out to me the men of old times, and especially those of them who are famous. Eakus. This is Agamemnon, and this Achilleus, and this Idomeneus close by, and this Odysseus; next are Aias and Diomedes, and the most valiant of the Hellenes. Menippus. Bah! Homer, what creatures are the principal ornaments of your rhapsodies, that are tossed about on the ground, shapeless, mere dust all of them, and empty trumpery, in very truth "fleeting forms!" And this fellow, Æakus, who is he? Eakus. It is Cyrus, and this Kroesus, and the one above him Sardanapalus, and the one above them Midas; and he here is Xerxes. Menippus (to Xerxes). Then, vile refuse, it was at your bridging the Hellespont that Hellas shuddered, and at your ambition to sail through the mountains ? 2 And what a and Tisiphone appear first in the Hellenic theological writers of late Φύσιν ἄνδρες ἀμαυρόβιοι, φύλλων γενεᾷ προσόμοιοι, Moschus: Εύδομες εὖ μάλα μάκρον ἄτερμονα νήγρετον ὕπνον. Juvenal, Sat. x. 172:— 2 "Mors sola fatetur Quantula sint hominum corpuscula," &c. Menippus alludes to the canal across the Macedonian peninsula of Chalkidike (of which Mount Athos is the Southern extremity) formed by order of Xerxes, to avoid the dangerous passage round that cape. The canal, of which traces are visible, had a length of one and a-half miles. Juvenal, who, in common with many ancient and modern writers, was incredulous, thus refers to it : "Creditur olim دو Sat. x. 174-177. Some one hundred and fifty years later a yet more ambitious, and much less praiseworthy, work was proposed by an architect in Alexander of Macedon's train-the transformation of Mount Athos into a gigantic statue of that conqueror, holding in one hand a city of 10,000 inhabitants, and in the other a river. See Plutarch, Bíoι Пap. 'Aλε. figure, too, is the famous Kroesus! And as for Sardanapalus, Eakus, just permit me to give him a cuff on the ear. Eakus. By no means, for you would shiver his skull in pieces, it is so like a woman's. Menippus. Well, then, I will, at least, certainly spit upon him for a woman-man. Eakus. Would you like me to show you the philosophers, too? Menippus. In heaven's name, yes. Eakus. First of all, this is your celebrated Pythagoras. Menippus. Good-day to you, Euphorbus, or Apollo,' or whatever you like to be. Pythagoras. The same to you, with all my heart, Menippus. Menippus. Have you no longer a golden thigh? Pythagoras. Why, no; but come, let me see if your wallet contains anything eatable. Menippus. Beans, my dear sir-so that's not in your way of eating. Pythagoras. Only give them to me. Other opinions hold among the dead; for I have learned that beans and one's parents' heads are not all on an equality here. Eakus. This is Solon, the son of Exekestides, and that 1 Euphorbus, a Trojan hero, slain by Menelaus, who hung up his enemy's shield, as a trophy, in a temple at Mykenæ. Pythagoras, who, according to the fable, asserted himself to have been, in one of the various stages of the metempsychosis, Euphorbus, proved his identity by selecting his shield by the faculty of reminiscence, Compare Lucian's Πρᾶσις Βίων, and "Όνειρος ἤ ̓Αλεκτρυών, 16; Diog. Laert. Περὶ Βίων K. T. λ. (IIvlay.); Ov. Metam. xv., which book contains, as Dryden justly observes, the finest passage in that charming poem-the Pythagorean precepts in regard to humane living. As for the absurd legend of the "golden thigh," repeated unquestioningly by so many writers, old and modern, see "Ovɛipos, 'AX. 40; Diog. Laert. viii. &c. For the more historical prohibition of beans (to the highest class of his initiated followers) see Porphyry's Bios IIvoay.; Plut. ZvμT.; Diog. Laert. ; and the commentaries of Hemsterhuis and Lehmann. In a well-known passage, Horace refers to the prohibited bean : "O quando faba Pythagoræ cognata, simulque Cf. Juv. Sat. xv. 170-174. Thales, and by their side Pittakos and the rest;' and there are seven in all, as you observe. Menippus. These, Eakus, are the only ones of all of them without grief and cheerful. But the one covered with cinders, for all the world like a loaf baked in the ashes, who blossoms all over with blisters, who is he? Eakus. Empedokles, Menippus, come from Etna, halfboiled. Menippus. Fine Sir of the brazen foot, what possessed you that you threw yourself into the craters of Etna ?? Empedokles. A sort of melancholy madness, Menippus. Menippus. Not so, by heaven! but vain-glory and puffedup pride, and much drivelling-these things burned you to 1 The four other "Sages," to whom allusion is here made, are Bias, Periander, Cheilon, and Kleobulus. By far the most distinguished of these "seven wise men," as they were called Kar' óxny, are Thales, the celebrated savant of Miletus, the originator of the theory of the Aqueous origin of the Universe, and Solon, the Attic legislator. Of the remaining five, their titles to supreme wisdom are not altogether unquestionable. Periander, tyrant of Korinth, in the sixth century B.C. (if justice or humanity enter into the idea of "wisdom"), had the least indefeasible claim of all. In fact, by some authorities he was excluded from the magic number. 2 As in the case of Pythagoras, Lucian chooses to adopt the absurd popular legend, or hostile calumny, which represents this distinguished philosopher as throwing himself into the crater of Ætna, that his miraculous disappearance might acquire for him the honours of divinity. Cf. Ιστ. ̓Αληθ. ii. 289 ; Περὶ τῆς Περεγρίνου Τελεύτης, i. ; Diog. Laert. ; Strabo, vi.; Ælian, Пouk. 'IoT. xii. 32; Horace, Ars Poet. 464. Diogenes informs us that the Pythagorean philosophers were in the habit of wearing sandals or slippers of brass; but Lucian's epithet, xaλкÓTOV, as Wieland points out, may be derived from 'IX. xiii. 23, and from the "HλEKTρа of Sophokles, 492. In spite of alleged eccentricities, Empedokles has deserved to be regarded as one of the most distinguished savants and geniuses of old Hellas. The greatest of Latin poets speaks of him in terms of the highest and most enthusiastic praise. Celebrating the glories of Sicily, Lucretius adds :: "Nil tamen hoc habuisse viro præclarius in se De Rer. Nat. i. 729. Of his principal poem, Iɛpì Þúσɛwç, considerable fragments remain. ashes, slippers and all, not unworthy of your fate. But the clever trick did you no good; for you clearly were proved to have died. Sokrates, however, wherever in the world is he, pray? Eakus. He is generally talking nonsense, with Nestor and Palamedes. Menippus. None the less I would wish to have a look at him, if he is anywhere here. Eakus. Do you see the bald-headed man? Menippus. All of them are bald-headed together. that would be the distinguishing mark of all. Eakus. I mean the snub-nosed one. 1 So Menippus. That, too, is all one; for they are the whole lot of them all snub-nosed. Sokrates. Is it me you are inquiring for, Menippus ? Sokrates. How go things in Athens ? Menippus. Many of the young men say they are engaged in philosophy. And if one were to regard their ways of dressing and walking alone, they are tip-top philosophers. Sokrates. I have seen very many of them. Menippus. But you have observed, I suppose, in what style Aristippus 2 came to you, and Plato himself; the one reeking of perfume, and the other after having thoroughly learned the art of courting Sicilian despots." Sokrates. But about me what opinions do they entertain ? Menippus. You are a lucky fellow, Sokrates, as to that sort of thing, at all events. All, in fact, consider you to have been an admirable man, and to have known every 1 'Opolov, the French tout égal, of the use of which idiom a highly entertaining illustration may be seen in Tristram Shandy, vii. 34. 2 A disciple of Sokrates, and founder of the Cyrenaic School, as it is called. For his selfish and sensual principles of life, see Diog. Laert.; and compare the Bwv IIpáσıç, Athenæus, xiii. Horace expresses his admiration for him in well-known verses, Ep. i. 1, 17, 23, 24, and Ep. i. 1, 18. The two Dionysii, uncle and nephew, the celebrated tyrants of Sicily. According to some of the biographers or historians, Plato suffered for his plain-speaking to the despots. See, in particular, Plutarch. Dion. thing; and that, too-for one must, I suppose, tell the truth-when you knew nothing.' Sokrates. And I myself kept telling them that, but they would imagine the thing was pretended ignorance on my part.2 Menippus. And who are these about you ? Socrates. Charmides, and Phædrus, and the son of Kleinias.3 Menippus. Well done, Sokrates; for even here you pursue your peculiar profession, and don't altogether despise the handsome fellows.* Sokrates. Why, what else could I engage in more pleasantly? However, do you, please, recline close by us. Menippus. No, faith, for I shall go off to join Kroesus and Sardanapalus, to take up my abode in their neighbourhood. I think, in fact, that I shall laugh not a little in listening to their doleful lamentations. Eakus. I, too, will now be off, for fear that some one or other of the dead may get clear away without my perceiving him. As for the remaining sights you shall see them at another time, Menippus. Menippus. Take yourself off at once; indeed, these sights here are quite sufficient, Eakus. 1 The Delphic Oracle had pronounced the philosopher "the wisest man," we are assured, because for himself he constantly professed that he knew nothing. How far this exaggeration of a truth was carried by his disciples in the "New Academy" is well known. Of the scepticism of Pyrrho, who probably was considerably influenced by Sokratism as well as by Demokritus, an entertaining parody is given in the Пpãσiç Βίων. 2 Eipwveíav, the special character of the Sokratic Dialogue, whence the English irony. See 'AX. 'Iσr. ii. 232. 3 Charmides, the uncle of Plato, and Phædrus have given their names to two of the Dialogues of Plato. The son of Kleinias was Alkibiades, who occupies a conspicuous place in the Evμróσtov, and gives his name to two Platonic Dialogues. 4 See 'Anons 'Ioropía (ii. 225), which gives an highly entertaining account of the manner of life of some of the celebrities met by the enterprising travellers in the Island of the Blessed. |