presidency of Zeus, and vice-presidency of Poseidon, Apollo in the chair, Momus, son of Nux, acting as registrar,1 and Hypnus brought forward the motion:-Whereas many strangers, not only Hellenes, but even barbarous peoples, not at all deserving to share our rights of Olympian citizenship, have been by some means illegally registered, and have got to have the reputation of being deities, and have crowded up all Heaven, so that the banqueting-hall is filled with a tumultuous and turbulent mob, arabble of people of all sorts of lingos; there is a failure in the supply of ambrosia and nektar, so that now a half-pint of the latter is sold at a mna, by reason of the number of the drinkers; and these, with insolent audacity, have ousted the ancient and genuine deities, and claimed the first places for themselves, contrary to all the traditions of our constitution, and wish to have precedence even on the Earth. Be it, therefore, decreed by the Senate and the People, that about the winter solstice a popular Assembly be summoned on Olympus, and seven of the first-class Gods be elected as Inquisitors-three from the old Senate of the time of Kronos, and four from the Twelve, of whom Zeus shall be one. Be it further enacted, that these Inquisitors sit en permanence, after having taken the customary oath-by the Styx; that Hermes make proclamation and assemble them all together, as many as put in their claims, as tax-payers, to a seat in the Convention; and that they bring with them sworn witnesses under oath, and proofs of their birth and family. Thereupon let them appear severally, and the Inquisitors, after close scrutiny, shall declare them to be bona fide Gods, or shall despatch them down to their proper sepulchres, and their ancestral vaults: And, be it enacted, if any one of the rejected Gods once ejected by the Inquisitors, be caught in the act of climbing into Heaven, that he shall be thrown into Tartarus. Further, be it enacted that each God employ himself solely about his own proper business: that neither Athena practise Medicine; nor Asklepius trade in oracles; nor

1 Ο Ζεὺς ἐπρυτάνευε, καὶ προήδρευε Ποσειδῶν, ἐπεστάτει Απόλλων. For the proper meanings of these legal formula, see Smith's Dict. of Ant. (article Boulé) and cf. Thucyd. iv. 118; Demosth. Aóyou; Andokides, Λόγος Περὶ Μυστ. ; Pollux, Ονομαστ. viii. 98.

2 £4.

Apollo have all to himself so many departments, but choose out some one province-either be a prophet, a professor of music, or a physician.

Be it further decreed, that the philosophers be warned not to invent empty names, nor talk nonsense about what they don't know. And as regards the disfranchised Gods, who already have been deemed worthy of temples and sacrifices, their statues are to be thrown down, and the statue of Zeus, or Hera, or Apollo, or someone else to be inserted in the temples, instead: That, as for those others, their State erect a tomb for them, and set up a pillar in place of an altar. And, if anyone disobey this proclamation, and be not willing to come before the Commission, let them give judgment, by default, against him.1 Such is our Decree.

2

Zeus. Very just, Momus, and every one who is in favour of it hold up his hand; or, rather, so let it take effect at once: for I know that the dissentients will be in the majority. The Assembly is now dismissed. But, whenever Hermes shall make proclamation, come each of you with clear testimonials, and plain proofs of your titles-the father's and mother's names, and whence, and how, he or she became a divinity, his tribe, and wardsmen.3 As, in the case of whoever shall not exhibit these, whether a claimant has a big temple upon the Earth, and whether he is regarded by men as divine, the Commission will not trouble themselves.

1

Ερήμην αὐτοῦ καταδιαιτήσαντων. Sup. δικὴν. Cf. Lucian, Ὑπὲρ Εἰκ. 15—ἐρήμην καταδιαιτήσας τοῦ βιβλίου. The ψήφισμα, "the decree," is the Act passed by the Bovλn and EKKλnoía conjointly: the πроẞоúλεvμa, as the word implies, is the resolution of the first "house" alone, which had no legal force until ratified by the popular Assembly. It is not uninstructive to remark that, by the Athenian constitution, every Bill to be introduced into the "Commons" was for some time previously exposed to the public view of the whole body of citizens.

2 There were two methods of voting, by "show of hands" (xεporovíα) and by "balloting" (npopopia). The former was the more usual.

3 By the constitution of Kleisthenes the whole Attic population was redistributed into ten púλa (" tribes "), which were subdivided each into ten duo ("hundreds "). The term pparpiai ("wardsmen "), a significant word, was still retained.

THE FERRY-BOAT: OR, THE TYRANT.'

[Charon, ready to set sail, awaits impatiently the appearance of Hermes, who is behind time with his accustomed batch of ghosts; and gives vent to his vexation in complaints to Klotho, his colleague. Presently, the Conductor of the Dead is seen approaching, heated and out of breath, driving the ghosts before him. He accounts for his delay by narrating the attempt to escape of one of his convoy, the tyrant Megapenthes, and the difficulty of the re-capture, which was effected only by the timely assistance of the cynic Kyniskus (a fellow-ghost); and the fugitive tyrant now appears on the scene securely fettered.

Before setting sail for Hades, Klotho receives from. Hermes, and enters on his way-bill, the names, nationality, and manner of death of the various passengers. The cynic philosopher complains that she has unfairly neglected him; and declares that he had long been intending to anticipate her decree. In contrast to the disciple of Antisthenes, the tyrant begs long and vehemently for respite, however brief, on various pretences, all of which are sternly rejected by the Fate. In the end, he is forcibly carried on board by Hermes and Charon, aided by the Cynic, and bound to the mast. At this stage, the cobbler, Mykillus, comes forward to expostulate with Klotho yet more strongly at her long neglect of him, and, to her expressions of astonishment at his eagerness to embark, he replies by narrating,

1 Karánλovç ǹ Tupávvos. Strictly, “The Putting-in, or Arrival of the Ferry-Boat," etc. For the sake of brevity, the usual title has been adopted here. The opening scene, it is highly probable, was suggested to Lucian by some graphic picture.

at considerable length, his reasons for not shunning Charon's boat; and, at the same time, confesses his previous illusions in regard to the imagined happiness of the despot, Megapenthes.

Klotho now gives orders for weighing anchor; when the cobbler, finding that he was to be left behind until the next day, owing to the crowded state of the boat, struggles hard to get on board, and, failing in the attempt, jumps into the Styx, to get across by swimming. He is, then, perforce, taken into the boat-a place being found for him on the shoulders of the tyrant-which proceeds on its voyage: while Kyniskus, like the cobbler afterwards on landing, declares his inability to pay the small coin required as the fare, and earns his passage by taking an oar.

The tedium of the rest of the voyage he relieves by giving the "time" to his fellow-rowers, to the tune of some popular sea-song, and in jeering at the lamentations of the rich passengers, in which amusement he is joined by the cobbler. Upon landing, the cynic and cobbler join company, and proceed arm in arm towards the tribunal of Rhadamanthys. The Infernal Judge orders that the various dead men be brought before him. The cynic at once demands to be heard against the tyrant; and, after previous satisfactory examination of himself, which results in his receiving a passport for the Elysian Fields, he charges Megapenthes with his foul deeds of cruelty and of debauchery. That royal criminal is found to be covered with the stigmata -the brand-mark, of his crimes and vices; and, to establish the accusations of his principal accuser, the tyrant's own lamp and bed are brought forward as witnesses. At the suggestion of his accuser, Megapenthes, in place of being consigned to the flames of Pyriphlegethon, is prohibited from drinking of the waters of Lethe; and his punishment in Tartarus consists in an ever-present recollection of his evil deeds. In accordance with the terms of his sentence, he is now dragged away by the Erinyes, and chained by the side of another royal criminal, Tantalus; who, as a comparatively innocent offender, had some reason to complain of this unexpected addition to his torture.]

Charon, Klotho, Hermes, Megapenthes (a newly-deceased king), Kyniskus (a Cynic philosopher), Mykillus (a Cobbler), Rhadamanthys, Tisiphone, and a number of Dead Men.

Charon (fretfully). Well, Klotho, this little craft of ours long ago has been ready and excellently equipped for putting to sea for the bilge-water has been all baled out, the mast has been hoisted, the sail spread, every one of the oars supplied with its thong, and as far as I am concerned, nothing prevents our hauling our little anchor aboard, and proceeding on our voyage. But that Hermes is behind his time, whereas he ought to have been here long since. Our ferry-boat, therefore, as you see, has not a single passenger on board, though it might have made the passage three times to-day already. And it's close upon evening;' and we have not yet turned over even a penny. And so, I know very well Pluto will suspect me of laziness in the business; and that, though the blame lies with another. Our fine honourable gentleman undertaker, like any mortal, has himself drunk of the waters of Lethe, up yonder, and has quite forgotten to return to us; and, either he is wrestling with his young men in the Palæstra, or playing his lyre, or reciting some oration, and showing off his own silly nonsense. Or, maybe, perhaps, the excellent gentleman is practising his light-fingered art, and outwitting some for that, too, is one of his accomplishments. And so he takes his liberties with us, and that, while he half belongs to our establishment.

one

3

Klotho. But what would you have? How do you know,

66

1 Exɛdòv åμpì ẞovλuróv. Lit. "close upon ox-loosing time." See 'IX. xvi. 779; '08. ix. 58. (according to Eustathius, in loco, Bovλutóvde denotes ή μεσημβρία ἢ ὀλίγον τὶ μετὰ μεσημβρίαν, " about noon,” when they unyoked the oxen to avoid the midday heats); Aristoph. 'Opviles, 1500. Cf. Virg. Ec. ii.; Hor. Car. iii. 6.

2 *DOTTEρ TIC aλλos (Jacobitz), following the principal MSS. Lehmann adopts the reading of the Scholiast, ETEρ Tig äλoç, "if any one else." 3" The waters of the upper Lethe" is Charon's euphemism for the juice of the grape. See Lucian's IIɛpi Пévlovs, 25; Aristoph. Barр. 106 (where Xanthias terms the infernal stream rò Anons Tεdiov). The idea of the river of Lethe is later than the theology of Homer and Hesiod. 4 See O. A. vii.