Aelian : Fragments (1)
- ️Andrew Smith
- fragments 1-124
Claudius Aelianus was born about 170 A.D. His "On the Nature of Animals" and "Historical Miscellany" have survived almost entire, along with a considerable number of fragments from his lost works.
The fragments are arranged here as they are given in the edition by R.Hercher (1864); the equivalent numbers in the edition by D.Domingo-Forasté (1994) are shown in green. Most of the fragments are derived from entries in the Suda, in which case there are links to the Suda on-line, except that in some of the more complex fragments, for the sake of clarity the translations in Suda on-line have been copied here - these translations are covered by a Creative Commons license.
{ Fragments of Aelian's Historical Miscellany }
[2] {2 DF} STOBAEUS They say that when Aetna erupted in the 81st Olympiad [456-453 B.C.], Philonomus and Callias of Catana picked up their parents and carried them through the middle of the flames, ignoring all their other possessions. And they received a divine reward for this action; for in whichever direction they ran, the flames drew apart from them.
[3] {3 DF} STOBAEUS When Socrates was about to drink the hemlock, Criton and his friends asked him how he wanted to be buried. He replied, "whatever is easiest for you".
[4] {4 DF} STOBAEUS The noble Socrates blamed those fathers, who did not educate their sons, but then when they were in need, led the youngsters before the magistrates and accused them of ingratitude, because they did not provide for their parents. Socrates said that the fathers were asking for the impossible; because those who have not been taught about justice, cannot act justly.
{ Fragments of Aelian's On Providence }
[10] {10 DF} Suda_ O'512 , Ch'349 , E'3604 , D'6 , G'504 , E'3584 , I'195 , T'477 , A'3499 :
One of the orgeones from Eleusis . . .
A castrated and androgynous man (if we should grant that he be a man), one who is enfeebled in soul through the study of Epicurus and has become womanish. Having borne a torch before Stratocles in Athens, a eunuch and a she-male, bewitched and bound as if in an unbreakable chain.
There was a man (if we could grant him to be a man) enfeebled in spirit by the works of Epicurus, and become effeminate, a eunuch and a she-male, who, as if forgetting, came and thrust himself into the megaron, where of course it was lawful for the hierophant only to enter.
As those of the Athenians who are renowned for determining these things say: they pray to Boulaia and to the maiden, through the agency of the hierophants and the torch-bearers, for salvation for them . . . He who was [in the position of] having borne a torch before Stratocles in Athens, from pleasure, which that effeminate eunuch was always singing the praises of . . .
[He], sharing in evil wisdom and the atheistic words of Epicurus and cultivating she-males just for the pleasure of it, which that man praises, that youth and she-male, . . .
( EUSTATHIUS That χλούνης means a eunuch, is made clear in its use not only by Aeschylus, but in particular by Aelian in his 'On Providence'. )
Then he set at naught the holy things of the Eumolpidae and the Ceryces and the other families who were holy and dear to the gods, choosing a wisdom infamous and effeminate.
And burning to show that god does not care about human affairs, he went to the megaron and thrust himself in; there of course only the hierophant was permitted to go, according to the rule of the rite, but for him it was not allowed. But when he had dared this audacity, a shuddering overcame him and he fell sick with a lengthy disease, and consumption took him; and whatever he dared, crying out and saying, and declaiming tragically in the manner of the most impious persons, and vowing to break off [the life-thread of] the infamous and accursed soul, and at length succeeding in this.
[12] {12 DF} Suda_ W'149 , P'274 , D'951 , P'896 , E'3442 , W'223 , K'741 :
[Monima], a woman notable for beauty, prudent in behaviour . . .
He sees the Milesian woman and desires her and sends fifteen thousand gold pieces toward persuading her - and if more were needed, he said he would give [it]; but she did not accept the gift, maintaining that betraying herself to an unknown man and giving away her beauty as if it were an item on sale was taking a courtesan's fee.
A most impressive reputation was flowing about the woman.
And the queen sought for there to be wedding gifts, saying, in accordance with Menander's [phrase], 'so that I also may play some game', - she herself being a 'Tricorysian queen', wishing to be mistress of Pontus.
Mithridates described the departure of Lucullus as a stroke of luck for him.
When she learned [this], as out of the current situation [Bacchides] had given to each woman a choice of death as painless and gentle as possible, taking off the diadem which she wore on her head as a symbol and a witness of her authority, she then put it around the neck making a noose for the present need. The light Tarentine shawl being sheer and delicate, when it was first stretched out, was then torn apart. But she was aggrieved and said, 'O despicable and infamous rag, you were not serviceable to me even for this need.' And throwing it off, she killed herself with a sword.
[17] {17 DF} EUSTATHIUS Note that from this is derived the oracle, which Aelian mentions in 'On Providence', as follows:
"It is impossible for mortals to avoid the fate
Which father Zeus has allotted for the future."
[18] {18 DF} EUSTATHIUS δυσωρεῖν {"to watch with difficulty"} is formed in the same way as ἀρκυωρεῖν {"to watch the nets"}, which can be found in 'On Providence' by Aelian.
[19] {19 DF} EUSTATHIUS Aelian in 'On Providence' says that at Gades there is an altar to Eniautos {"year"} and another to Mēn {"month"}, in honour of the shorter and longer periods of time. He says that there is also an altar of Geras {"old age"}, where they give honour to the time of life that has learnt many things, and another of Thanatos {"death"}, an offering to the common resting-place of mankind, or our final port of call. And he says that the men there have altars of Penia {"poverty"} and Technē {"art"}, the former of which they propitiate, and the latter they take up as a remedy for the former.
[20] {20 DF} JOHANNES SICELIOTA . . . Aelian (writing in 'On the Providence of the Gods' about the confounding of truth) and Polemon of Smyrna, who say that the (?) soundest cities dance together with the Muses.
[22] {22 DF} Suda_ E'2681 , G'392 , D'1188 , P'3 , I'730 :
By occupation he was an orator, named Diopeithes.
And they were pressing him hard, bringing forward and challenging the Gorgon out of him, so to speak, and they completely silenced this man, otherwise demonstrative and bold.
This man introduced a law that a person from the town of Athens staying in Peiraeus should suffer the death penalty. Then on one occasion he was through no fault of his own kept late and stayed over in Peiraeus; and his enemies brought him to justice.
And indeed this happened in accordance with the saying of Aeschylus; falling by arrows fledged with his own feathers and caught by the snares which he wove for others, he justly suffered the penalty of the law:
"Like one who prepares evil for another, he prepares evil for his own heart."
So thus strong vengeance often turns against those who find it, and what they planned for another to suffer, they have suffered themselves.
{ Fragments quoted without a book title }
[37] {40 DF} Suda_ O'284 , E'1211 , S'1711 , M'1154 , D'1225 :
Ochus having killed Apis wanted to hand him over to the butchers, so that they might cut him up for meat and prepare him for dinner.
One of his acquaintances entered and kicked the prostrate bull with his foot. And I hear that that foot was puffed up into a swelling and, after getting inflamed, turned gangrened and killed the man.
I hear that a memorial of his punishment is still kept, exactly as a succession of evil. For those who are born from the same seed have their right foot thoroughly swollen down below, and they walk weakly and spuriously.
[41] {44 DF} Suda_ E'126 , A'905 , Oi'3 , R'124 , U'470 , B'587 , Ph'26 , O'567 :
And often Nicanor grew sick, and the god strengthened him. But when he became master of himself and of his health, he made no time for his saviour.
At the instant of his pain and suffering, he did not know the road that would take him there [to the god]. If he was commanded in a dream to sacrifice to someone, he still was contemptuous of these things and ignorant of them and materialistic.
Since [he was suffering] misfortune too great for his skill and indeed beyond the aid [to be obtained] from mortal allies, [he] breaks forth a suppliant voice, compelled by the pain itself, and [he] invokes Apollo in many of his tears.
[Apollo] orders him to render to Nicanor a bundle of Byblian papyrus worth four hundred gold pieces; but if he is unwilling, he will continually raise the price and demand the amount of gold pieces that are added, until he gives in and renders as much as he has been asked at that point by the voice [applying?] to all.
But Apollo orders him to render to Nicanor a bundle of Byblian papyrus worth four hundred gold pieces and to make ashes and soaking with the water of the Mareian lake to spread [it] on [his] eyes.
He heard the god in true tidings.
[43] {46 DF} Suda_L'633 , A'4335 , I'699 :
A man fattening his gluttonous and licentious eye with evil entertainment thirsted to witness the rites of Pherephatte although he was uninitiated.
When the mysteries of the Two Deities were being performed, an uninitiated man, a profane man, did not wish to be initiated according to the laws, but to make an offering because of the infirmity of his unfortunate curiosity. And when he came up onto a rock he saw what was happening; he slipped off the rock, fell with an impact of great force, and died.
For [is that] not very much like a watching of the mysteries or wishing to abduct Persephone herself?
[46] {49 DF} Suda_D'1345 , Th'162 , A'3544 , D'1079 :
Dolon. The women's cult-association among the Cyzicenes worshipping Artemis goes by this name.
He was longing to send the very beautiful daughters of the Cyzicenes to Darius' daughter Arsame as guest-gifts. But the women fled to [the temple of] Artemis, calling upon the gods and clinging to [her] statue, with the barbarian following them savagely; and with the mercenaries abducting and the others held tight, the cord round the throat was severed.
[. . . that] on their behalf Artemis waxed wroth and and visited them, exacting justice upon them with infertility of the land.
[47] {50 DF} Suda_ P'3092 , K'908 , E'1015 , K'2162 , P'2918 , A'2417 , E'3852 :
Apollo says to the Locrians, "they will not be relieved of the terror unless they send two maidens each year to Ilium for Athena, as payment for Cassandra, until such time as you propitiate the goddess."
And those girls who had been sent grew old in Troy, with their successors not arriving.
The women bore deformed and monstrous [children]. Then the [men] put aside their forgetfulness of the things which they had ventured and went to Delphi.
Since the god was angry with them, the oracle certainly was not accepting them. And [as they] were petitioning to learn and begging [him] to proclaim the cause of [his] wrath at some time [although] late . . .
. . . and he brings forward to them that which was left behind (?) among the maidens.
They, because they were not in a position to refuse the ordinance, put the decision to Antigonus, on which Locrian city should send tribute.
King Antigonus, as it had been allowed to him to judge, commanded that [the decision] be determined by lot.
[49] {52 DF} Suda_ H'378 , A'4329 , A'359 , Th'162 , A'3817 , N'195 , E'1531 , B'558 :
Pythagoras of Ephesus seemed to be immoderately inflated where the woman was concerned.
. . . casting everyone into pity and tears, so that both the impervious and tough cried.
He sent away the most savage of the bodyguards, took the woman, and defiled her by force as she was calling upon the goddess and lamenting.
Believing that her life was in no way bearable after the unlawful intercourse, calling on the gods and calling down countless curses upon the Ephesians, if they would not take vengeance upon the tyrants for these [deeds], she killed herself. Indeed the curses were not about to be surrendered to forgetfulness. For a plague swept over the city of the Ephesians, a very heavy one; those of the younger generation were dying before their time, and there was barrenness in both women and the four-footed flocks.
. . . and they said that [they] made the flock of four-footed animals miscarry.
She, having taken the noose in exchange for impious hatred . . .
[50] {53 DF} Suda_ A'1514 , K'2684 , A'968 , T'741 , P'2610 , Ph'594 , D'75 , T'636 :
There was a priestess for the god, of an impossible beauty.
Yet his soul was seething and burning with passion and he was not in control of himself. Lacking control over himself he leaped into the temple, recording of course what was ready, and that he will endure these things, which were making him ill, having placed his trust in a lack of anyone able to assist the girl.
But the accursed lover did not spare her, but dragged her out of the temple by force and despatched her entirely without mercy.
Considering it terrible and in no way bearable, she killed herself with a dagger.
Before the engagement with the enemy, as he saw that his people were perishing, that violent man dared to quench the evil with a greater evil; indeed he bids them cut the wretched maiden in two.
[They] set half-beams cast upon the extremely soft couches and beds adorned with some sort of woven web, which burst into flame from the firebrands, and the hymn of the women singing was carried along with the derisive bridal chorus.
It seems to me that, when Dionysus is taking vengeance for a virgin who is unfortunate and is suffering [misfortunes] worthy of a tragedy . . .
[52] {55 DF} Suda_E'3938 , D'836 , H'285 , E'1731 :
Jason the Thessalian was inflamed towards the offerings at Delphi.
The god says that they should not interfere, since it was of concern to him.
They drew their daggers and slew him; the impious man's intention of sacrilege was aborted out when he was slain, and the Delphians desisted from their fear.
[53] {56 DF} Suda_ A'3205 , A'3550 , L'344 , T'556 , A'3674 , L'358 :
Alalcomenae is a city; and I hear that it neither lies on an elevated and unyielding hill-top nor has a circuit of walls, one strong enough to keep away and turn back their enemies.
That blood-stained and stone-thrower wretch asked to be surnamed 'Fortunate'.
For what exactly do they claim is common to a dolphin and an ox, and to both Sulla and philosophers?
He had no luck at all, but while still alive he seethed with nasty creatures; some say with worms; others say not with these but with lice at any rate.
He died after breaking out in lice and being, little by little, both consumed and liquefied.
[55] {58 DF} Suda_K'1083 , E'1830 , K'2147 , E'2395 :
Cleopatra, into whom the succession of the Ptolemies collapses . . .
Cleopatra declared herself queen of kings: into such an extreme of arrogance did she drift.
Cleopatra also did other things which possessed profaneness, which bring me a decorum as I keep silent.
[59] {62 DF} Suda_ U'585 , A'3109 , D'732 , Ch'17 , M'1071 , P'721 :
The Syrian people revolted {from Persia} and received in addition [the support of] the neighbouring Phoenicians for the same venture and resistance.
And thrice, not just once, [he?] gave him the oracle, to tell the Tyrians to revolt against those close to Darius.
But [Alexander] - for the things inside had not escaped his notice - was overjoyed and took hope for the better regarding present circumstances and even more sufficiently persisted in the siege.
When the sight of the dream visited them all, the people {of Tyre} are vexed.
And they twisted a cord with ruddle and beat the statue [of Apollo], calling him an Alexandrist.
And in these respects they behaved drunkenly, being possessed and maddened like barbarians. So they paid not inappropriate penalties, for their city was taken.
[61] {64 DF} Suda_ E'2406 , E'3249 , L'583 , K'1701 , L'584 , Ch'338 , D'1209 , P'414 :
The book, then, contained the doctrines of Epicurus that those people call 'principal' {kuriai doxai}, making known the bad [ideas] of Epicurus. In these [doctrines], then, the following was said: that even this universe is put in motion by a certain chance, not indeed by the will or decision of god. And these doctrines indeed repeat over and over that atoms strike each other and that, when they are separated, air, earth, and the sea are produced from them, and then minglings and conjunctions are dissolved and disappear completely into atoms. [These doctrines also maintain that] all things are moved at random, that is, as a result of chance, not because of the wisdom of a creator. Then all things are mingled up together by providence, not because of having a pilot or a guide or a shepherd. Then . . ., he who came with the escort of the god, did not tolerate him talking nonsense, but silenced the mad rage of his words . . . Then he jumped up, telling Epicurus and his doctrines to go to hell.
. . . beseeching pitifully and with supplication not to ignore the fact that he was suffering the utmost evils.
He was importunate towards the divine, and ardent to join with it.
Having offered sacrifice, he told Epicurus and his opinions to weep.
He used to mock them, for not getting anything out of such protracted importuning . . . He used to jeer at the attendants of the god, saying that they had not got anything out of such protracted importuning.
Going about into the temple, scoffing, he jeered at the attendants of the god.
And there were also two statues of the Dioscuri, large youths, with no beard on their cheeks, similar in appearance, each of them wearing a military cloak over their shoulders; they held spears upright beside them, on which they were leaning, one of them on his right hand, the other on his left.
He did not tolerate him talking nonsense, but silenced the mad rage of his words; and standing upon the raised sword of one of the Dioscuri, (?) and having been struck he was aroused opportunely.
[62] {65 DF} Suda_ S'1471 , A'131 , A'3702 , A'2883 A'1070 :
But he gives to the stone-working craftsman gold for his handiwork, as much as was settled.
And he gives silver, so that he the sculptor might complete the statue with the utmost artisanry, adding the size and prescribing the nature of the stone.
Intent on profit and blind to piety, he made the statue faceless in looks, small in stature, and not of choice stone.
He was detected later in the course of time, which uncovers and speaks the truth about everything. The treachery of this man was exposed.
For the sake of profit the unfortunate man having chosen mutilation; and this was an example and a lesson to all, not to risk or to profit by similar things.
[65] {68 DF} Suda_ S'265 , U'673 , A'1514 , U'75 , A'2366 , S'680 , A'2900 :
He, [moving] more quickly than at walking-pace, shaking his head and chanting some things in barbaric fashion, as far as one can judge by intonation of voice and the agitated quality of his gait, making threats . . .
Then unexpectedly it rained with great violence, and terrible lightning-flashes occurred to astound [them].
When the unexpected storm-cloud had burst, an impossible mass of snow fell down.
As rainstorms were falling upon [them], a strong hailstorm also poured [on them], and the rivers swelled and were poured forth, and violent hail streamed down, and during the whole day the darkness was very thick, although the [weather] of the season was not at all stormy.
The besieger was impaled; and at this point the storm, which had not come in season, came to an end.
[67] {70 DF} Suda_ S'757 , T'288 , E'3017 , S'758 , A'4386 , S'1575 , K'1575 , K'1457 , K'727 , A'2418 , B'42 , T'727 :
. . . and he was revered with honours of regard towards men and with more impressive ones.
But Solon disdained Croesus' present fortune and bade him to await the end of his whole life, and neither to leap ahead nor to be hasty to enroll himself among the prosperous: for [he said] human affairs are obscure and unclear, as long as for each [person] the life is inside 'the fence of the teeth'.
Initiating an experiment and contriving to perform a test everywhere, he was undertaking the business among the Lydians of the cauldron and the tortoise and the lamb.
He adorned the temple with impressive offerings.
"[She was] foretelling the future unhesitatingly and utterly truly.
Since [Croesus] understood what was said contrary to the truth and saw only what was dear and gratifying to himself, he undertook to destroy the empire of the Persians.
Croesus, not budging from the counterfeit reports about him, and cherishing and sheltering and protecting his ancestral kingdom . . .
He became even more conceited, as his gift had been dear to the god.
Cyrus having ordered, that he be reduced to ashes alive . . .
He had cried out, groaning, and called Solon for a third time.
For when there is clear weather, even on a completely sunny day, unexpectedly and all of a sudden clouds rush in very deep indeed and a great rain dashes down.
What did he learn, that he dared for his own part to subject the Persians to the Lydians?
[70] {73 DF} Suda_ O'250 , M'789 , P'860 , Th'520 , P'2483 , E'2624 :
He steals the bell and gives it first to his companion as a sign of friendship and a pledge.
And, as he had performed the noblest deed, he escaped quickly making straight for his lover. The spear-bearers were pursuing him, and he would have escaped if he had not run into yoked sheep and, entangled as if in foot shackles, been then tripped up.
Finally he too was killed and was placed near his boyfriend, a sight both notable and haughty.
Both of them were beautiful and big; the young one [was] in the prime of life, certainly not dandified, but looking noble he held his sword drawn.
And they buried them on the spot, and reverently and solemnly they set up monuments. The two of them were young men, the one already growing a beard, the other of them still with bare cheeks.
[71] {74 DF} Suda_ K'2199 , U'133 , D'1337 , K'514 , A'533 , P'2650 , E'1395 , E'1546 :
Dionysius by name, merchant by profession, having often made many long sea-voyages, as profit stimulated him, and having weighed anchor beyond Maeotis, purchases a Colchian girl, who had been kidnapped by the Machlyes, a tribe of the local barbarians.
With the [prospect of] of gain leading him on, and exciting him even more . . .
Dionysius by name, a merchant by profession, who has often made many round trips by sea, obtains substantial wealth.
Accordingly Dionysius, assigning to himself the greatest ransom on behalf of the girl, or a large amount of gold, if she should die . . .
He accosts certain people and, for a fat fee, persuades them to come to Byzantium.
Then on the next [day he] put in at Chios, and after disembarking they chanced upon the girl as she was being sold.
He was badly off, and all his household was sick, and his trade was very little profitable to him.
But [his] daughter, who was ignorant of that man's schemes and plots against him, comes safe out of the evil [situation]."
[73] {76 DF} Suda_ Ph'428 , A'463 , P'2678 , Ph'98 , M'784 , E'681 , A'932 , Ch'504 :
The Aetolians brought the wine to Athens, wishing to have a share of a friendship-cup, the one from the god, along with the foster-children of Athena.
They were drawing off wine to excess and without experience, and when they had fallen over they lay down at random as each of them happened to; and those related to them, having reckoned that these wine-bearers were poisoners, and believing that those who slept died, killed the Aetolians.
Justice pursues the Athenians for their sacrilegious murders, and they were plunged in infertilities.
So as they were being overcome from the present circumstances they sought relief from the god and made an inquiry of the Pythia.
They beg a god, of course, for a cure. And an oracle falls to them, saying it is necessary that they make libations to those of the Aetolians who died unjustly, year on year, and hold a festival of the Choai {'Pitchers'}; and from this the one in Attica was arranged.
[76] {79 DF} EUSTATHIUS A legend is told, that Merops of Cos, who unceasingly grieved for his dead wife, was transformed into an eagle and always accompanies Zeus. However Aelian says that he was previously a robber, and was transformed into an eagle. Therefore he had crooked claws and hunts [for food]; and in old age his beak becomes useless because of its extreme curvature. As a punishment for his previous brutality he suffers hunger in old age, and also attacks from dung-beetles, as will be described shortly afterwards.
[81] {84 DF} Suda_ T'636 , K'511 , S'1289 , Z'141 , E'2821 , K'1414 , K'942 , A'2854 , K'1054 :
When good people die, God sets his providence and concern, and takes vengeance for those who have been killed unjustly. Indeed Chrysippus says that someone went down to Megara carrying a belt full of gold. Then, the innkeeper who had welcomed him when he arrived late, after casting longing glances at the gold, killed [the visitor]. And then the innkeeper was about to take him out on the wagon carrying the ordure, having hidden the murdered man in it. Then the soul of the dead appeared to a Megarian man and told him not only what had happened to him, but also who was responsible for it and how he was carried out and through which gates. The Megarian man, however, did not hear the [dead man?s] words with equanimity, but rose early in the morning and, on his guard, took hold of the yoke [of oxen] and tracked the corpse. And then the assassinated had his burial, and the murderer his punishment.
He, coming into the house of some inkeeper, asked to be given lodging. He received [him] and kindled a fire.
It was a season of storm, and [he] heated up the fire seasonable for the season.
And somehow the innkeeper caught sight of the belt containing the gold, which the guest was wearing, and at once eyed it greedily.
Seeing the gold, he set greedy eyes on the man.
[He] brought forth from [his] belt the golden darics, wanting to make small change and pay for the inn.
. . . [went away] into the house where he was lodging.
Since it was late, he was eager for the murder.
The most violent thunder burst out, and the inn collapsed.
[84] {87 DF} Suda_ E'1720 , E'2498 , S'637 , E'3230 :
And they saw a vision surpassing in size and higher than the mast-head.
He was obviously vexed at the prediction, and the danger he was in was on a razor's edge, as the saying goes; the sailors and all the passengers were obviously not going to put up with delay on his part.
The harsh and hateful winds suddenly abated, and the waves became smooth; and a discrete breath began to flow astern and fill the sails.
[87] {90 DF} Suda_ E'2461 , K'915 , T'805 , Oi'2 :
The Sybarites, having progressed to an extreme of luxury and having come to an extreme of wealth, seemed to themselves and to others to be worthy of envy.
When they learned these things, the Sybarites began to record for themselves everlasting happiness. For [they said] they would not sail so far out of their right minds as ever to honour men more than gods.
And they laid down a law, [to the effect that] if they were to become such [men] under so great a god, it was good fortune - they having recorded it as communal.
But seeing to what [depth] of evil he would be [descending], he fled for refuge to his father's tomb.
[89] {92 DF} Suda_ K'156 , T'680 , K'1511 , A'4173 , H'558 , B'278 , E'3116 , K'518 , A'1851 , O'274 , Ei'254 , E'1143 :
[There was] a man [called] Euphronius, an ill-starred man, and he rejoiced in the nonsense of Epicurus and he adopted two bad things from that [nonsense], [namely] to be an atheist and a licentious man.
Being in so much evil, he did not forget that loathsome and godless treatise which the man from Gargettus {Epicurus} inflicted as a stain on life, like what grows out of Titanic seeds.
He, suffering miserably from an illness (the children of the Asclepiadae call it inflammation of the lungs) at first was in need of medical treatment from human beings and had depended on them.
The disease was more forceful than the knowledge of the doctors.
Since, however, he was already riding on the edge [of death], his relatives took him into [a shrine of] Asclepius.
And some one of the priests seemed to say to him, as he was falling sleep, that there is one way of safety for the man and one drug [effective against] established evils - if, having burned the books of Epicurus, he will soak up the dust of the atheists and the impious and the marks of the effeminate with liquid wax, and plaster over his belly and whole chest and bind it with fillets.
He confesses to his household servants what he heard, and they were filled at once with an excessive joy at not having expelled a man who had been demeaned and dishonoured by the god.
And after drawing some instruction from him they then imitated [him] with a view to [behaving] well and nobly.
[90] {93 DF} Suda_ A'968 , A'4595 , U'456 , E'2769 , A'905 , Th'164 :
The two of them were greedy for money and had no self-control over pleasures.
And in your manner you two were very unsparing and very murderous.
[Someone] would have called them bastards and outright illegitimates; they infected their own fatherland with many evils.
. . . in return for which they to received the handouts that were most suitable for each other.
At the instant of the evil came some memory of the Samothracians: for that is where the two were initiates.
And calling on the gods within themselves, they were at the same time reminded of the secret rites.
[98] {101 DF} Suda_ A'1117 , A'4177 , S'1606 , K'2672 , E'3136 , B'444 :
A cock [and ] an athlete from Tanagra: these sing nobly.
He, it seemed to me, came to his master in his rush from the [temple] of Asclepius hopping on one of his feet and when at daybreak the paean to Asclepius was sung, he showed up as one of the chorus dancers. He stood in the line as if he'd been given his stance by some chorus director, and as much as he was able he tried to sing along with the bird-like song, raising a harmonious and concordant strain.
The cock standing on the one foot stretched out the one that was maimed and gimpy, as though calling for witnesses and making clear how he had suffered.
The cock was singing of his saviour, with whatever strength he had in his voice, and was asking to make him sound of foot.
And he did what was commanded; but the bird walked on both [feet] before ox-loosening time and flapped his wings and went a good ways and lifted his neck and shook his crest, just like a exultant hoplite, and demonstrated his consideration of foolish things.
He sends it to be a votive offering and a delight to Asclepius, as if the bird were an attendant or servant in the temple, that man of Aspendus.
[106] {109 DF} Suda_ W'150 , E'3894 , K'1489 , L'818 , E'1731 , I'372 , A'2569 :
. . . for a man who breaks oaths and has no concern for divine matters, who lives in deceit and falsehood and never says anything healthful and from there gains unspeakable wealth.
And some of his relatives were exulting over him on the grounds that they would inherit his estate. For he had no children on account of the shiftless and lecherous lifestyle he led among prostitutes and drinking-bouts.
And otherwise [he] being angry with his concubine, as already a maid-servant ... they numbered the wretched man among the dead. And they (for their part) caring for the man mourned for him and called upon the gods as allies, and primarily upon Sarapis.
He begged the god to assist him and to reveal as gaping wolves those who were trying to record his property for themselves, so that he would not be a laughing-stock for others but they for him.
His hope had not been aborted.
So a vision, setting over [someone] the dream of a holy apparition, says that he has made a change in his lifestyle.
Though unholy otherwise, he obeyed the god in this at any rate.
[107] {110 DF} Suda_D'1244 , B'374 , A'1091 :
Flatterers, famous among the Greeks, have been summoned and are surrounding us: Cleisophus's and Strūthias's and Therons and the ones buzzing around Dionysius' table and the ones in frenzy around the banquet of Alexander, both these and others of whom I spoke: Orestes, Marpsias, the flatterers of Callias the Athenian along with others, and this one among the Romans, Albius [by] name.
Albius, a member of the equestrian order, courting and at the same time fawning over the 'manger' of Antonius . . .
[108] {111 DF} Suda_ K'1762 , Th'431 , B'488 , E'157 :
Since the Greeks celebrate Cleisophuses and Therons and Strūthiases and Chaerephons, men who know how to eat to satiety, and marvelous men of belly, come, let us also play a game, calling to mind a parasite of our country.
They sing of Iortius and him a sheer flatterer. There are many examples of his 'altar wit' and flattery current; among them note the following. In Maecenas' dining-room there was a right-angled table below the couch, very great in size and incomparable in beauty; and as was likely different men praised it in different ways. But Iortius not being able to express the marvel for himself, when silence fell, [said], 'But, my dear drinking-companions, there is something you fail to notice: it is round and very circular.' So at such sheer flattery, as was likely, laughter broke out. Plutarch [says this].
[120] {123 DF} Suda_ E'1231 , A'3116 , A'4528 , K'458 , K'1083 , B'545 , A'3125 :
When [the] Romans were waging war they used not to approve or to reject any place a priori, but wherever they happened [to be], they fought.
For the Romans, wherever they found the enemy, there indeed they fought, no matter whether the places were unaccommodating and rough or were well suited to receive hoplites and easy to ride over.
[The] Romans welcomed neither a lawless success nor a completed victory in which the leader did not share, in order that their subjects would not improvise in their doings.
Among Romans, at any rate, the man that prevailed in single combat used to be wrapped with a crown of dog's tooth grass; and (?) in renown he was unsurpassed.
With the Romans collapsing into tears and grieving at the event . . .
The consul {T. Manlius} was in no way charmed, roaring with rage at his underlings.
A few forbade that the triumph should be conducted for him.
[121] {124 DF} Suda_P'2361 , P'2900 , A'211 , S'293 :
Approaching, in any event, they made proscriptions both of those from [the] senate and of those classified in the equestrian order, killing these men.
Marcus, one of the well-born, an aedile in rank, was proscribed. Then indeed, wanting to escape notice, he shaved his head and beard, assuming Egyptian clothing, the sort that the attendants of Isis wear, and he leapt about shaking a sistrum and going from one city to the next, collecting [alms] in the name of the goddess and gratefully accepting necessary sustenance, as a remedy against hunger.
[122] {125 DF} Suda_ Oi'178 , A'138 , E'720 , A'519 , N'168 , E'1021 , P'482 :
. . . and Herodotus was right to set no store by provocations and madnesses concerning women.
. . . since, also, the [behaviour] of Menelaus to Paris the son of Priam I neither praise nor admire.
Each was eager to obtain the girl through abduction. Thus an exotic war began and intensified, though it was quite unexpected since it had a cause that was neither noble nor seemly.
Each of them, having seized the giftless fate of the girl with their own lot, as a tragic poet would say, murdered themselves.
. . . but with those men too having been allocated to the faction.
Striking out at their friends and servants, they were killing them as [if they were] enemies.
Being excited along with them and fanned up by this insane love of honour, the worst of demons, they have perished.
[123] {126 DF} Suda_ E'3095 , K'82 , E'1832 , K'2443 , U'35 :
A bloom produced on the face, such as no moist and delicate and flourishing meadow can bring forth with the dew of spring, a beautiful blush and a very sweet smile.
[She was] a woman from Syria and wagon-crushed by every comer. For she was a well-known courtesan and more passionate in licentiousness than those in the mimes, and with her postures appearing to the general view enticing the audience to the passions of the body, and prompting the people, and whoever [was] with the people, towards a swinish and manic wantonness.
Certain gatherings took place at her [house] and assemblages of unruly men and lewd women and youths who had opted for a ruinous life.
He did not fail [in] upright judgment as among licentious men concerning the faction of the mime-actress; for with resplendent beauty of body she was practiced in the art of deceit.
For moving softly and ground-seeking with her feet, and being lightly dressed, she got the better of all the jugglers that went before; having an agreeable voice and singing with art, she was not judged second to anyone of those who were admired for their songs, and since she was experienced in sexual intermeddling, flirting when the opportunity arose and cleverly moving the man to jealousy, she brought to herself not inconsiderable wealth, but him, pining little by little with love, she released from the present situation.
[124] {127 DF} Suda_Th'187 , D'679 , A'773 , A'1379 :
Becoming a robber of sacred things and habitually overturning the very abodes of the gods and committing accursed murders and having shredded the laws and having renounced the nature of men and having made marriages that were both without sacrifices and without marriage, which I know shook even the god, and I recognized other omens when I was under the sun and still ruling . . .
The sacrilegious man left his homeland and continued roaming.
Attalus' home page | 21.10.19 | Any comments?