χωρὶς ἕκασ�
�ος. Τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ ὁ δῆμος μὲν ἅπας παρῆν, ἡγεῖτο δὲ Θέρσανδρος φαιδρῷ τῷ προσώπῳ καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἅμα βλέπων σὺν γέλωτι, ἐστόλιστο δὲ ἡ Λευκίππη τῇ ἱερᾷ στολῇ. Ποδήρης ὁ χιτών, ὀθόνης ὁ χιτών, ζώνη κατὰ μέσον τὸν χιτῶνα, ταινία περὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν φοινικοβαφής, ἀσάνδαλος ὁ ποῦς. [2] Καὶ ἡ μὲν εἰσῆλθε πάνυ κοσμίως: ἐγὼ δὲ ὡς εἶδον, εἱστήκειν τρέμων καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν ἔλεγον ‘ὅτι μὲν παρθένος ἡ Λευκίππη πεπίστευκα, ἀλλὰ τὸν Πᾶνα, ὦ φιλτάτη, [3] φοβοῦμαι. Θεός ἐστι φιλοπάρθενος, καὶ δέδοικα μὴ δευτέρα καὶ σὺ σύριγξ γένῃ. Ἀλλ̓ ἐκείνη μὲν ἔφυγε διώκοντα αὐτὸν ἐν πεδίῳ καὶ ἐδιώκετο ἐν πλάτει: σὲ δὲ καὶ εἴσω θυρῶν ἀπεκλείσαμεν ὡς ἐν πολιορκίᾳ, [4] ἵνα, ἂν διώκῃ, μὴ δύνῃ φυγεῖν. Ἀλλ̓, ὦ δέσποτα Πάν, εὐγνωμονήσειας καὶ μὴ παραβαίης τὸν νόμον τοῦ τόπου: ἡμεῖς γὰρ αὐτὸν τετηρήκαμεν. Ἐξίτω πάλιν ἡμῖν ἡ Λευκίππη παρθένος: ταύτας πρὸς τὴν Ἄρτεμιν συνθήκας ἔχεις: μὴ ψεύσῃ τὴν παρθένον.’
13. On the following day the whole population of the town was present, and at their head was Thersander, with a smiling and confident face, and he kept looking at us and laughing. Leucippe had been clad in a sacred robe, which was a long tunic of linen, with a girdle about her waist, a scarlet fillet on her head, and bare feet. She thus entered the cave with calm and orderly bearing; but I stood and trembled as I saw her go, saying to myself: “That Leucippe is a virgin, I am sure enough; but it is Pan, my darling, of whom I am afraid. He is a god too fond of virgins, and my fear is that you should be the second to be metamorphosed into a pan-pipes. The former heroine was able to escape him because he pursued her on a plain, and her chase was in broad, open country: but you we have shut up within gates, like a besieged city, so that you will have no chance of flight if he comes after you. My lord Pan, be kindly, and break not the law and custom of the spot, which we, for our part, have kept. Let Leucippe come back to us a virgin; this was thy compact with Artemis, so defraud thou not the virgin goddess. (These last few words might also be taken to mean “so corrupt not the virgin (Leucippe).”)”
[1] Ταῦτά μου πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν λαλοῦντος μέλος ἐξηκούετο μουσικόν, καὶ ἐλέγετο μηδεπώποτε λιγυρώτερον οὕτως ἀκουσθῆναι, καὶ εὐθὺς ἀνεῳγμένας εἴδομεν τὰς θύρας. [2] Ὡς δὲ ἐξέθορεν ἡ Λευκίππη, πᾶς μὲν ὁ δῆμος ἐξεβόησεν ὑφ̓ ἡδονῆς καὶ τὸν Θέρσανδρον ἐλοιδόρουν, ἐγὼ δὲ ὅστις ἐγεγόνειν οὐκ ἂν εἴποιμι λόγῳ. Μίαν μὲν δὴ ταύτην νίκην καλλίστην νενικηκότες ἀπῄειμεν, ἐπὶ δὲ τὴν δευτέραν κρίσιν ἐχωροῦμεν, τὴν Στύγα. [3] Καὶ ὁ δῆμος οὕτω μετεσκευάζετο καὶ πρὸς ταύτην τὴν θέαν: καὶ πάντα συνεπεραίνετο κἀκεῖ. Ἡ Μελίτη τὸ γραμματεῖον περιέκειτο: ἡ πηγὴ διαυγὴς καὶ ὀλίγη: ἡ δὲ ἐνέβη εἰς αὐτὴν καὶ ἔστη φαιδρῷ τῷ προσώπῳ. [4] Τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ οἷον ἦν κατὰ χώραν ἔμενε, μηδὲ τὸ βραχύτατον ἀναθορὸν τοῦ συνήθους μέτρου. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ χρόνος, ὃν ἐνδιατρίβειν ἐν τῇ πηγῇ διώριστο, παρεληλύθει, τὴν μὲν ὁ πρόεδρος δεξιωσάμενος ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐξάγει, δύο παλαίσματα τοῦ Θερσάνδρου νενικημένου: μέλλων δὲ καὶ τὸ τρίτον ἡττᾶσθαι, ὑπεκδὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν ἐκδιδράσκει; φοβηθεὶς μὴ καὶ καταλεύσειεν αὐτὸν ὁ δῆμος. [5] Τὸν γὰρ Σωσθένην εἷλκον ἄγοντες νεανίσκοι τέτταρες, δύο μὲν τῆς Μελίτης συγγενεῖς, δύο δὲ οἰκέται: τούτους γὰρ ἐπεπόμφει ζητήσοντας αὐτὸν ἡ Μελίτη. Συνεὶς δὲ ὁ Θέρσανδρος πόρρωθεν καὶ καταμηνύσοντα τὸ πρᾶγμα εἰδώς, ἂν ἐν βασάνοις γένηται, φθάσας ἀποδιδράσκει καὶ νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης τῆς πόλεως ὑπεξέρχεται. [6] Τὸν δὲ Σωσθένην εἰς τὴν εἱρκτὴν ἐκέλευσαν οἱ ἄρχοντες ἐμβληθῆναι, τοῦ Θερσάνδρου φυγόντος. Τότε μὲν οὖν ἀπηλλαττόμεθα, κατὰ κράτος ἤδη περιγενόμενοι καὶ ὑπὸ πάντων εὐφημούμενοι.
14. I was still murmuring thus to myself, when a strain of music sounded, and it was said that never had sweeter notes than those been heard from the grotto: and then we saw the doors open. Out sprang Leucippe, and all the people shouted for joy and began to revile Thersander, while I cannot express the state of delight in which I found myself.
We therefore retired, having won one magnificent victory; and we then went on to the second ordeal, that of the Styx. The people also came thither from the cave in order to witness the spectacle; and there too the whole process was gone through. Melitte put on the tablet round her neck, the water was clear and shallow; she descended into it and stood there with a smiling and cheerful face. The water remained at exactly its previous depth, rising not even an inch above its accustomed level. When the time had passed during which she had to stand in the spring, the presiding judge took her by the hand and led her out of the water; and so Thersander was defeated in two trials of strength. Guessing that he would be beaten in the third too, he slipped away and hurried to his house, fearing that he would be stoned by the populace: for at that moment came four youths, dragging with them Sosthenes — two of them Melitte’s kinsmen, and two of them her servants — whom she had sent to look for him. But Thersander had observed what was happening from afar, and knowing that if Sosthenes were put to the torture he would reveal the whole plot, determined to flee before this could happen, and so privately left the city when night fell. After Thersander had left the scene, the magistrates ordered Sosthenes to be put in ward; and we then departed, having thus won the mastery over our enemies, and having blessings called down upon our heads by all the people.
[1] Τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ τὸν Σωσθένην ἦγον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας οἱ ταύτην ἔχοντες τὴν πίστιν. Ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ βασάνους ἑαυτὸν ἀγόμενον ἰδὼν πάντα σαφῶς λέγει, ὅσα τε ἐτόλμησεν ὁ Θέρσανδρος καὶ ὅσα αὐτὸς ὑπηρέτησεν: οὐ παρέλιπε δὲ οὐδὲ ὅσα ἰδίᾳ πρὸ τῶν τῆς Λευκίππης θυρῶν διελέχθησαν πρὸς ἀλλήλους περὶ αὐτῆς. [2] Καὶ ὁ μὲν αὖθις εἰς τὴν εἱρκτὴν ἐβέβλητο, δώσων δίκην, τοῦ δὲ Θερσάνδρου φυγὴν ἀπόντος κατέγνωσαν: ἡμᾶς δὲ ὁ ἱερεὺς ὑπεδέχετο πάλιν τὸν εἰθισμένον τρόπον. [3] Καὶ μεταξὺ δειπνοῦντες ἐμυθολογοῦμεν ἅ τε τὴν προτεραίαν ἐτύχομεν εἰπόντες καὶ εἴ τι ἐπιδεέστερον ἦν ὧν ἐπάθομεν. Ἡ Λευκίππη δὲ ἅτε δὴ τὸν πατέρα μηκέτι αἰδουμένη, ὡς ἂν σαφῶς παρθένος εὑρεθεῖσα, τὰ συμβάντα μεθ̓ ἡδονῆς διηγε�
�το. [4] Ἐπεὶ δὲ κατὰ τὴν Φάρον ἐγεγόνει καὶ τοὺς λῃστάς, λέγω πρὸς αὐτὴν ‘οὐκ ἐρεῖς ἡμῖν τὸν μῦθον τῶν τῆς Φάρου λῃστῶν καὶ τῆς ἀποτμηθείσης ἐκεῖ τὸ αἴνιγμα κεφαλῆς, ἵνα σου καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἀκούσῃ; τοῦτο γὰρ μόνον ἐνδεῖ πρὸς ἀκρόασιν τοῦ παντὸς δράματος.’
15. On the following day those appointed for the purpose brought Sosthenes before the magistrates. Immediately that he realised that he was being brought out to be put to the question, he told the whole story without concealment, both Thersander’s attempts and his own contributions towards the success of the plot: and he did not even leave out the conversation which they had had with one another before the doors of the hut where Leucippe was confined. He was therefore thrust back into prison to await his sentence, while against Thersander in absence a decree of banishment was passed. As for us, the bishop entertained us once more in his usual hospitable fashion, and during dinner we conversed on the same subjects as on the previous occasion, making particular mention of any details of our adventures which were then omitted. Leucippe especially, being now no longer shy in her father’s company, as her virginity was clearly proved, related her story with the greatest pleasure. When she came to the part connected with the island of Pharos and the pirates: “Tell us,” said I to her, “of the stratagem which the Pharian pirates devised and explain the riddle of the decapitated woman for your father too to hear; for that is the only point still lacking to the complete understanding of the whole romance.”
Complete Works of Achilles Tatius Page 87