Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

9313

Philostratus The Athenian, Life Of Apollonius, 6.1-6.27

Αἰθιοπία δὲ τῆς μὲν ὑπὸ ἡλίῳ πάσης ἐπέχει τὸ ἑσπέριον κέρας, ὥσπερ ̓Ινδοὶ τὸ πρὸς ἕω, κατὰ Μερόην δ' Αἰγύπτῳ ξυνάπτουσα καί τι τῆς ἀμαρτύρου Λιβύης ἐπελθοῦσα τελευτᾷ ἐς θάλατταν, ἣν ̓Ωκεανὸν οἱ ποιηταὶ καλοῦσι, τὸ περὶ γῆν ἅπαν ὧδε ἐπονομάζοντες. ποταμὸν δὲ Νεῖλον Αἰγύπτῳ δίδωσιν, ὃς ἐκ Καταδούπων ἀρχόμενος, ἣν ἐπικλύζει πᾶσαν Αἴγυπτον ἀπ' Αἰθιόπων ἄγει. μέγεθος μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἀξία παραβεβλῆσθαι πρὸς ̓Ινδοὺς ἥδε ἡ χώρα, ὅτι μηδ' ἄλλη μηδεμία, ὁπόσαι κατ' ἀνθρώπους ὀνομασταὶ ἤπειροι, εἰ δὲ καὶ πᾶσαν Αἴγυπτον Αἰθιοπίᾳ ξυμβάλοιμεν, τουτὶ δὲ ἡγώμεθα καὶ τὸν ποταμὸν πράττειν, οὔπω ξύμμετροι πρὸς τὴν ̓Ινδῶν ἄμφω, τοσαύτῃ ξυντεθείσα, ποταμοὶ δὲ ἀμφοῖν ὅμοιοι λογισαμένῳ τὰ ̓Ινδοῦ τε καὶ Νείλου: ἐπιρραίνουσί τε γὰρ τὰς ἠπείρους ἐν ὥρᾳ ἔτους, ὁπότε ἡ γῆ ἐρᾷ τούτου, ποταμῶν τε παρέχονται μόνοι τὸν κροκόδειλον καὶ τὸν ἵππον, λόγοι τε ὀργίων ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἴσοι, πολλὰ γὰρ τῶν ̓Ινδῶν καὶ Νείλῳ ἐπιθειάζεται. τὴν δὲ ὁμοιότητα τῶν ἠπείρων πιστούσθων μὲν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀρώματα, πιστούσθων δὲ καὶ οἱ λέοντες καὶ ὁ ἐλέφας ἐν ἑκατέρᾳ ἁλισκόμενός τε καὶ δουλεύων. βόσκουσι δὲ καὶ θηρία, οἷα οὐχ ἑτέρωθι, καὶ ἀνθρώπους μέλανας, ὃ μὴ ἄλλαι ἤπειροι, Πυγμαίων τε ἐν αὐταῖς ἔθνη καὶ ὑλακτούντων ἄλλο ἄλλῃ καὶ ὧδε θαυμαστά. γρῦπες δὲ ̓Ινδῶν καὶ μύρμηκες Αἰθιόπων εἰ καὶ ἀνόμοιοι τὴν ἰδέαν εἰσίν, ἀλλ' ὅμοιά γε, ὥς φασι, βούλονται, χρυσοῦ γὰρ φύλακες ἐν ἑκατέρᾳ ᾅδονται τὸ χρυσόγεων τῶν ἠπείρων ἀσπαζόμενοι. ἀλλὰ μὴ πλείω ὑπὲρ τούτων, ὁ δὲ λόγος ἐς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἴτω καὶ ἐχώμεθα τοῦ ἀνδρός.

Ethiopia covers the western wing of the entire earth under the sun, just as India does the eastern wing; and at Meroe it adjoins Egypt, and, after skirting a part of Libya Incognita, it ends at the sea which the poets call by the name of the Ocean, that being the name they applied to the mass of water which surrounds the earth. This country supplies Egypt with the river Nile, which takes its rise at the cataracts (Catadupi), and brings down from Ethiopia all Egypt, the soil of which in flood-time it inundates. Now in size this country is not worthy of comparison with India, not for that matter is any of the continents that are famous among men; and even if you put together all Egypt with Ethiopia, and we may regard the river as so combining the two, we should not compare the two together with India, so vast is the standard of comparison. However their respective rivers, theIndus and the Nile, resemble one another, if we consider their creatures. For they both spread their moisture over the land in the summer season, when the earth most wants it, and unlike all other rivers they produced the crocodile and the river-horse; and the religious rites celebrated over them correspond with one another, for many of the religious invocations of the Indians are repeated in the case of the Nile. We have a proof of the similarity of the two countries in the spices which are found in them, also in the fact that the lion and the elephant are captured and confined in both the one and the other. They are also the haunts of animals not found elsewhere, and of black men — a feature not found in other continents — and we meet in them with races of pigmies and of people who bark in various ways instead of talking, and other wonders of the kind. And the griffins of the Indians and the ants of the Ethiopians, though they are dissimilar in form, yet, from what we hear, play similar parts; for in each country they are the guardians of gold, and devoted to the gold reefs of the two countries. But we will not pursue these subjects; for we must resume the course of our history and follow in the sage's footsteps.

τὴν μὲν δὴ ἑσπέραν ἐκείνην μέτριά τε καὶ οὐκ ἄξια τοῦ ἀναγράψαι σπουδάσαντες ἐκοιμήθησαν οὗ ἐδείπνησαν, ἅμα δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ μὲν ̓Απολλώνιος, ὥσπερ εἰώθει, θεραπεύσας τὸν ̔́Ηλιον ἐφειστήκει τινὶ γνώμῃ, προσδραμὼν δὲ αὐτῷ Νεῖλος, ὅσπερ ἦν νεώτατος τῶν Γυμνῶν “ἡμεῖς” ἔφη “παρὰ σὲ ἥκομεν.” “εἰκότως,” εἶπεν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὁδὸν τὴν ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἐνταῦθα.” καὶ εἰπὼν ταῦτα εἵπετο τῷ Νείλῳ. προσειπὼν οὖν καὶ προσρηθείς, ξυνέτυχον δὲ ἀλλήλοις περὶ τὴν στοάν, “ποῖ,” ἔφη “ξυνεσόμεθα;” “ἐνταῦθα” ἔφη ὁ Θεσπεσίων δείξας τὸ ἄλσος. ὁ δὲ Θεσπεσίων πρεσβύτατος ἦν τῶν Γυμνῶν, καὶ ἡγεῖτο μὲν αὐτὸς πᾶσιν, οἱ δέ, ὥσπερ ̔Ελλανοδίκαι τῷ πρεσβυτάτῳ, εἵποντο κοσμίῳ ἅμα καὶ σχολαίῳ βαδίσματι. ἐπεὶ δ' ἐκάθισαν, ὡς ἔτυχε, τουτὶ γὰρ οὐκέτι ἐν κόσμῳ ἔδρων, ἐς τὸν Θεσπεσίωνα εἶδον πάντες οἷον ἑστιάτορα τοῦ λόγου, ὁ δὲ ἤρξατο ἐνθένδε: “τὴν Πυθὼ καὶ τὴν ̓Ολυμπίαν ἐπεσκέφθαι σέ φασιν, ̓Απολλώνιε, τουτὶ γὰρ ἀπήγγειλεν ἐνταῦθα καὶ Στρατοκλῆς ὁ Φάριος ἐντετυχηκέναι σοι φάσκων ἐκεῖ, καὶ τὴν μὲν Πυθὼ τοὺς ἐς αὐτὴν ἥκοντας αὐλῷ τε παραπέμπειν καὶ ᾠδαῖς καὶ ψάλσει, κωμῳδίας τε καὶ τραγῳδίας ἀξιοῦν, εἶτα τὴν ἀγωνίαν παρέχειν τὴν γυμνὴν ὀψὲ τούτων, τὴν δὲ ̓Ολυμπίαν τὰ μὲν τοιαῦτα ἐξελεῖν ὡς ἀνάρμοστα καὶ οὐ χρηστὰ ἐκεῖ, παρέχεσθαι δὲ τοῖς ἐς αὐτὴν ἰοῦσιν ἀθλητὰς γυμνούς, ̔Ηρακλέους ταῦτα ξυνθέντος: τοῦτο ἡγοῦ παρὰ τὴν ̓Ινδῶν σοφίαν τὰ ἐνταῦθα: οἱ μὲν γάρ, ὥσπερ ἐς τὴν Πυθὼ καλοῦντες, ποικίλαις δημαγωγοῦσιν ἴυγξιν, ἡμεῖς δέ, ὥσπερ ἐν ̓Ολυμπίᾳ, γυμνοί.” οὐχ ὑποστρώννυσιν ἡ γῆ οὐδὲν ἐνταῦθα, οὐδὲ γάλα ὥσπερ βάκχαις ἢ οἶνον δίδωσιν, οὐδὲ μετεώρους ἡμᾶς ὁ ἀὴρ φέρει, ἀλλ' αὐτὴν ὑπεστορεσμένοι τὴν γῆν ζῶμεν μετέχοντες αὐτῆς τὰ κατὰ φύσιν, ὡς χαίρουσα διδοίη αὐτὰ καὶ μὴ βασανίζοιτο ἄκουσα. ὅτι δ' οὐκ ἀδυνατοῦμεν σοφίζεσθαι “τὸ δεῖνα” ἔφη “δένδρον,” πτελέα δὲ ἦν, τρίτον ἀπ' ἐκείνου, ὑφ' ᾧ διελέγοντο, “πρόσειπε τὸν σοφὸν ̓Απολλώνιον.” καὶ προσεῖπε μὲν αὐτόν, ὡς ἐκελεύσθη, τὸ δένδρον, ἡ φωνὴ δὲ ἦν ἔναρθρός τε καὶ θῆλυς. ἀπεσήμαινε δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ̓Ινδοὺς ταῦτα μεταστήσειν ἡγούμενος τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον τῆς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν δόξης, ἐπειδὴ διῄει ἐς πάντας λόγους τε ̓Ινδῶν καὶ ἔργα. προσετίθει δὲ κἀκεῖνα, ὡς ἀπόχρη τῷ σοφῷ βρώσεώς τε καθαρῷ εἶναι, ὁπόση ἔμπνους, ἱμέρου τε, ὃς φοιτᾷ δι' ὀμμάτων, φθόνου τε, ὃς διδάσκαλος ἀδίκων ἐπὶ χεῖρα καὶ γνώμην ἥκει, θαυμασιουργίας τε καὶ βιαίου τέχνης μὴ δεῖσθαι ἀλήθειαν. “σκέψαι γὰρ τὸν ̓Απόλλω” εἶπε “τὸν Δελφικόν, ὃς τὰ μέσα τῆς ̔Ελλάδος ἐπὶ προρρήσει λογίων ἔχει: ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν, ὥς που καὶ αὐτὸς γιγνώσκεις, ὁ μὲν τῆς ὀμφῆς δεόμενος ἐρωτᾷ βραχὺ ἐρώτημα, ὁ δὲ ̓Απόλλων οὐδὲν τερατευσάμενος λέγει, ὁπόσα οἶδε. καίτοι ῥᾴδιόν γε ἦν αὐτῷ σεῖσαι μὲν τὸν Παρνασὸν πάντα, τὴν Κασταλίαν δὲ οἰνοχοῆσαι μεταβαλόντι τὰς πηγάς, Κηφισῷ δὲ μὴ ξυγχωρῆσαι ποταμῷ εἶναι, ὁ δὲ οὐδὲν τούτων ἐπικομπάσας ἀναφαίνει τἀληθὲς αὐτό. ἡγώμεθα δὲ μηδὲ τὸν χρυσὸν ἢ τὰ δοκοῦντα λαμπρὰ τῶν ἀναθημάτων ἑκόντι αὐτῷ φοιτᾶν, μηδὲ τῷ νεῷ τὸν ̓Απόλλω χαίρειν, εἰ καὶ διπλάσιος ἀποφανθείη τοῦ νῦν ὄντος: ᾤκησε γάρ ποτε καὶ λιτὴν στέγην ὁ θεὸς οὗτος, καὶ καλύβη αὐτῷ ξυνεπλάσθη μικρά, ἐς ἣν ξυμβαλέσθαι λέγονται μέλιτται μὲν κηρόν, πτερὰ δὲ ὄρνιθες. εὐτέλεια γὰρ διδάσκαλος μὲν σοφίας, διδάσκαλος δὲ ἀληθείας, ἣν ἐπαινῶν σοφὸς ἀτεχνῶς δόξεις ἐκλαθόμενος τῶν παρ' ̓Ινδοῖς μύθων. τὸ γὰρ πρᾶττε ἢ μὴ πρᾶττε, ἢ οἶδα ἢ οὐκ οἶδα, ἢ τὸ δεῖνα, ἀλλὰ μὴ τὸ δεῖνα, τί δεῖται κτύπου; τί δὲ τοῦ βροντᾶν, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦ ἐμβεβροντῆσθαι; εἶδες ἐν ζωγραφίας λόγοις καὶ τὸν τοῦ Προδίκου ̔Ηρακλέα, ὡς ἔφηβος μὲν ὁ ̔Ηρακλῆς, οὔπω δὲ ἐν αἱρέσει τοῦ βίου, κακία δ' αὐτὸν καὶ ἀρετὴ διαλαβοῦσαι παρὰ σφᾶς ἄγουσιν, ἡ μὲν χρυσῷ τε κατεσκευασμένη καὶ ὅρμοις ἐσθῆτί τε ἁλιπορφύρῳ καὶ παρειᾶς ἄνθει καὶ χαίτης ἀναπλοκαῖς καὶ γραφαῖς ὀμμάτων, ἔστι δ' αὐτῇ καὶ χρυσοῦν πέδιλον, γέγραπται γὰρ καὶ τούτῳ ἐνσοβοῦσα, ἡ δ' αὖ πεπονηκυίᾳ μὲν προσφερής, τραχὺ δὲ ὁρῶσα, τὸν δὲ αὐχμὸν πεποιημένη κόσμημα καὶ ἀνυπόδετος ἡ ἀρετὴ καὶ λιτὴ τὴν ἐσθῆτα, καὶ γυμνὴ δ' ἂν ἐφαίνετο, εἰ μὴ ἐγίγνωσκε τὸ ἐν θηλείαις εὔσχημον. ἡγοῦ δὴ καὶ σεαυτόν, ̓Απολλώνιε, μέσον τῆς ̓Ινδικῆς τε καὶ τῆς ἡμεδαπῆς σοφίας ἑστάναι, καὶ τῆς μὲν ἀκούειν λεγούσης, ὡς ὑποστορέσει σοι ἄνθη καθεύδοντι, καί, νὴ Δί', ὡς ποτιεῖ γάλακτι καὶ ὡς κηρίοις θρέψει, καὶ ὡς νέκταρ σοὶ τι παρ' αὐτῆς ἔσται καὶ πτερά, ὁπότε βούλοιο, τρίποδάς τε ἐσκυκλήσει πίνοντι καὶ χρυσοῦς θρόνους, καὶ πονήσεις οὐδέν, ἀλλ' αὐτόματά σοι βαδιεῖται πάντα, τῆς δέ γε ἑτέρας, ὡς χαμευνεῖν μὲν ἐν αὐχμῷ προσήκει, γυμνὸν δέ, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς, μοχθοῦντα φαίνεσθαι, ὃ δὲ μὴ πονήσαντί σοι ἀφίκετο, μήτε φίλον ἡγεῖσθαι μήτε ἡδύ, μηδὲ ἀλαζόνα εἶναι μηδὲ τύφου θηρατήν, ἀπέχεσθαι δὲ καὶ ὀνειράτων ὄψεις, ὁπόσαι ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς αἴρουσιν. εἰ μὲν δὴ κατὰ τὸν ̔Ηρακλέα αἱροῖο καὶ δόξῃ ἀδαμαντίνῃ χρῷο μὴ ἀτιμάζων ἀλήθειαν, μηδὲ τὴν κατὰ φύσιν εὐτέλειαν παραιτούμενος πολλοὺς μὲν ᾑρηκέναι φήσεις λέοντας, πολλὰς δὲ ὕδρας ἐκτετμῆσθαί σοι Γηρυόνας τε καὶ Νέσσους καὶ ὁπόσοι ἐκείνου ἆθλοι, εἰ δὲ τὸ τῶν ἀγειρόντων ἀσπάσῃ, κολακεύσεις ὀφθαλμούς τε καὶ ὦτα καὶ οὔτε σοφώτερος ἑτέρου δόξεις γενήσῃ τε ἆθλος ἀνδρὸς Αἰγυπτίου Γυμνοῦ.”

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They spent that evening conversing about trifles which are not worth recording, and then they lay down to sleep on the spot where they had supped; but at daybreak Apollonius, after adoring the sun according to his custom, had set himself to meditate upon some problem, when Nilus, who was the youngest of the naked philosophers, running up to him, exclaimed: We are coming to you. Quite right, said Apollonius, for to get to you I have made this long journey from the sea all the way here. And with these words he followed Nilus. So after exchanging greetings with the sages, and they met him close to the portico. Where, said Apollonius, shall we hold our interview? Here, said Thespesion, pointing to the grove. Now Thespesion was the eldest of the sect, and led them in procession; and they followed him with an orderly and leisurely step, just as the jury of the athletic sports at Olympia follow the eldest of their number. And when they had sat down, which they did anyhow, and without the observing their previous order, they all fixed their eyes on Thespesion as the one who should regale them with a discourse, which he proceeded as follows: They say, Apollonius, that you have visited the Pythian and Olympian festivals; for this was reported of you here by Stratocles of Pharos, who says he met you there. Now those who come to the Pythian festival are, they say, escorted with the sound of pipe and song and lyre, and are honored with shows of comedies and tragedies; and then last of all they are presented with an exhibition of games and races run by naked athletes. At the Olympic festival, however, these superfluities are omitted as inappropriate and unworthy of the place; and those who go to the festival are only provided with the show of naked athletes originally instituted by Heracles. You may see the same contrast between the wisdom of the Indians and our own. For they, like those who invite others to the Pythian festival, appeal to the crowd with all sorts of charms and wizardry; but we, like the athletes of Olympia, go naked. Here earth strews for us no couches, nor does it yield us milk or wine as if we were bacchants, nor does the air uplift us and sustain us aloft. But the earth beneath us is our only couch, and we live by partaking of its natural fruits, which we would have it yield to us gladly and without being tortured against its will. But you shall see that we are not unable to work tricks if we like. Heigh! you tree yonder, he cried, pointing to an elm tree, the third in the row from that under which they were talking, just salute the wise Apollonius, will you? And forthwith the tree saluted him, as it was bidden to do, in accents which were articulate and like those of a woman. Now he wrought this sign to discredit the Indians, and in the belief that by doing so he would wean Apollonius of his excessive estimate of their powers; for he was always recounting to everybody what the Indians said and did.Then the Egyptian added these precepts: he said that it is sufficient for the sage to abstain from eating all flesh of living animals, and from the roving desires which mount up in the soul through the eyes, and from envy which ends by teaching injustice to hand and will, and that truth stands not in need of miracle-mongering and sinister arts. For look, he said, at the Apollo of Delphi, who keeps the center of Hellas for the utterance of his oracles. There then, as you probably know yourself, a person who desires a response, puts his question briefly, and Apollo tells what he knows without any miraculous display. And yet it would be just as easy for him to convulse the whole mountain of Parnassus, and to alter the springs of the Castalian fountain so that it should run with wine, and to check the river Cephisus and stay its stream; but he reveals the bare truth without any of this show of ostentation. Nor must we suppose that it is by his will, that so much gold and showy offerings enter his treasury, nor that he would care for his temple even if it were made twice as large as it already is. For once on a time this god Apollo dwelt in quite a humble habitation; and a little hut was constructed for him to which the bees are said to have contributed their honeycomb and wax, and the birds their feathers. For simplicity is the teacher of wisdom and the teacher of truth; and you must embrace it, if you would have men think you really wise, and forget all your legendary tales that you have acquired among the Indians. For what need is there to beat the drum over such simple matters as: “Do this, or do not do it,” or “I know it, or I do not know it,” or “It is this and not that'? What do you want with thunder, nay, I would say, What do you want to be thunder-struck for?You have seen in picture-books the representation of Heracles by Prodicus; in it Heracles is represented as a youth, who has not yet chosen the life he will lead; and vice and virtue stand in each side of him plucking his garments and trying to draw him to themselves. Vice is adorned with gold and necklaces and with purple raiment, and her cheeks are painted and her hair delicately plaited and her eyes underlined with henna; and she also wears golden slippers, for she is pictured strutting about in these; but virtue in the picture resembles a woman worn out with toil, with a pinched look; and she has chosen for her adornment rough squalor, and she goes without shoes and in the plainest of raiment, and she would have appeared naked if she had not too much regard for her feminine decency. Now figure yourself, Apollonius, as standing between Indian wisdom on one side, and our humble wisdom on the other; imagine that you hear the one telling you how she will strew flowers under you when you lie down to sleep, yes, and by Heaven, how she will regale you upon milk and nourish you on honey-comb, and how she will supply you with nectar and wings, whenever you want them; and how she will wheel in tripods, whenever you drink, and golden thrones; and you shall have no hard work to do, but everything will be flung unsought into your lap. But the other discipline insists that you must lie on the bare ground in squalor, and be seen to toil naked like ourselves; and that you must not find dear or sweet anything which you have not won by hard work; and that you must not be boastful, not hunt after vanities and pursue pride; and that you must be on your guard against all dreams and visions which lift you off the earth. If then you really make the choice of Heracles, and steel your will resolutely, neither to dishonor truth, nor to decline the simplicity of nature, then you may say that you have overcome many lions and have cut off the heads of many hydras and of monsters like Geryon and Nessus, and have accomplished all his other labors, but if you embrace the life of a strolling juggler, you will flatter men's eyes and ears, but they will think you no wiser than anybody else, and you will become the vanquished of any naked philosopher of Egypt.

ταῦτα εἰπόντος ἐστράφησαν ἐς τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον πάντες, οἱ μὲν ἀμφ' αὐτόν, ὡς ἀντιλέξοι, γιγνώσκοντες, οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ τὸν Θεσπεσίωνα θαυμάζοντες, ὅ τι ἀντερεῖ. ὁ δὲ ἐπαινέσας αὐτὸν τῆς εὐροίας καὶ τοῦ τόνου “μή τι” ἔφη “προστίθης;” “μὰ Δί',” εἶπεν “εἴρηκα γάρ.” τοῦ δ' αὖ ἐρομένου “μὴ τῶν ἄλλων τις Αἰγυπτίων;” “πάντων” ἔφη “δἰ ἐμοῦ ἤκουσας.” ἐπισχὼν οὖν ὀλίγον καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐρείσας ἐς τὰ εἰρημένα οὑτωσὶ ἔλεξεν: “ἡ μὲν ̔Ηρακλέους αἵρεσις, ἥν φησι Πρόδικος ἐν ἐφήβῳ ἑλέσθαι αὐτόν, ὑγιῶς τε ὑμῖν λέλεκται καὶ κατὰ τὸν φιλοσοφίας νοῦν, ὦ σοφοὶ Αἰγυπτίων, προσήκει δέ μοι οὐδέν: οὔτε γὰρ ξυμβούλους ὑμάς βίου ποιησόμενος ἥκω πάλαι γε ᾑρημένος τὸν ἐμαυτῷ δόξαντα, πρεσβύτατός τε ὑμῶν πλὴν Θεσπεσίωνος ἀφιγμένος αὐτὸς ἂν μᾶλλον εἰκότως ξυνεβούλευον ὑμῖν σοφίας αἵρεσιν, εἰ μήπω ᾑρημένοις ἐνέτυχον. ὢν δ' ὅμως τηλικόσδε καὶ σοφίας ἐπὶ τοσόνδε ἀφιγμένος οὐκ ὀκνήσω λογισταῖς ὑμῖν τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ βουλῆς χρήσασθαι διδάσκων, ὡς ὀρθῶς εἱλόμην ταῦτα, ὧν μήπω βελτίω ἐπὶ νοῦν ἦλθέ μοι. κατιδὼν γάρ τι ἐν Πυθαγόρου μέγα καὶ ὡς ὑπὸ σοφίας ἀρρήτου μὴ μόνον γιγνώσκοι ἑαυτόν, ὅστις εἴη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅστις γένοιτο, βωμῶν τε ὡς καθαρὸς ἅψαιτο καὶ ὡς ἀχράντῳ μὲν ἐμψύχου βρώσεως γαστρὶ χρήσαιτο, καθαρῷ δὲ σώματι πάντων ἐσθημάτων, ὁπόσα θνησειδίων ξύγκειται, γλῶττάν τε ὡς πρῶτος ἀνθρώπων ξυνέσχε βοῦν ἐπ' αὐτῇ σιωπῆς εὑρὼν δόγμα, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην φιλοσοφίαν ὡς χρησμώδη καὶ ἀληθῆ κατεστήσατο, ἔδραμον ἐπὶ τὰς ἐκείνου δόξας, οὐ μίαν σοφίαν ἐκ δυοῖν ἑλόμενος, ὡς σύ, βέλτιστε Θεσπεσίων, ξυμβουλεύεις. παραστήσασα γάρ μοι φιλοσοφία τὰς ἑαυτῆς δόξας, ὁπόσαι εἰσί, περιβαλοῦσά τε αὐταῖς κόσμον, ὃς ἑκάστῃ οἰκεῖος, ἐκέλευσεν ἐς αὐτὰς βλέπειν καὶ ὑγιῶς αἱρεῖσθαι: ὥρα μὲν οὖν σεμνή τε ἁπασῶν ἦν καὶ θεία, καὶ κατέμυσεν ἄν τις πρὸς ἐνίας αὐτῶν ὑπ' ἐκπλήξεως, ἐμοὶ δὲ εἱστήκει τὸ ὄμμα ἐς πάσας, καὶ γάρ με καὶ παρεθάρρυνον αὐταὶ προσαγόμεναί τε καὶ προκηρύττουσαι, ὁπόσα δώσουσιν, ἐπεὶ δ' ἡ μέν τις αὐτῶν οὐδὲν μοχθήσαντι πολὺν ἐπαντλήσειν ἔφασκεν ἡδονῶν ἐσμόν, ἡ δ' αὖ μοχθήσαντα ἀναπαύσειν, ἡ δ' ἐγκαταμίξειν εὐφροσύνας τῷ μόχθῳ, πανταχοῦ δὲ ἡδοναὶ διεφαίνοντο καὶ ἄνετοι μὲν ἡνίαι γαστρός, ἑτοίμη δὲ χεὶρ ἐς πλοῦτον, χαλινὸς δὲ οὐδεὶς ὀμμάτων, ἀλλ' ἔρωτές τε καὶ ἵμεροι καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πάθη ξυνεχωρεῖτο, μία δὲ αὐτῶν ἴσχειν μὲν τῶν τοιούτων ἐκόμπαζε, θρασεῖα δὲ ἦν καὶ φιλολοίδορος καὶ ἀπηγκωνισμένη πάντα, εἶδον σοφίας εἶδος ἄρρητον, οὗ καὶ Πυθαγόρας ποτὲ ἡττήθη, καὶ εἱστήκει δὲ ἄρα οὐκ ἐν ταῖς πολλαῖς, ἀλλ' ἀπετέτακτο αὐτῶν καὶ ἐσιώπα, ξυνεῖσα δέ, ὡς ταῖς μὲν ἄλλαις οὐ ξυντίθεμαι, τὰ δὲ ἐκείνης οὔπω οἶδα “μειράκιον,” εἶπεν, “ἀηδὴς ἐγὼ καὶ μεστὴ πόνων:” εἰ γὰρ ἀφίκοιτό τις ἐς ἤθη τὰ ἐμά, τράπεζαν μέν, ὁπόση ἐμψύχων, ἀνῃρῆσθαι πᾶσαν ̔ἂν' ἕλοιτο, οἴνου δὲ ἐκλελῆσθαι καὶ τὸν σοφίας μὴ ἐπιθολοῦν κρατῆρα, ὃς ἐν ταῖς ἀοίνοις ψυχαῖς ἕστηκεν, οὐδὲ χλαῖνα θάλψει αὐτόν, οὐδὲ ἔριον, ὃ ἀπ' ἐμψύχου ἐπέχθη, ὑπόδημα δὲ αὐτοῖς βύβλου δίδωμι καὶ καθεύδειν ὡς ἔτυχε, κἂν ἀφροδισίων ἡττηθέντας αἴσθωμαι, βάραθρά ἐστί μοι, καθ' ὧν σοφίας ὀπαδὸς δίκη φέρει τε αὐτοὺς καὶ ὠθεῖ, χαλεπὴ δ' οὕτως ἐγὼ τοῖς τἀμὰ αἱρουμένοις, ὡς καὶ δεσμὰ γλώττης ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἔχειν. ἃ δ' ἐστί σοι καρτερήσαντι ταῦτα, ἐμοῦ μάθε: σωφροσύνη μὲν καὶ δικαιοσύνη αὐτόθεν, ζηλωτὸν δὲ ἡγεῖσθαι μηδένα τυράννοις τε φοβερὸν εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ ὑπ' αὐτοῖς κεῖσθαι, θεοῖς τε ἡδίω φαίνεσθαι μικρὰ θύσαντα ἢ οἱ προχέοντες αὐτοῖς τὸ τῶν ταύρων αἷμα, καθαρῷ δὲ ὄντι σοι καὶ προγιγνώσκειν δώσω καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς οὕτω τι ἐμπλήσω ἀκτῖνος, ὡς διαγιγνώσκειν μὲν θεόν, γιγνώσκειν δὲ ἥρωα, σκιοειδῆ δ' ἐλέγχειν φαντάσματα, ὅτε ψεύδοιντο εἴδη ἀνθρώπων.” ἥδε μοι βίου αἵρεσις, ὦ σοφοὶ Αἰγυπτίων, ἣν ὑγιῶς τε καὶ κατὰ τὸν Πυθαγόραν ἑλόμενος οὔτε ἐψευσάμην οὔτε ἐψεύσθην, ἐγενόμην μὲν γὰρ ἃ χρὴ τὸν φιλοσοφήσαντα, φιλοσοφοῦντι δὲ ὁπόσα δώσειν ἔφη, πάντ' ἔχω. ἐφιλοσόφησα γὰρ ὑπὲρ γενέσεως τῆς τέχνης καὶ ὁπόθεν αὐτῆς αἱ ἀρχαί, καί μοι ἔδοξεν ἀνδρῶν εἶναι περιττῶν τὰ θεῖα ψυχήν τε ἄριστα ἐσκεμμένων, ἧς τὸ ἀθάνατόν τε καὶ ἀγέννητον πηγαὶ γενέσεως. ̓Αθηναίοις μὲν οὖν οὐ πάνυ προσήκων ἐφαίνετό μοι ὅδε ὁ λόγος, τὸν γὰρ Πλάτωνος λόγον, ὃν θεσπεσίως ἐκεῖ καὶ πανσόφως ὑπὲρ ψυχῆς ἀνεφθέγξατο, αὐτοὶ διέβαλλον ἐναντίας ταύτῃ καὶ οὐκ ἀληθεῖς δόξας ὑπὲρ ψυχῆς προσέμενοι, ἔδει δὲ σκοπεῖν, τίς μὲν εἴη πόλις, ποίων δὲ ἀνδρῶν ἔθνος, παρ' οἷς οὐχ ὁ μέν τίς, ὁ δὲ οὔ, πᾶσα δὲ ἡλικία ταὐτὸν ὑπὲρ ψυχῆς φθέγγοιτο κἀγὼ μὲν νεότητός τε οὕτως ἀγούσης καὶ τοῦ μήπω ξυνιέναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔβλεψα, ἐπειδὴ πλεῖστα ἐλέγεσθε ὑπερφυῶς εἰδέναι, καὶ πρὸς τὸν διδάσκαλον τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ διῄειν ταῦτα, ὁ δὲ ἐφιστάς με “εἰ τῶν ἐρώντων” εἶπεν “ἐτύγχανες ὢν ἢ τὴν ἡλικίαν ἐχόντων τοῦ ἐρᾶν, εἶτα μειρακίῳ καλῷ ἐντυχὼν καὶ ἀγασθεὶς αὐτὸ τῆς ὥρας σὺ δὲ καὶ ὅτου εἴη παῖς ἐζήτεις, ἦν δὲ ὁ μὲν ἱπποτρόφου καὶ στρατηγοῦ πατρὸς καὶ χορηγοὶ οἱ πάπποι, σὺ δ' αὐτὸν τριηράρχου τινὸς ἢ φυλάρχου ἐκάλεις, ἆρά γ' ἂν οἴει προσάγεσθαι τὰ παιδικὰ τούτοις, ἢ κἂν ἀηδὴς δόξαι μὴ πατρόθεν ὀνομάζων τὸ μειράκιον, ἀλλ' ἀπ' ἐκφύλου σπορᾶς καὶ νόθου; σοφίας οὖν ἐρῶν, ἣν ̓Ινδοὶ εὗρον, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν φύσει πατέρων ὀνομάζεις αὐτήν, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῶν θέσει καὶ δίδως τι μεῖζον Αἰγυπτίοις, ἢ εἰ πάλιν αὐτοῖς, ὡς αὐτοὶ ᾅδουσι, μέλιτι ξυγκεκραμένος ἀναβαίη ὁ Νεῖλος; ταῦτά με πρὸ ὑμῶν ἐπ' ̓Ινδοὺς ἔτρεψεν ἐνθυμηθέντα περὶ αὐτῶν, ὡς λεπτότεροι μὲν τὴν ξύνεσιν οἱ τοιοίδε ἄνθρωποι καθαρωτέραις ὁμιλοῦντες ἀκτῖσιν, ἀληθέστεροι δὲ τὰς περὶ φύσεώς τε καὶ θεῶν δόξας, ἅτε ἀγχίθεοι καὶ πρὸς ἀρχαῖς τῆς ζῳογόνου καὶ θερμῆς οὐσίας οἰκοῦντες: ἐντυχών τε αὐτοῖς ἔπαθόν τι πρὸς τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ὁποῖον λέγονται πρὸς τὴν Αἰσχύλου σοφίαν παθεῖν ̓Αθηναῖοι: ποιητὴς μὲν γὰρ οὗτος τραγῳδίας ἐγένετο, τὴν τέχνην δὲ ὁρῶν ἀκατάσκευόν τε καὶ μήπω κεκοσμημένην εἰ μὲν ξυνέστειλε τοὺς χοροὺς ἀποτάδην ὄντας, ἢ τὰς τῶν ὑποκριτῶν ἀντιλέξεις εὗρε παραιτησάμενος τὸ τῶν μονῳδιῶν μῆκος, ἢ τὸ ὑπὸ σκηνῆς ἀποθνήσκειν ἐπενόησεν, ὡς μὴ ἐν φανερῷ σφάττοι, σοφίας μὲν μηδὲ ταῦτα ἀπηλλάχθω, δοκείτω δὲ κἂν ἑτέρῳ παρασχεῖν ἔννοιαν ἧττον δεξιῷ τὴν ποίησιν, ὁ δ' ἐνθυμηθεὶς μὲν ἑαυτόν, ὡς ἐπάξιον τοῦ τραγῳδίαν ποιεῖν φθέγγοιτο, ἐνθυμηθεὶς δὲ καὶ τὴν τέχνην, ὡς προσφυᾶ τῷ μεγαλείῳ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ καταβεβλημένῳ τε καὶ ὑπὸ πόδα, σκευοποιίας μὲν ἥψατο εἰκασμένης τοῖς τῶν ἡρώων εἴδεσιν, ὀκρίβαντος δὲ τοὺς ὑποκριτὰς ἐνεβίβασεν, ὡς ἴσα ἐκείνοις βαίνοιεν, ἐσθήμασί τε πρῶτος ἐκόσμησεν, ἃ πρόσφορον ἥρωσί τε καὶ ἡρωίσιν ἠσθῆσθαι, ὅθεν ̓Αθηναῖοι πατέρα μὲν αὐτὸν τῆς τραγῳδίας ἡγοῦντο, ἐκάλουν δὲ καὶ τεθνεῶτα ἐς Διονύσια, τὰ γὰρ τοῦ Αἰσχύλου ψηφισαμένων ἀνεδιδάσκετο καὶ ἐνίκα ἐκ καινῆς: καίτοι τραγῳδίας μὲν εὖ κεκοσμημένης ὀλίγη χάρις, εὐφραίνει γὰρ ἐν σμικρῷ τῆς ἡμέρας, ὥσπερ ἡ τῶν Διονυσίων ὥρα, φιλοσοφίας δὲ ξυγκειμένης μέν, ὡς Πυθαγόρας ἐδικαίωσεν, ὑποθειαζούσης δέ, ὡς πρὸ Πυθαγόρου ̓Ινδοί, οὐκ ἐς βραχὺν χρόνον ἡ χάρις, ἀλλ' ἐς ἄπειρόν τε καὶ ἀριθμοῦ πλείω. οὐ δὴ ἀπεικός τι παθεῖν μοι δοκῶ φιλοσοφίας ἡττηθεὶς εὖ κεκοσμημένης, ἣν ἐς τὸ πρόσφορον ̓Ινδοὶ στείλαντες ἐφ' ὑψηλῆς τε καὶ θείας μηχανῆς ἐκκυκλοῦσιν: ὡς δὲ ἐν δίκῃ μὲν ἠγάσθην αὐτούς, ἐν δίκῃ δὲ ἡγοῦμαι σοφούς τε καὶ μακαρίους, ὥρα μανθάνειν: εἶδον ἄνδρας οἰκοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ οὐκ ἐπ' αὐτῆς καὶ ἀτειχίστως τετειχισμένους καὶ οὐδὲν κεκτημένους ἢ τὰ πάντων. εἰ δ' αἰνιγμάτων ἅπτομαι, σοφία Πυθαγόρου ξυγχωρεῖ ταῦτα, παρέδωκε γὰρ καὶ τὸ αἰνίττειν διδάσκαλον εὑρὼν σιωπῆς λόγον: σοφίας δὲ ταύτης ἐγένεσθε μὲν καὶ αὐτοὶ Πυθαγόρᾳ ξύμβουλοι χρόνον, ὃν τὰ ̓Ινδῶν ἐπῃνεῖτε, ̓Ινδοὶ τὸ ἀρχαῖον πάλαι ὄντες: ἐπεὶ δ' αἰδοῖ τοῦ λόγου, δι' ὃν ἐκ μηνιμάτων τῆς γῆς ἀφίκεσθε δεῦρο, ἕτεροι μᾶλλον ἐβούλεσθε δοκεῖν ἢ Αἰθίοπες οἱ ἀπὸ ̓Ινδῶν ἥκοντες, πάντα ὑμῖν ἐς τοῦτο ἐδρᾶτο: ὅθεν ἐγυμνώθητε μὲν σκευῆς, ὁπόση ἐκεῖθεν, ὥσπερ ξυναποδυόμενοι τὸ Αἰθίοπες εἶναι, θεοὺς δὲ θεραπεύειν ἐψηφίσασθε τὸν Αἰγύπτιον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν ὑμέτερον τρόπον, ἐς λόγους τε οὐκ ἐπιτηδείους ὑπὲρ ̓Ινδῶν κατέστητε, ὥσπερ οὐκ αὐτοὶ διαβεβλημένοι τῷ ἀφ' οἵων διαβεβλῆσθαι ἥκειν, καὶ οὐδὲ μετερρύθμισθέ πώ γε τοῦτο, οἳ καὶ τήμερον ἐπίδειξιν αὐτοῦ πεποίησθε φιλολοίδορόν τε καὶ ἰαμβώδη, χρηστὸν οὐδὲν ἐπιτηδεύειν ̓Ινδοὺς φάσκοντες, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐκπλήξεις καὶ ἀγωγάς, καὶ τὰς μὲν ὀφθαλμῶν, τὰς δὲ ὤτων, σοφίαν δὲ οὔπω ἐμὴν εἰδότες ἀναίσθητοι φαίνεσθε τῆς ἐπ' αὐτῇ δόξης, ἐγὼ δ' ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ μὲν λέξω οὐδέν, εἴην γάρ, ὅ με ̓Ινδοὶ ἡγοῦνται, ̓Ινδῶν δὲ οὐ ξυγχωρῶ ἅπτεσθαι. ἀλλ' εἰ μέν τις ὑγιῶς καὶ ὑμᾶς ἔχει σοφία ̔Ιμεραίου ἀνδρός, ὃς ᾅδων ἐς τὴν ̔Ελένην ἐναντίον τῷ προτέρῳ λόγῳ παλινῳδίαν αὐτὸν ἐκάλεσεν οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτυμος ὁ λόγος οὗτος ἤδη καὶ αὐτοὺς ὥρα λέγειν, ἀμείνω τῆς νῦν παρεστηκυίας μεταλαβόντας περὶ αὐτῶν δόξαν. εἰ δὲ καὶ ἄμουσοι πρὸς παλινῳδίαν ὑμεῖς, ἀλλὰ φείδεσθαί γε χρὴ ἀνδρῶν, οὓς ἀξιοῦντες θεοὶ τῶν αὐτοῖς ὄντων οὐδὲ ἑαυτοὺς ἀπαξιοῦσιν ὧν ἐκεῖνοι πέπανται. διῆλθές τινα, Θεσπεσίων, καὶ περὶ τῆς Πυθοῦς λόγον ὡς ἁπλῶς τε καὶ ἀκατασκεύως χρώσης, καὶ παράδειγμα ἐγένετό σοι τοῦ λόγου νεὼς κηροῦ καὶ πτερῶν ξυντεθείς: ἐμοὶ δὲ ἀκατάσκευα μὲν δοκεῖ οὐδὲ ταῦτα, τὸ γὰρ ξυμφέρετε πτερά τ' οἰωνοὶ κηρόν τε μέλιτται κατασκευαζομένου ἦν οἶκον καὶ οἴκου σχῆμα, ὁ δ', οἶμαι, μικρὰ ταῦτα ἡγούμενος καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σοφίας ἥττω καὶ ἄλλου ἐδεήθη νεὼ καὶ ἄλλου καὶ μεγάλων ἤδη καὶ ἑκατομπέδων, ἑνὸς δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ χρυσᾶς ἴυγγας ἀνάψαι λέγεται Σειρήνων τινὰ ἐπεχούσας πειθώ, ξυνελέξατό τε τὰ εὐδοκιμώτατα τῶν ἀναθημάτων ἐς τὴν Πυθὼ κόσμου ἕνεκα, καὶ οὔτ' ἀγαλματοποιίαν ἀπήλασεν ἀπάγουσαν αὐτῷ κολοσσοὺς ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν τοὺς μὲν θεῶν, τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπων, τοὺς δὲ ἵππων τε καὶ ταύρων καὶ ἑτέρων ζῴων οὔτε Γλαῦκον μετὰ τοῦ ὑποκρατηριδίου ἥκοντα, οὔτε τὴν ἁλισκομένην ̓Ιλίου ἀκρόπολιν, ἣν Πολύγνωτος ἐκεῖ γράφει. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὸν χρυσόν γε τὸν Λύδιον καλλώπισμα τῆς Πυθοῦς ἡγεῖτο, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνον μὲν ὑπὲρ τῶν ̔Ελλήνων ἐσήγετο ἐνδεικνύμενος, οἶμαι, αὐτοῖς τὸν τῶν βαρβάρων πλοῦτον, ἵνα γλίχοιντο ἐκείνου μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ διαπορθεῖν τὰ ἀλλήλων, τὸν δὲ δὴ ̔́Ελληνά τε καὶ προσφυᾶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ σοφίᾳ τρόπον κατεσκευάζετο καὶ ἠγλάιζε τούτῳ τὴν Πυθώ. ἡγοῦμαι δὲ αὐτὸν κόσμου ἕνεκα καὶ ἐς μέτρα ἐμβιβάζειν τοὺς χρησμούς. εἰ γὰρ μὴ τοῦτο ἐπεδείκνυτο, τοιάσδε ἂν τὰς ἀποκρίσεις ἐποιεῖτο: δρᾶ τὸ δεῖνα ἢ μὴ δρᾶ, καὶ ἴθι ἢ μὴ ἴθι, καὶ ποιοῦ ξυμμάχους ἢ μὴ ποιοῦ, βραχέα γάρ που ταῦτα, ἤ, ὥς φατε ὑμεῖς, γυμνά, ὁ δ' ἵνα μεγαλορρήμων τε φαίνοιτο καὶ ἡδίων τοῖς ἐρωτῶσι, ποιητικὴν ἡρμόσατο, καὶ οὐκ ἀξιοῖ εἶναι, ὅ τι μὴ οἶδεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ψάμμον εἰδέναι φησίν, ὁπόση, ἀριθμήσας αὐτήν, καὶ τὰ τῆς θαλάττης μέτρα ξυνειληφέναι πάντα. ἢ καὶ ταῦτα τερατολογίᾳ προσγράφεις, ἐπειδὴ σοβαρῶς αὐτὰ ὁ ̓Απόλλων καὶ ξὺν φρονήματι ὀρθῷ φράζει; εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀχθέσῃ, Θεσπεσίων, τῷ λόγῳ, γρᾶες ἀνημμέναι κόσκινα φοιτῶσιν ἐπὶ ποιμένας, ὅτε δὲ καὶ βουκόλους, ἰώμεναι τὰ νοσοῦντα τῶν θρεμμάτων μαντικῇ, ὥς φασιν, ἀξιοῦσι δὲ σοφαὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι καὶ σοφώτεραι ἢ οἱ ἀτεχνῶς μάντεις: τοῦτό μοι καὶ ὑμεῖς παρὰ τὴν ̓Ινδῶν σοφίαν φαίνεσθε, οἱ μὲν γὰρ θεῖοί τέ εἰσι καὶ κεκόσμηνται κατὰ τὴν Πυθίαν, ὑμεῖς δέ — ἀλλ' οὐδὲν εἰρήσεται περαιτέρω, εὐφημία γὰρ φίλη μὲν ἐμοί, φίλη δὲ ̓Ινδοῖς, ἣν ἀσπαζοίμην ὡς ὀπαδὸν ἅμα καὶ ἡγεμόνα τῆς γλώττης, τὰ μὲν ἐμαυτῷ δυνατὰ θηρεύων ξὺν ἐπαίνῳ τε αὐτῶν καὶ ἔρωτι, ὅ τι δὲ μὴ ἐφικτὸν εἴη μοι, καταλείπων αὐτὸ ἄχραντον ψόγου. σὺ δὲ ̔Ομήρου μὲν ἐν Κυκλωπίᾳ ἀκούων, ὡς ἡ γῆ τοὺς ἀγριωτάτους καὶ ἀνομωτάτους ἄσπορος καὶ ἀνήροτος ἑστιᾷ, χαίρεις τῷ λόγῳ, κἂν ̓Ηδωνοί τινες ἢ Λυδοὶ βακχεύωσιν, οὐκ ἀπιστεῖς, ὡς γάλακτος αὐτοῖς καὶ οἴνου πηγὰς δώσει καὶ ποτιεῖ τούτους, τοὺς δὲ σοφίας ἁπάσης βάκχους ἀφαιρήσῃ δῶρα αὐτόματα παρὰ τῆς γῆς ἥκοντα; τρίποδες δὲ αὐτόματοι καὶ ἐς τὰ ξυμπόσια τῶν θεῶν φοιτῶσι, καὶ ὁ ̓́Αρης ἀμαθής περ ὢν καὶ ἐχθρὸς οὔπω τὸν ̔́Ηφαιστον ἐπ' αὐτοῖς γέγραπται, οὐδ' ἔστιν, ὡς ἤκουσάν ποτε οἱ θεοὶ τοιαύτης γραφῆς: ἀδικεῖς, ̔́Ηφαιστε, κοσμῶν τὸ ξυμπόσιον τῶν θεῶν καὶ περιιστὰς αὐτῷ θαύματα, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ ταῖς δμωαῖς αἰτίαν ποτὲ ἔσχε ταῖς χρυσαῖς ὡς παραφθείρων τὰς ὕλας, ἐπειδὴ τὸν χρυσὸν ἔμπνουν ἐποίει, κόσμου γὰρ ἐπιμελήσεται τέχνη πᾶσα, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ εἶναι τέχνας ὑπὲρ κόσμου εὕρηται. ἀνυποδησία δὲ καὶ τρίβων καὶ πήραν ἀνῆφθαι κόσμου εὕρημα: καὶ γὰρ τὸ γυμνοῦσθαι, καθάπερ ὑμεῖς, ἔοικε μὲν ἀκατασκεύῳ τε καὶ λιτῷ σχήματι, ἐπιτετήδευται δὲ ὑπὲρ κόσμου καὶ οὐδὲ ἄπεστιν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἑτέρῳ φασὶ τύφῳ. τὰ δὲ ̔Ηλίου τε καὶ ̓Ινδῶν πάτρια καὶ ὅπῃ χαίρει θεραπευόμενος ἐχέτω τὸν αὐτῶν νόμον, θεοὶ μὲν γὰρ χθόνιοι βόθρους ἀσπάσονται καὶ τὰ ἐν κοίλῃ τῇ γῇ δρώμενα, ̔Ηλίου δὲ ἀὴρ ὄχημα, καὶ δεῖ τοὺς προσφόρως ᾀσομένους αὐτὸν ἀπὸ γῆς αἴρεσθαι καὶ ξυμμετεωροπολεῖν τῷ θεῷ: τοῦτο δὲ βούλονται μὲν πάντες, δύνανται δὲ ̓Ινδοὶ μόνοι.”

When he ended, all turned their eyes upon Apollonius; his own followers knowing well that he would reply, while Thespesion's friends wondered what he could say in answer. But he, after praising the fluency and vigor of the Egyptian, merely said: Have you anything more to say? No, by Zeus, said the other, for I have said all I have to say. Then he asked afresh: And has not any one of the rest of the Egyptians anything to say? I am their spokesman, answered his antagonist, and you have heard them all. Apollonius accordingly paused for a minute and then, fixing his eyes, as it were, on the discourse he had heard, he spoke as follows: You have very well described and in a sound philosophic spirit the choice which Prodicus declares Heracles to have made as a young man; but, ye wise men of the Egyptians, it does not apply in the least to myself. For I am not come here to ask your advice about how to live, insomuch as I long ago made choice of the life which seemed best to myself; and as I am older than any of you, except Thespesion, I myself am better qualified, now I have got here, to advise you how to choose wisdom, if I did not find that you had already made the choice. Being, however, as old as I am, and so far advanced in wisdom as I am, I shall not hesitate as it were to make you the auditors of my life and motives, and teach you that I rightly chose this life of mine, than which no better one has ever suggested itself to me. For I discerned a certain sublimity in the discipline of Pythagoras, and how a certain secret wisdom enabled him to know, not only who he was himself, but also who he had been; and I saw that he approached the altars in purity, and suffered not his belly to be polluted by partaking of the flesh of animals and that he kept his body pure of all garments woven of dead animal refuse; and that he was the first of mankind to restrain his tongue, inventing a discipline of silence described in the proverbial phrase, An ox sits upon it. I also saw that his philosophical system was in other respects oracular and true. So I ran to embrace his teachings, not choosing one form of wisdom rather than another of two presented me, as you, my excellent Thespesion, advise me to do. For philosophy marshaled before me her various points of view, investing them with the adornment proper to each and she commanded me to look upon them and make a sound choice. Now they were all possessed of an august and divine beauty; and some of them were of such dazzling brightness that you might well have closed your eyes. However I fixed my eyes firmly upon all of them, for they themselves encouraged me to do so by moving towards me, and telling me beforehand how much they would give me. Well, one of them professed that she would shower upon me a swarm of pleasures without any toil on my part and another that she would give me rest after toil; and a third that she would mingle mirth and merriment in my toil; and everywhere I had glimpses of pleasures and of unrestrained indulgence in the pleasures of the table; and it seemed that I had only to stretch out my hand to be rich, and that I needed not to set any bridle upon my eyes, but love and loose desire and such-like feelings were freely allowed me. One of them, however, boasted that she would restrain me from such things, but she was bold and abusive and in an unabashed manner elbowed all others aside; and I beheld the ineffable form of wisdom

which long ago conquered the soul of Pythagoras; and she stood, I may tell you, not among the many, but kept herself apart and in silence; and when she saw that I ranged not myself with the rest, though as yet I knew not what were her wares, she said: “Young man, I am unpleasing and a lady full of sorrows; for, if anyone betakes himself to my abode, he must of his own choice put away all dishes which contain the flesh of living animals, and he must forget wine, nor make muddy therewith the cup of wisdom which is set in the souls of those that drink no wine; nor shall blanket keep him warm, nor wool shorn from a living animal. But I allow him shoes of bark, and he must sleep anywhere and anyhow, and if I find my votaries yielding to sensual pleasures, I have precipices to which justice that waits upon wisdom carries them and pushes them over; and I am so harsh to those who make choice of my discipline that I have bits ready to restrain their tongues. But learn from me what rewards you shall reap by enduring all this: Temperance and justice unsought and at once, and the faculty to regard no man with envy, and to be dreaded by tyrants rather than cringe to them, and to have your humble offerings appear sweeter to the gods than the offerings of those who pour out before them the blood of bulls. And when you are pure I will grant you the faculty of foreknowledge, and I will so fill your eyes with light, that you shall distinguish a god, and recognize a hero, and detect and put to shame the shadowy phantoms which disguise themselves in the form of men.” This was the life I chose, ye wise of the Egyptians; it was a sound choice and in the spirit of Pythagoras, and in making it I neither deceived myself, nor was deceived; for I have become all that a philosopher should become, and all that she promised to bestow upon the philosopher, that is mine. For I have studied profoundly the problem of the rise of the art and whence it draws its first principles; and I have realized that it belongs to men of transcendent religious gifts, who have thoroughly investigated the nature of the soul, the well-springs of whose existence lie back in the immortal and in the unbegotten.Now I agree that this doctrine was wholly alien to the Athenians; for when Plato in their city lifted up his voice and discoursed upon the soul, full of inspiration and wisdom, they caviled against him and adopted opinions of the soul opposed thereto and altogether false. And one may well ask whether there is any city, or any race of men, where not one more and another less, but wherein men of all ages alike, will enunciate the same doctrine of the soul. And I myself, because my youth and inexperience so inclined me, began by looking up to yourselves, because you had the reputation of an extraordinary knowledge of most things; but when I explained my views to my own teacher, he interrupted me, and said as follows: “Supposing you were in a passionate mood and being of an impressionable age were inclined to form a friendship; and suppose you met a handsome youth and admired his looks, and you asked whose son he was, and suppose he were the son of a knight or a general, and that his grand-parents had been furnishers of a chorus — if then you dubbed him the child of some skipper or policeman, do you suppose that you would thereby be the more likely to captivate his affections, and that you would not rather make yourself odious to him by refusing to call him by his father's name, and giving him instead that of some ignoble and spurious parent?,If then you were enamored of the wisdom which the Indians discovered, would you call it not by the name which its natural parents bore, but by the name of its adoptive sires; and so confer upon the Egyptians a greater boon, than if that were to happen over again which their own poets relate, namely if the Nile on reaching its full were found to be with honey blent?' It was this which turned my steps to the Indians rather than to yourselves; for I reflected that they were more subtle in their understanding, because such men as they live in contact with a purer daylight, and entertain truer opinions of nature and of the gods, because they are near unto the latter, and live on the edge and confines of that thermal essence which quickens all unto life. And when I came among them, their message made the same impression upon me as the talent of Aeschylus is said to have made upon the Athenians. For he was a poet of tragedy, and finding the art to be rude and inchoate and as yet not in the least elaborated, he went to work, and curtailed the prolixity of the chorus, and invented dialogues for the actors, discarding the long monodies of the earlier time; and he hit upon a plan of killing people behind the stage instead of their being slain before the eyes of the audience. Well, if we cannot deny his talent in making all these improvements, we must nevertheless admit that they might have suggested themselves equally well to an inferior dramatist. But his talent was twofold. On the one hand as a poet he set himself to make his diction worthy of tragedy, on the other hand as a manager, to adapt his stage to sublime, rather than to humble and groveling themes. Accordingly he devised masks which represented the forms of the heroes, and he mounted his actors on buskins so that their gait might correspond to the characters they played; and he was the first to devise stage dresses, which might convey an adequate impression to the audience of the heroes and heroines they saw. For all these reasons the Athenians accounted him to be the father of tragedy; and even after his death they continued to invite him to represent his plays at the Dionysiac festival, for in accordance with public decree the plays of Aeschylus continued to be put upon the stage and win the prize anew. And yet the gratification of a well-staged tragedy is insignificant, for its pleasures last a brief day, as brief as is the season of the Dionysiac festival; but the gratification of a philosophic system devised to meet the requirements of a Pythagoras, and also breathing the inspiration in which Pythagoras was anticipated by the Indians, lasts not for a brief time, but for an endless and incalculable period. It is then not unreasonable on my part, I think, to have devoted myself to a philosophy so highly elaborated, and to one which, to use a metaphor from the stage, the Indians mount, as it deserves to be mounted, upon a lofty and divine mechanism, and then wheel it forth upon the stage. And that I was right to admire them, and that I am right in considering them to be wise and blessed, it is now time to convince you. I beheld men dwelling upon the earth, and yet not upon it, I beheld them fortified without fortifications, I beheld them possessed of nothing, and yet possessed of all things. You will say that I have taken to riddles, but the wisdom of Pythagoras allows of this; for he taught us to speak in riddles, when he discovered that the word is the teacher of silence. And there was a time when you yourselves took counsel with Pythagoras, and were advocates of this same wisdom; that was in the time when you could say nothing too good of the Indian philosophy, for to begin with and of old you were Indians. Subsequently because your soil was wrath with you, you came hither; and then ashamed of the reasons owing to which you quitted it, you tried to get men to regard you as anything rather than Ethiopians who had come from India hither, and you took every pains to efface your past. This is why you stripped yourselves of the apparel in which you came thence, as if you were anxious to doff along with it your Ethiopian nationality. This is why you have resolved to worship the gods in the Egyptian rather than in your own fashion, and why you have set yourselves to disseminate unflattering stories of the Indians, as if in maligning them you did not foul your own nest. And in this respect you have not yet altered your tone for the better; for only today you have given here an exhibition of your propensities for abuse and satire, pretending that the Indians are no better employed than in startling people and in pandering to their eyes and ears. And because as yet you are ignorant of my wisdom, you show yourself indifferent to the fame which crowns it. Well, in defense of myself I do not mean to say anything, for I am content to be what the Indians think me; but I will not allow them to be attacked. And if you are so sound and sane as to possess any tincture of the wisdom of the man of Himera, who composed in honor of Helen a poem which contradicted a former one and called it a palinode, it is high time for you also to use the words he used and say: “This discourse of ours is not true,” so changing your opinion and adopting one better than you at present entertain about these people. But if you have not the wit to recant, you must at least spare men to whom the gods vouchsafe, as worthy of them, their own prerogatives, and whose possessions they do not disdain for themselves.,You have also, Thespesion, made some remarks about the simplicity and freedom from pomp which characterizes the Pythian oracle; and by way of example you instanced the temple composed of wax and feathers; but I do not myself find that even this was devoid of pomp, for we have the line'O bird bring hither your wings, and bees your wax.”Such language betokens a carefully prepared home and the form of house. And the god I believe regarded even this as too humble and below the dignity of wisdom, and therefore desired to have another and yet another temple, big ones these and a hundred feet in breadth; and from one of them it is said that golden figures of the wryneck were hung up which possessed in a manner the charm of the Sirens; and the god collected the most precious of the offerings into the Pythian temple for ornament; nor did he reject works of statuary, when their authors brought him to his temple colossal figures of gods and men, and also of horses, oxen and other animals; nor did he refuse the gift of Glaucus brought thither of a stand for a goblet, nor the picture of the taking of the citadel of Ilium which Polygnotus painted there. For I imagine he did not consider that the gold of Lydia really beautified the Pythian fane, but he admitted it on behalf of the Hellenes themselves, by way of pointing out to them, I believe, the immense riches of the barbarians, and inducing them to covet that rather than continue to ravage one another's lands. And he accordingly adopted the Greek fashion of art which suited his particular wisdom, and adorned his shrine therewith. And I believe that it was by way of adornment that he also puts his oracles in metrical form. For if he did not wish to make a show in this matter, he would surely make his responses in such forms as the following: “Do this, or do not do that'; and “go, or do not go,” or “choose allies, or do not choose them.” For here are short formulas, or as you call it naked ones. But in order to display his mastery of the grand style, and in order to please those who came to consult his oracle, he adopted the poetical form; and he does not allow that anything exists which he does not know, but claims to have counted the sands of the sea and to know their number, and also to have fathomed the depths of the sea.But I suppose you will call it miracle-monging, that Apollo dictates his oracles with such proud dignity and elation of spirit? But if you will not be annoyed, Thespesion, at what I say, there are certain old women who go about with sieves in their hands to shepherds, sometimes to cow-herds, pretending to heal their flocks, when they are sick, by divination, as they call it, and they claim to be called wise women, yea wiser than those who are unfeignedly prophets. It seems to me that you are in the same case, when I contrast your wisdom with that of the Indians; for they are divine, and have trimmed and adorned their science after the matter of the Pythian oracle; but you — however I will say no more, for modesty in speech is as dear to me as it is dear to the Indians, and I would be glad to have it at once to attend upon and to guide my tongue, seeking to compass what is in my power when I am praising those to whom I am so devoted, but leaving alone what is too high for me to attain unto, without bespattering it with petty disapproval. But you no doubt delight in the story which you have read inHomer about the Cyclopes, how their land, all unsown and unploughed, nourished the most fearless and lawless of beings; and if it is some Edoni or Lydians who are conducting bacchic revels, you are quite ready to believe that the earth will supply them with fountains of milk and wine, and give them to drink thereof; but you would deny to these Indians, lovers of all wisdom as enthusiastic as ever bacchants were, the unsought bounties which earth offers them. Moreover tripods, gifted with will of their own, attend the banquets of the gods also; and Ares, ignorant and hostile as he was to Hephaestus, yet never accused him merely for making them; nor is it conceivable that the gods ever listened to such an indictment as this: “You commit an injustice, O Hephaestus, in adorning the banquet of the gods, and encompassing it with miracles.” Nor was Hephaestus ever sued for constructing handmaids of gold, nor accused of debasing the metals because he made the gold to breath. For ever art is interested to adorn, and the very existence of the arts was a discovery made in behalf of ornament. Moreover a man who goes without shoes and wears a philosopher's cloak and hangs a wallet on his back is a creature of ornament; nay, more even the nakedness which you affect, in spite of its rough and plain appearance, has for its object ornament and decoration, and it is not even exempt from the proverbial pride of your own sort to match [ 1]. We must judge by their own standard the religion of the Sun and the national rites of the Indians and any cult in which that god delights; for the subterranean gods will always prefer deep trenches and ceremonies conducted in the hollows of the earth, but the air is the chariot of the sun; and those who would sing his praise in a fitting manner must rise from the earth and soar aloft with god; and this everyone would like to do, but the Indians alone are able to do it.

ἀναπνεῦσαι ὁ Δάμις ἑαυτόν φησιν, ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα ἤκουσεν: ὑπὸ γὰρ τῶν τοῦ ̓Απολλωνίου λόγων οὕτω διατεθῆναι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, ὡς τὸν Θεσπεσίωνα μὲν καίτοι μέλανα ὄντα κατάδηλον εἶναι, ὅτι ἐρυθριῴη, φαίνεσθαι δέ τινα καὶ περὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἔκπληξιν ἐφ' οἷς ἐρρωμένως τε καὶ ξὺν εὐροίᾳ διαλεγομένου ἤκουσαν, τὸν νεώτατον δὲ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, ᾧ ὄνομα ἦν Νεῖλος, καὶ ἀναπηδῆσαί φησιν ὑπὸ θαύματος μεταστάντα τε πρὸς τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον ξυμβαλεῖν τε αὐτῷ τὴν χεῖρα καὶ δεῖσθαι αὐτοῦ τὰς ξυνουσίας, αἳ ἐγένοντο αὐτῷ πρὸς τοὺς ̓Ινδούς, φράζειν. τὸν δὲ ̓Απολλώνιον “σοὶ μὲν οὐδενὸς ἂν” φάναι, “βασκήναιμι ἐγὼ λόγου φιληκόῳ τε, ὡς ὁρῶ, τυγχάνοντι καὶ σοφίαν ἀσπαζομένῳ πᾶσαν,” Θεσπεσίωνι δὲ καὶ εἴ τις ἕτερος λῆρον τὰ ̓Ινδῶν ἡγεῖται, μὴ ἂν ἐπαντλῆσαι τοὺς ἐκεῖθεν λόγους: ὅθεν ὁ Θεσπεσίων “εἰ δὲ ἔμπορος” εἶπεν “ἢ ναύκληρος ἦσθα καί τινα ἡμῖν ἀπῆγες ἐκεῖθεν φόρτον, ἆρα ἂν ἠξίους, ἐπειδὴ ἀπ' ̓Ινδῶν οὗτος, ἀδοκίμαστον αὐτὸν διατίθεσθαι καὶ μήτε γεῦμα παρέχειν αὐτοῦ μήτε δεῖγμα;” ὑπολαβὼν δὲ ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “παρειχόμην ἂν” εἶπε τοῖς γε χρῄζουσιν, εἰ δ' ἥκων τις ἐπὶ τὴν θάλατταν καταπεπλευκυίας ἄρτι τῆς νεὼς ἐλοιδορεῖτο τῷ φόρτῳ καὶ διέβαλλε μὲν αὐτὸν ὡς ἥκοντα ἐκ γῆς, ἣ μηδὲν ὑγιὲς φέρει, ἐμοὶ δὲ ἐπέπληττεν ὡς οὐχ ὑπὲρ σπουδαίων ἀγωγίμων πλεύσαντι τούς τε ἄλλους ἔπειθεν οὕτω φρονεῖν, ἆρ' ἄν σοι δοκεῖ τις καταπλεύσας ἐς τοιόνδε λιμένα βαλέσθαι τινὰ ἄγκυραν ἢ πεῖσμα, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἀνασείσας τὰ ἱστία μετεωρίσαι ἂν τὴν ναῦν ἐς τὸ πέλαγος ἀνέμοις ἐπιτρέψας τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἥδιόν γε ἢ ἀκρίτοις τε καὶ ἀξένοις ἤθεσιν; “ἀλλ' ἐγὼ” ἔφη ὁ Νεῖλος “λαμβάνομαι τῶν πεισμάτων καὶ ἀντιβολῶ σε, ναύκληρε, κοινωνῆσαί μοι τῆς ἐμπορίας, ἣν ἄγεις, καὶ ξυνεμβαίην ἄν σοι τὴν ναῦν περίνεώς τε καὶ μνήμων τοῦ σοῦ φόρτου.”

Damis says that he breathed afresh when he heard this address; for that the Egyptians were so impressed by Apollonius' words, that Thespesion, in spite of the blackness of his complexion, visibly blushed, while the rest of them seemed in some way stunned by the vigorous and fluent discourse which they listened to; but the youngest of them, whose name was Nilus, leapt up from the ground, he says, in admiration, and passing over to Apollonius shook hands with him, and besought him to tell him about the interviews which he had had with the Indians. And Apollonius, he says, replied: I should not grudge you anything, for you are ready to listen, as I see, and are ready to welcome wisdom of every kind; but I should not care to pour out the teachings I gathered there upon Thespesion or on anyone else who regards the lore of the Indians as so much nonsense. Whereupon Thespesion said: But if you were a merchant or a seafarer, and you brought to us some cargo or other from over there, would you claim, merely because it came from India, to dispose of it untested and unexamined, refusing us either the liberty of looking at it or tasting it? But Apollonius repled as follows: I should furnish it to those who asked for it; but if the moment my ship had reached the harbor, someone came down the beach and began to run down my cargo and abuse myself, and say that I came from a country which produces nothing worth having, and if he reproached me for sailing with a cargo of shoddy goods, and tried to persuade the rest to think like himself, do you suppose that one would, after entering such a harbor, cast anchor or make his cables fast, and not rather hoist his sails and put to sea afresh, entrusting his goods more gladly to the winds than to such undiscerning and inhospitable people? Well, I anyhow, said Nilus, lay hold on your cables, and entreat you, my skipper, to let me share your goods that you bring hither; and I would gladly embark with you in your ship as a super-cargo and a clerk to check your merchandise.

διαπαῦσαι δὲ ὁ Θεσπεσίων ̔ζητῶν' τὰ τοιαῦτα “χαίρω” ἔφη “̓Απολλώνιε, ὅτι ἄχθῃ ὑπὲρ ὧν ἤκουσας: καὶ γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἡμῖν ξυγγιγνώσκοις ἀχθομένοις ὑπὲρ ὧν διέβαλες τὴν δεῦρο σοφίαν, οὐδὲ ἐς πεῖράν πω αὐτῆς ἀφιγμένος.” ὁ δ' ἐκπλαγεὶς μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου πρὸς βραχὺ τῷ μηδ' ἀκηκοέναι πω τὰ περὶ τὸν Θρασύβουλόν τε καὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην, ξυμβαλὼν δ', ὥσπερ εἰώθει, τὸ γεγονὸς “̓Ινδοὶ δέ”, εἶπεν “ὦ Θεσπεσίων, οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο ἔπαθον, οὐδ' ἂν προσέσχον Εὐφράτῃ καθιέντι ταῦτα, σοφοὶ γὰρ προγιγνώσκειν. ἐγὼ δὲ ἴδιον μὲν ἐμαυτοῦ πρὸς Εὐφράτην διηνέχθην οὐδέν, χρημάτων δὲ ἀπάγων αὐτὸν καὶ τοῦ μὴ ἐπαινεῖν τὸ ἐξ ἅπαντος κέρδος οὔτ' ἐπιτήδεια ξυμβουλεύειν ἔδοξα οὔτε ἐκείνῳ δυνατά, καὶ ἔλεγχον δὲ ἡγεῖται ταῦτα καὶ οὐκ ἀνίησιν ἀεί τι κατ' ἐμοῦ ξυντιθείς. ἐπεὶ δὲ πιθανὸς ὑμῖν ἔδοξε τοὐμὸν διαβάλλειν ἦθος, ἐνθυμεῖσθε, ὡς προτέρους ὑμᾶς ἐμοῦ διέβαλεν: ἐμοὶ γὰρ κίνδυνοι μὲν καὶ περὶ τὸν διαβεβλησόμενον οὐ σμικροὶ φαίνονται, μισήσεται γάρ που ἀδικῶν οὐδέν, ἐλεύθεροι δὲ κινδύνων οὐδ' οἱ τῶν διαβολῶν ἀκροασόμενοι δοκοῦσιν, εἰ πρῶτον μὲν ἁλώσονται ψευδολογίαν τιμῶντες καὶ ἀξιοῦντες αὐτὴν ὧνπερ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, εἶτα κουφότητα καὶ εὐαγωγίαν — ἡττᾶσθαι δὲ τούτων καὶ μειρακίῳ αἰσχρόν — φθονεροί τε δόξουσι διδάσκαλον ἀκοῆς ἀδίκου ποιούμενοι τὸν φθόνον, αὐτοί τε μᾶλλον ἔνοχοι ταῖς διαβολαῖς, ἃς ἐφ' ἑτέρων ἀληθεῖς ἡγοῦνται, αἱ γὰρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσεις ἑτοιμότεραι δρᾶν, ἃ μὴ ἀπιστοῦσι. μὴ τυραννεύσειεν ἀνὴρ ἕτοιμος ταῦτα, μηδὲ προσταίη δήμου, τυραννὶς γὰρ καὶ ἡ δημοκρατία ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἔσται, μηδὲ δικάσειεν, ὑπὲρ μηδενὸς γὰρ γνώσεται, μηδὲ ναυκληρήσειεν, ἡ γὰρ ναῦς στασιάσει, μηδὲ ἄρξειε στρατοῦ, τὸ γὰρ ἀντίξοον εὖ πράξει, μηδὲ φιλοσοφήσειεν οὕτως ἔχων, οὐ γὰρ πρὸς τἀληθὲς δοξάσει. ὑμᾶς δὲ Εὐφράτης ἀφῄρηται καὶ τὸ σοφοὺς εἶναι, οὓς γὰρ ψεύδει ὑπηγάγετο, πῶς ἂν οὗτοι σοφίας αὑτοὺς ἀξιώσειαν, ἧς ἀπέστησαν τῷ τὰ μὴ πιθανὰ πείσαντι;” διαπραΰνων δ' αὐτὸν ὁ Θεσπεσίων “ἅλις Εὐφράτου” ἔφη “καὶ μικροψύχων λόγων, καὶ γὰρ ἂν καὶ διαλλακταὶ γενοίμεθά σοι τε κἀκείνῳ, σοφὸν ἡγούμενοι καὶ τὸ διαιτᾶν σοφοῖς. πρὸς δὲ ὑμᾶς,” εἶπε “τίς διαλλάξει με; χρὴ γάρ που καταψευσθέντα ἐκπεπολεμῶσθαι ὑπὲρ τοῦ ψεύδους.” “ἐχέτω οὕτως” ἦ δ' ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “καὶ σπουδῆς ἁπτώμεθα, τουτὶ γὰρ ἡμᾶς διαλλάξει μᾶλλον.”

Thespesion, however, was anxious to put a stop to such propositions, so he said: I am glad, Apollonius, that you are annoyed at what we said to you; for you can the more readily condone our annoyance at the misrepresentation you made of our local wisdom, long before you had gained any experience of its quality. Apollonius was for a moment astonished at these words, for he had heard nothing as yet of the intrigues of Thrasybulus and Euphrates; but as was his wont, he guessed the truth and said: The Indians, O Thespesion, would never have behaved as you have, nor have given ear to these insinuation dropped by Euphrates, for they have a gift of prescience. Now I never have had any quarrel of my own with Euphrates; I only tried to wean him of his passion for money and cure his propensity to value everything by what he could make out of it; but I found that my advice was not congenial to him, nor in his case practicable; nay he merely takes it as a tacit reproach, and never loses any opportunity of intriguing against me. But since you have found his attacks upon my character so plausible, I may as well tell you that it is you, rather than myself, that he has calumniated. For though, as is clear to me, the victims of calumny incur considerable dangers, since they are, I suppose, sure to be disliked without having done any wrong, yet neither are those who incline to listen to the calumnies free from danger; for in the first place they will be convicted of paying respect to lies and giving them as much attention as they would to the truth, and secondly they are convicted of levity and credulity, faults which it is disgraceful even for a stripling to fall into. And they will be thought envious, because they allow envy to teach them to listen to unjust tittle-tattle; and they expose themselves all the more to calumny, because they think it true of others. For man is by nature inclined to commit a fault which he does not discredit when he hears it related to others. Heaven forbid that a man of these inclinations should become a tyrant, or even president of a popular state; for in his hands even a democracy would become a tyranny; nor let him be made a judge, for surely he will not ever discern the truth. Nor let him be captain of a ship, for the crew would mutiny, nor general of an army, for that would bring luck to the adversary; nor let one of his disposition attempt philosophy, for he would not consider the truth in forming his opinions. But Euphrates has deprived you of even the quality of wisdom; for how can those on whom he has imposed with his falsehoods claim wisdom for themselves? have they not deserted from it to take sides with one who has persuaded them of improbabilities? Here Thespesion tried to calm him, and remarked: Enough of Euphrates and of his small-minded affairs; for we are quite ready even to reconcile you with him, since we consider it the proper work of a sage to be umpire in the disputes of other sages. But, said Apollonius, who shall reconcile me with you? For the victim of lies must surely be driven into hostility by the falsehood. ... Be it so, said Apollonius, and let us hold a conversation, for that will be the best way of reconciling us.

ἐρῶν δὲ ὁ Νεῖλος τῆς ἀκροάσεως τοῦ ἀνδρὸς “καὶ μὴν σὲ” ἔφη “προσήκει ἄρξαι τοῦ σπουδάσαι, διελθόντα ἡμῖν τήν τε ἀποδημίαν τὴν γενομένην σοι ἐς τὸ ̓Ινδῶν ἔθνος τάς τε ἐκεῖ σπουδάς, ἃς ὑπὲρ λαμπρῶν δήπου ἐποιεῖσθε.” “ἐγὼ δὲ” ἔφη ὁ Θεσπεσίων “καὶ περὶ τῆς Φραώτου σοφίας ἀκοῦσαι ποθῶ, λέγεσθε γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἐκείνου λόγων ἀγάλματα ἀπὸ ̓Ινδῶν ἄγειν.” ὁ μὲν δὴ ̓Απολλώνιος ἀρχὴν τοῦ λόγου τὰ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ποιησάμενος διῄει πάντα, οἱ δὲ ἄσμενοι ἠκροῶντο ὑποκείμενοι τῷ λόγῳ. μεσημβρία δ' ὡς ἐγένετο, διέλυσαν τὴν σπουδήν, τὸν γὰρ καιρὸν τοῦτον καὶ οἱ Γυμνοὶ πρὸς ἱεροῖς γίγνονται.

And Nilus, as he was passionately anxious to listen to Apollonius, said: And what's more, it behoves you to begin the conversation, and to tell us all about the journey which you made to the people of India, and about the conversations which you held there, I have no doubt, on the most brilliant topics. And I too, said Thespesion, long to hear about the wisdom of Phraotes, for you are said to have brought from India some examples of his arguments. Apollonius accordingly began by telling them about the events which occurred in Babylon, and told them everything, and they gladly listened to him, spellbound by his words. But when it was midday, they broke of the conversations, for at this time of day the naked sages, like others, attend to the ceremonies of religion.

δειπνοῦντι δὲ τῷ ̓Απολλωνίῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν ὁ Νεῖλος ἐφίσταται λαχάνοις ἅμα καὶ ἄρτοις καὶ τραγήμασι, τὰ μὲν αὐτὸς φέρων, τὰ δὲ ἕτεροι, καὶ μάλα ἀστείως “οἱ σοφοὶ” ἔφη “ξένια πέμπουσιν ὑμῖν τε κἀμοὶ ταῦτα, κἀγὼ γὰρ ξυσσιτήσω ὑμῖν οὐκ ἄκλητος, ὥς φασιν, ἀλλ' ἐμαυτὸν καλῶν.” “ἡδὺ” εἶπεν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “ἀπάγεις, ὦ νεανία, ξένιον, σεαυτόν τε καὶ τὸ σεαυτοῦ ἦθος, ὃς ἀδόλως μὲν φιλοσοφοῦντι ἔοικας, ἀσπαζομένῳ δὲ τὰ ̓Ινδῶν τε καὶ Πυθαγόρου. κατακλίνου δὴ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ξυσσίτει.” “κατάκειμαι,” ἔφη “σιτία δὲ οὐκ ἔσται σοι τοσαῦτα, ὡς ἐμπλῆσαί με.” “ἔοικας” εἶπεν “εὔσιτος εἶναι καὶ δεινὸς φαγεῖν.” “δεινότατος μὲν οὖν,” ἔφη “ὃς γὰρ τοσαύτην καὶ οὕτω λαμπρὰν δαῖτά σου παραθέντος οὔπω ἐμπέπλησμαι, διαλιπὼν δὲ ὀλίγον πάλιν ἐπισιτιούμενος ἥκω, τί φήσεις ἀλλ' ἢ ἀκόρεστόν τε εἶναί με καὶ δεινῶς γάστριν;” “ἐμπίπλασο,” εἶπεν “ἀφορμαὶ δ', ὁπόσαι λόγων, τὰς μὲν αὐτὸς παραδίδου, τὰς δὲ ἐγὼ δώσω.”

Apollonius and his comrades were about to dine, when Nilus presented himself with vegetables and bread and dried fruits, some of which he carried himself, while his friends carried the rest; and very politely he said: The sages send these gifts of hospitality, not only to yourselves but to me; for I mean to share in your repast, not uninvited, as they say, but inviting myself. It is a delightful gift of hospitality, said Apollonius, which you bring to us, O youth, in the shape of yourself and your disposition, for you are evidently a philosopher without guile, and an enthusiastic lover of the doctrines of the Indians and of Pythagoras. So lie down here and eat with us. I will do so, said the other, but your dishes will not be ample enough to satisfy me. It seems to me, said the other, that you are a gourmand and an appalling eater. None like me, said the other, for although you have set before me so ample and so brilliant a repast, I am not sated; and after a little time I am come back again to eat afresh. What then can you call me but an insatiable cormorant? Eat your fill, said Apollonius, and as for topics of conversation, some you must yourself supply, and I will give you others.

ἐπεὶ δ' ἐδείπνησαν, “ἐγὼ” ἦ δ' ὁ Νεῖλος “τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον ἐστρατευόμην ὁμοῦ τοῖς Γυμνοῖς οἷον ψιλοῖς τισιν ἢ σφενδονήταις ἐκείνοις ἐμαυτὸν ξυντάττων, νυνὶ δὲ ὁπλιτεύσω καὶ κοσμήσει με ἡ ἀσπὶς ἡ σή.” “ἀλλ' οἶμαί σε,” εἶπεν “Αἰγύπτιε, παρὰ Θεσπεσίωνί τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἕξειν αἰτίαν, ἐφ' οἷς οὐδὲ ἐς ἔλεγχον ἡμῶν καταστὰς πλείω σὺ δ' ἑτοιμότερον ἢ ξυγχωρεῖ βίου αἵρεσις ἐς τὰ ἡμέτερα ἤθη ἀφήσεις.” “οἶμαι,” ἔφη “εἰ δ' αἰτία ἑλομένου ἔσται τις, τάχα καὶ μὴ ἑλομένου αἰτία, καὶ ἁλώσονται μᾶλλον ἅπερ ἐγὼ ἑλόμενοι: τὸ γὰρ πρεσβυτέρους ὁμοῦ καὶ σοφωτέρους ὄντας μὴ πάλαι ᾑρῆσθαι, ἅπερ ἐγὼ νῦν, δικαίαν αἰτίαν κατ' ἐκείνων ἔχοι ἂν μᾶλλον οὕτω πλεονεκτοῦντας μὴ ἐς τὸ βέλτιον ἑλέσθαι, ὅ τι χρήσονται.” “οὐκ ἀγεννῆ μέν, ὦ νεανίσκε, λόγον εἴρηκας: ὅρα δέ, μὴ αὐτῷ τῷ οὕτω μὲν σοφίας, οὕτω δὲ ἡλικίας ἔχειν ἐκεῖνά γε ὀρθῶς ᾑρημένοι φαίνονται ταῦτά τε ξὺν εἰκότι λόγῳ παραιτούμενοι, σύ τε θρασυτέρου λόγου δοκῇς ἅπτεσθαι καθιστὰς μᾶλλον αὐτὸς ἢ ἐκείνοις ἑπόμενος.” ὑποστρέψας δὲ ὁ Αἰγύπτιος παρὰ τὴν τοῦ ̓Απολλωνίου δόξαν “ἃ μὲν εἰκὸς ἦν” ἔφη “πρεσβυτέροις ὁμαρτεῖν νέον, οὐ παρεῖταί μοι, σοφίαν γὰρ ὁπότ' ᾤμην εἶναι περὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας, ἣν οὐκ ἄλλοις τισὶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπάρχειν, προσεποίησα ἐμαυτὸν τούτοις, πρόφασις δέ μοι τῆς ὁρμῆς ἥδε ἐγένετο: ἔπλευσέ ποτε ὁ πατὴρ ἐς τὴν ̓Ερυθρὰν ἑκών, ἦρχε δὲ ἄρα τῆς νεώς, ἣν Αἰγύπτιοι στέλλουσιν ἐς τὸ ̓Ινδῶν ἔθνος, ἐπιμίξας δὲ τοῖς ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ ̓Ινδοῖς διεκόμισε λόγους περὶ τῶν ἐκείνῃ σοφῶν ἀγχοῦ τούτων, οὓς πρὸς ἡμᾶς διῆλθες: ἀκούων δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοιουτονί τινα λόγον, ὡς σοφώτατοι μὲν ἀνθρώπων ̓Ινδοί, ἄποικοι δὲ ̓Ινδῶν Αἰθίοπες, πατρῴζουσι δὲ οὗτοι τὴν σοφίαν καὶ πρὸς τὰ οἴκοι βλέπουσι, μειράκιον γενόμενος τὰ μὲν πατρῷα τοῖς βουλομένοις ἀφῆκα, γυμνὸς δὲ Γυμνοῖς ἐπεφοίτησα τούτοις, ὡς μαθησόμενος τὰ ̓Ινδῶν ἢ ἀδελφά γε ἐκείνων, καί μοι ἐφαίνοντο σοφοὶ μέν, οὐ μὴν ἐκεῖνα, ἐμοῦ δ' αὐτοὺς ἐρομένου, τοῦ χάριν οὐ τὰ ̓Ινδῶν φιλοσοφοῦσιν, ἐκείνων μὲν ἐς διαβολὰς κατέστησαν παραπλησίως ταῖς πρὸς σὲ εἰρημέναις τήμερον, ἐμὲ δὲ νέον ἔτι, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ὄντα κατέλεξαν ἐς τὸ αὑτῶν κοινὸν δείσαντες, οἶμαι, μὴ ἀποπηδήσας αὐτῶν πλεύσαιμι ἐς τὴν ̓Ερυθράν, ὥσπερ ποτὲ ὁ πατήρ, ὃ μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς οὐκ ἂν παρῆκα: προῆλθον γὰρ ἂν καὶ μέχρι τοῦ ὄχθου τῶν σοφῶν, εἰ μή σέ τις ἐνταῦθα θεῶν ἔστειλεν ἐμοὶ ἀρωγόν, ὡς μήτε τὴν ̓Ερυθρὰν πλεύσας μήτε πρὸς τοὺς Κολπίτας παραβαλόμενος σοφίας ̓Ινδικῆς γευσαίμην οὐ τήμερον βίου ποιησόμενος αἵρεσιν, ἀλλὰ πάλαι μὲν ᾑρημένος, ἃ δὲ ᾤμην ἕξειν, οὐκ ἔχων. τί γὰρ δεινόν, εἰ ὁτουδὴ ἁμαρτών τις ἐπάνεισιν ἐφ' ὃ ἐθήρευεν; εἰ δὲ κἀκείνους ἐς τουτὶ μεταβιβάζοιμι καὶ γιγνοίμην αὐτοῖς ξύμβουλος ὧν ἐμαυτὸν πέπεικα, τί ἄν, εἰπέ μοι, θρασὺ πράττοιμι; οὔτε γὰρ ἡ νεότης ἀπελατέα τοῦ τι καὶ αὐτὴ βέλτιον ἐνθυμηθῆναι ἂν τοῦ γήρως, σοφίας τε ὅστις ἑτέρῳ γίγνεται ξύμβουλος, ἣν αὐτὸς ᾕρηται, διαφεύγει δήπου τὸ μὴ οὐχ ἃ πέπεισται πείθειν, τοῖς τε ἥκουσιν ἀγαθοῖς παρὰ τῆς τύχης ὅστις ἀπολαβὼν αὐτὰ χρῆται μόνος, ἀδικεῖ τἀγαθά, ἀφαιρεῖται γὰρ αὐτῶν τὸ πλείοσιν ἡδίω φαίνεσθαι.”

So when they had dined, I, said Nilus, until now have been camping together with the naked sages, and joined my forces with them as with certain light armed troops or slingers. But now I intend to put on my heavy armor, and it is your shield that shall adorn me. But, said Apollonius, I think, my good Egyptian, that you will incur the censure of Thespesion and his society for two reasons; firstly, that after no further examination and testing of ourselves you have left them, and secondly that you give the preference to our manners and discipline with more precipitancy than is admissible where a man is making choice of how he shall live. I agree with you, said the young man, but if I am to blame for making this choice, I might also be to blame if I did not make it; and anyhow they will be most open to rebuke, if they make the same choice as myself. For it will be more justly reprehensible in them, as they are both older and wiser than myself, not to have made the choice long ago which I make now; for with all their advantages they will have failed to choose what in practice would so much redound to their advantage. A very generous sentiment indeed, my good youth, is this which you have expressed, said Apollonius; but beware lest the mere fact of their being so wise and aged should give them an appearance, at any rate, of being right in choosing as they have done, and of having good reason for rejecting my doctrine; and lest you should seem to take up a very bold position in setting them to rights rather than in following them. But the Egyptian turned short round upon Apollonius and countering his opinion said: So far as it was right for a young man to agree with his elders, I have been careful to do so; for so long as I thought that these gentlemen were possessed of a wisdom which belonged to no other set of men, I attached myself to them; and the motive which actuated me to do so was the following: My father once made a voyage on his own initiative to the Red Sea, for he was, I may tell you, captain of the ship which the Egyptians send to the Indies. And after he had had intercourse with the Indians of the seaboard, he brought home stories of the wise men of that region, closely similar to those which you have told us. And his account which I heard was somewhat as follows, namely that the Indians are the wisest of mankind, but that the Ethiopians are colonists sent from India, who follow their forefathers in matters of wisdom, and fix their eyes on the institutions of their home. Well, I, having reached my teens, surrendered my patrimony to those who wanted it more than myself, and frequented the society of these naked sages, naked myself as they, in the hope of picking up the teaching of the Indians, or at any rate teaching allied to theirs. And they certainly appeared to me to be wise, though not after the manner of India; but when I asked them point blank why they did not teach the philosophy of India, they plunged into abuse of the natives of that country very much as you have heard them do in their speeches this very day. Now I was still young, as you see, so they made me a member of their society, because I imagine they were afraid I might hastily quit them and undertake a voyage to the Red Sea, as my father did before me. And I should certainly have done so, yes, by Heaven, I would have pushed on until I reached the hill of the sages, unless someone of the gods had sent you hither to help me and enabled me without either making any voyage over the Red Sea or adventuring to the inhabitants of the Gulf, to taste the wisdom of India. It is not today therefore for the first time that I shall make my choice, but I made it long ago, though I did not obtain what I hoped to obtain. For what is there to wonder at if a man who has missed what he was looking for, returns to the search? And if I should convert my friends yonder to this point of view, and persuade them to adopt the convictions which I have adopted myself, should I, tell me, be guilty of any hardihood? For you must not reject the claim that youth makes, that in some way it assimilates an idea more easily than old age; and anyone who counsels another to adopt the wisdom and teaching which he himself has chosen, anyhow escapes the imputation of trying to persuade others of things he does not believe himself. And anyone who takes the blessings bestowed upon him by fortune into a corner and there enjoys them by himself, violates their character as blessings, for he prevents their sweetness from being enjoyed by as many as possible.

τοιαῦτα εἴραντος τοῦ Νείλου καὶ οὕτω νεανικὰ ὑπολαβὼν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “ὑπὲρ μισθοῦ δὲ” εἶπεν “οὐ διαλέξῃ μοι πρότερον σοφίας γε ἐρῶν τῆς ἐμῆς;” “διαλεγώμεθα” ἦ δ' ὁ Νεῖλος “καὶ ὅ τι βούλει, αἴτει.” “αἰτῶ σε,” εἶπεν “ἃ μὲν αὐτὸς εἵλου, ᾑρῆσθαι, τοὺς δὲ Γυμνοὺς μὴ ἐνοχλεῖν ξυμβουλεύοντα ἃ μὴ πείσεις.” “πείσομαι” ἔφη “καὶ ὁμολογείσθω ὁ μισθός.” ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτως ἐσπούδασαν, ἐρομένου δ' αὐτὸν μετὰ ταῦτα τοῦ Νείλου, πόσου χρόνου διατρίψοι περὶ τοὺς Γυμνούς, “ὁπόσου” ἔφη “χρόνου ἀξία ἡ τῶνδε σοφία τῷ ξυνεσομένῳ σφίσιν, εἶτα ἐπὶ Καταδούπων τὴν ὁδὸν ποιησόμεθα τῶν πηγῶν ἕνεκα, χαρίεν γὰρ τὸ μὴ μόνον ἰδεῖν τὰς τοῦ Νείλου ἀρχάς, ἀλλὰ καὶ κελαδοῦντος αὐτοῦ ἀκοῦσαι.”

When Nilus had finished these arguments, and juvenile enough they were, Apollonius took him up and said: If you were in love with my wisdom, had you not better, before I begin, discuss with me the question of my reward? Let us discuss it, answered Nilus, and do you ask whatever you like. I ask you, he said, to be content with the choice you have made, and not to annoy the naked sages by giving them advice which they will not take. I consent, he said, and let this be agreed upon as your reward. This then was the substance of their conversation, and when Nilus at its close asked him how long a time he would stay among the naked sages he replied: So long as the quality of their wisdom justifies anyone in remaining in their company; and after that I shall take my way to the cataracts, in order to see the springs of the Nile, for it will be delightful not only to behold the sources of the Nile, but also to listen to the roar of its waterfalls.

ὧδε διαλεχθέντες καί τινων ̓Ινδικῶν μνημονεύσαντες ἐκάθευδον ἐν τῇ πόᾳ, ἅμα δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ προσευξάμενοι τὰ εἰωθότα εἵποντο τῷ Νείλῳ παρὰ τὸν Θεσπεσίωνα αὐτοὺς ἄγοντι: προσειπόντες οὖν ἀλλήλους καὶ ξυνιζήσαντες ἐν τῷ ἄλσει διαλέξεως ἥπτοντο, ἦρχε δ' αὐτῆς ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος: “ὡς μὲν γὰρ πολλοῦ” ἔφη “ἄξιον τὸ μὴ κρύπτειν σοφίαν, δηλοῦσιν οἱ χθὲς λόγοι: διδαξαμένων γάρ με ̓Ινδῶν, ὁπόσα τῆς ἐκείνων σοφίας ᾤμην προσήκειν ἐμοί, μέμνημαί τε τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ διδασκάλων καὶ περίειμι διδάσκων, ἃ ἐκείνων ἤκουσα, καὶ ὑμῖν δ' ἂν ἐν κέρδει γενοίμην, εἴ με καὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν σοφίαν εἰδότα πέμποιτε, οὐ γὰρ ἂν παυσαίμην ̔́Ελλησί τε διιὼν τὰ ὑμέτερα καὶ ̓Ινδοῖς γράφων.”

After they had held this discussion and listened to some recollections of India, they lay down to sleep upon the grass; but at daybreak, having offered their accustomed prayers, they followed Nilus, who led them into the presence of Thespesion. They accordingly greeted one another, and sitting down together in the grove they began a conversation in which Apollonius led as follows: How important it is, said he, not to conceal wisdom, is proved by our conversation of yesterday; for because the Indians taught me as much of their wisdom as I thought it proper for me to know, I not only remember my teachers, but I go about instilling into others what I heard from them. And you too will be richly rewarded by me, if you send me away with a knowledge of your wisdom as well; for I shall not cease to go about and repeat your teachings to the Greeks, while to the Indians I shall write them.

“ἐρώτα,” ἔφασαν “ἕπεται γάρ που ἐρωτήσει λόγος.” καὶ ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “περὶ θεῶν” εἶπεν “ὑμᾶς ἐρήσομαι πρῶτον, τί μαθόντες ἄτοπα καὶ γελοῖα θεῶν εἴδη παραδεδώκατε τοῖς δεῦρο ἀνθρώποις πλὴν ὀλίγων: ὀλίγων γάρ; πάνυ μέντοι ὀλίγων, ἃ σοφῶς καὶ θεοειδῶς ἵδρυται, τὰ λοιπὰ δ' ὑμῶν ἱερὰ ζῴων ἀλόγων καὶ ἀδόξων τιμαὶ μᾶλλον ἢ θεῶν φαίνονται.” δυσχεράνας δὲ ὁ Θεσπεσίων “τὰ δὲ παρ' ὑμῖν” εἶπεν “ἀγάλματα πῶς ἱδρῦσθαι φήσεις;” “ὥς γε” ἔφη “κάλλιστόν τε καὶ θεοφιλέστατον δημιουργεῖν θεούς.” “τὸν Δία που λέγεις” εἶπε “τὸν ἐν τῇ ̓Ολυμπίᾳ καὶ τὸ τῆς ̓Αθηνᾶς ἕδος καὶ τὸ τῆς Κνιδίας τε καὶ τὸ τῆς ̓Αργείας καὶ ὁπόσα ὧδε καλὰ καὶ μεστὰ ὥρας.” “οὐ μόνον” ἔφη “ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ καὶ καθάπαξ τὴν μὲν παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀγαλματοποιίαν ἅπτεσθαί φημι τοῦ προσήκοντος, ὑμᾶς δὲ καταγελᾶν τοῦ θείου μᾶλλον ἢ νομίζειν αὐτό.” “οἱ Φειδίαι δὲ” εἶπε:“καὶ οἱ Πραξιτέλεις μῶν ἀνελθόντες ἐς οὐρανὸν καὶ ἀπομαξάμενοι τὰ τῶν θεῶν εἴδη τέχνην αὐτὰ ἐποιοῦντο, ἢ ἕτερόν τι ἦν, ὃ ἐφίστη αὐτοὺς τῷ πλάττειν;” “ἕτερον” ἔφη “καὶ μεστόν γε σοφίας πρᾶγμα.” “ποῖον;” εἶπεν “οὐ γὰρ ἄν τι παρὰ τὴν μίμησιν εἴποις.” “φαντασία” ἔφη “ταῦτα εἰργάσατο σοφωτέρα μιμήσεως δημιουργός: μίμησις μὲν γὰρ δημιουργήσει, ὃ εἶδεν, φαντασία δὲ καὶ ὃ μὴ εἶδεν, ὑποθήσεται γὰρ αὐτὸ πρὸς τὴν ἀναφορὰν τοῦ ὄντος, καὶ μίμησιν μὲν πολλάκις ἐκκρούει ἔκπληξις, φαντασίαν δὲ οὐδέν, χωρεῖ γὰρ ἀνέκπληκτος πρὸς ὃ αὐτὴ ὑπέθετο. δεῖ δέ που Διὸς μὲν ἐνθυμηθέντα εἶδος ὁρᾶν αὐτὸν ξὺν οὐρανῷ καὶ ὥραις καὶ ἄστροις, ὥσπερ ὁ Φειδίας τότε ὥρμησεν, ̓Αθηνᾶν δὲ δημιουργήσειν μέλλοντα στρατόπεδα ἐννοεῖν καὶ μῆτιν καὶ τέχνας καὶ ὡς Διὸς αὐτοῦ ἀνέθορεν. εἰ δὲ ἱέρακα ἢ γλαῦκα ἢ λύκον ἢ κύνα ἐργασάμενος ἐς τὰ ἱερὰ φέροις ἀντὶ ̔Ερμοῦ τε καὶ ̓Αθηνᾶς καὶ ̓Απόλλωνος, τὰ μὲν θηρία καὶ τὰ ὄρνεα ζηλωτὰ δόξει τῶν εἰκόνων, οἱ δὲ θεοὶ παραπολὺ τῆς αὑτῶν δόξης ἑστήξουσιν.” “ἔοικας” εἶπεν “ἀβασανίστως ἐξετάζειν τὰ ἡμέτερα: σοφὸν γάρ, εἴπερ τι Αἰγυπτίων, καὶ τὸ μὴ θρασύνεσθαι ἐς τὰ τῶν θεῶν εἴδη, ξυμβολικὰ δὲ αὐτὰ ποιεῖσθαι καὶ ὑπονοούμενα, καὶ γὰρ ἂν καὶ σεμνότερα οὕτω φαίνοιτο.” γελάσας οὖν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “ὦ ἄνθρωποι,” ἔφη “μεγάλα ὑμῖν ἀπολέλαυται τῆς Αἰγυπτίων τε καὶ Αἰθιόπων σοφίας, εἰ σεμνότερον ὑμῶν καὶ θεοειδέστερον κύων δόξει καὶ ἶβις καὶ τράγος, ταῦτα γὰρ Θεσπεσίωνος ἀκούω τοῦ σοφοῦ. σεμνὸν δὲ δὴ ἢ ἔμφοβον τί ἐν τούτοις; τοὺς γὰρ ἐπιόρκους καὶ τοὺς ἱεροσύλους καὶ τὰ βωμολόχα ἔθνη καταφρονεῖν τῶν τοιούτων ἱερῶν εἰκὸς μᾶλλον ἢ δεδιέναι αὐτά, εἰ δὲ σεμνότερα ταῦτα ὑπονοούμενα, πολλῷ σεμνότερον ἂν ἔπραττον οἱ θεοὶ κατ' Αἴγυπτον, εἰ μὴ ἵδρυτό τι αὐτῶν ἄγαλμα, ἀλλ' ἕτερον τρόπον σοφώτερόν τε καὶ ἀπορρητότερον τῇ θεολογίᾳ ἐχρῆσθε: ἦν γάρ που νεὼς μὲν αὐτοῖς ἐξοικοδομῆσαι καὶ βωμοὺς ὁρίζειν καὶ ἃ χρὴ θύειν καὶ ἃ μὴ χρὴ καὶ ὁπηνίκα καὶ ἐφ' ὅσον καὶ ὅ τι λέγοντας ἢ δρῶντας, ἄγαλμα δὲ μὴ ἐσφέρειν, ἀλλὰ τὰ εἴδη τῶν θεῶν καταλείπειν τοῖς τὰ ἱερὰ ἐσφοιτῶσιν, ἀναγράφει γάρ τι ἡ γνώμη καὶ ἀνατυποῦται δημιουργίας κρεῖττον, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀφῄρησθε τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ τὸ ὁρᾶσθαι καλῶς καὶ τὸ ὑπονοεῖσθαι.” πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Θεσπεσίων, “ἐγένετό τις” ἔφη “Σωκράτης ̓Αθηναῖος ἀνόητος, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς, γέρων, ὃς τὸν κύνα καὶ τὸν χῆνα καὶ τὴν πλάτανον θεούς τε ἡγεῖτο καὶ ὤμνυ.” “οὐκ ἀνόητος,” εἶπεν “ἀλλὰ θεῖος καὶ ἀτεχνῶς σοφός, ὤμνυ γὰρ ταῦτα οὐχ' ὡς θεούς, ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ θεοὺς ὀμνύοι.”

Ask, they said, for you know question comes first and argument follows on it. It is about the gods that I would like to ask you a question first, namely, what induced you to impart, as your tradition, to the people of this country forms of the gods that are absurd and grotesque in all but a few cases? In a few cases, do I say? I would rather say that in very few are the gods' images fashioned in a wise and god-like manner, for the mass of your shrines seem to have been erected in honor rather of irrational and ignoble animals than of gods. Thespesion, resenting these remarks, said: And your own images in Greece, how are they fashioned? In the way, he replied, in which it is best and most reverent to construct images of the gods. I suppose you allude, said the other, to the statue of Zeus in Olympia, and to the image of Athena and to that of the Cnidian goddess and to that of the Argive goddess and to other images equally beautiful and full of charm? Not only to these, replied Apollonius, but without exception I maintain, that whereas in other lands statuary has scrupulously observed decency and fitness, you rather make ridicule of the gods than really believe in them. Your artists, then, like Phidias, said the other, and like Praxiteles, went up, I suppose, to heaven and took a copy of the forms of the gods, and then reproduced these by their art or was there any other influence which presided over and guided their molding? There was, said Apollonius, and an influence pregnant with wisdom and genius. What was that? said the other, for I do not think you can adduce any except imitation. Imagination, said Apollonius, wrought these works, a wiser and subtler artist by far than imitation; for imitation can only create as its handiwork what it has seen, but imagination equally what it has not seen; for it will conceive of its ideal with reference to the reality, and imitation is often baffled by terror, but imagination by nothing; for it marches undismayed to the goal which it has itself laid down. When you entertain a notion of Zeus you must, I suppose, envisage him along with heaven and seasons and stars, as Phidias in his day endeavoured to do, and if you would fashion an image of Athena you must imagine in your mind armies and cunning, and handicrafts, and how she leapt out of Zeus himself. But if you make a hawk or an owl or a wolf or a dog, and put it in your temples instead of Hermes or Athena or Apollo, your animals and your birds may be esteemed and of much price as likenesses, but the gods will be very much lowered in their dignity. I think, said the other, that you criticize our religion very superficially; for if the Egyptians have any wisdom, they show it by their deep respect and reverence in the representation of the gods, and by the circumstance that they fashion their forms as symbols of a profound inner meaning, so as to enhance their solemnity and august character. Apollonius thereon merely laughed and said: My good friends, you have indeed greatly profited by the wisdom of Egypt and Ethiopia, if your dog and your ibis and your goat seem particularly august and god-like, for this is what I learn from Thespesion the sage.But what is there that is august or awe-inspiring in these images? Is it not likely that perjurers and temple-thieves and all the rabble of low jesters will despise such holy objects rather than dread them; and if they are to be held for the hidden meanings which they convey, surely the gods in Egypt would have met with much greater reverence, if no images of them had ever been set up at all, and if you had planned your theology along other lines wiser and more mysterious. For I imagine you might have built temples for them, and have fixed the altars and laid down rules about what to sacrifice and what not, and when and on what scale, and with what liturgies and rites, without introducing any image at all, but leaving it to those who frequented the temples to imagine the images of the gods; for the mind can more or less delineate and figure them to itself better than can any artist; but you have denied to the gods the privilege of beauty both of the outer eye and of an inner suggestion. Thespesion replied and said: There was a certain Athenian, called Socrates, a foolish old man like ourselves, who thought that the dog and the goose and the plane tree were gods and used to swear by them. He was not foolish, said Apollonius, but a divine and unfeignedly wise man; for he did not swear by these objects on the understanding that they were gods, but to save himself from swearing by the gods.

ἀφικόμενος γὰρ ἐπὶ τὰ Αἰθιόπων τε καὶ Αἰγυπτίων ὅρια, Συκάμινον δὲ αὐτὰ ὀνομάζουσι, χρυσῷ τε ἀσήμῳ ἐνέτυχε καὶ λίνῳ καὶ ἐλέφαντι καὶ ῥίζαις καὶ μύρῳ καὶ ἀρώμασιν, ἔκειτο δὲ πάντα ἀφύλακτα ἐν ὁδῷ σχιστῇ: καὶ ὅ τι βούλεται ταῦτα, ἐγὼ δηλώσω, νομίζεται γὰρ καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς ἔτι: ἀγορὰν Αἰθίοπες ἀπάγουσιν, ὧν Αἰθιοπία δίδωσιν, οἱ δ' ἀνελόμενοι πᾶσαν ξυμφέρουσιν ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν χῶρον ἀγορὰν Αἰγυπτίαν ἴσου ἀξίαν ὠνούμενοι τῶν αὐτοῖς ὄντων τὰ οὐκ ὄντα. οἱ δὲ τὰ ὅρια τῶν ἠπείρων οἰκοῦντες οὔπω μέλανες, ἀλλὰ ὁμόφυλοι τὸ χρῶμα, μελαίνονται γὰρ οἱ μὲν ἧττον Αἰθιόπων, οἱ δὲ μᾶλλον Αἰγυπτίων. ξυνεὶς οὖν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος τοῦ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἤθους “οἱ δὲ χρηστοὶ” ἔφη “̔́Ελληνες, ἢν μὴ ὀβολὸς ὀβολὸν τέκῃ καὶ τὰ ὤνια αὑτοῖς ἐπιτιμήσωσι καπηλεύοντες ἢ καθειργνύντες, οὔ φασι ζῆν ὁ μὲν θυγατέρα σκηπτόμενος ἐν ὥρᾳ γάμων, ὁ δ' υἱὸν ἤδη τελοῦντα ἐς ἄνδρας, ὁ δ' ἐράνου πλήρωσιν, ὁ δ', ὡς οἰκοδομοῖτο οἰκίαν, ὁ δέ, ὡς αἰσχύνοιτο χρηματιστὴς ἥττων τοῦ πατρὸς δόξαι. καλῶς δ' ἄρ' εἶχεν, ἵνα ὁ πλοῦτος ἀτίμως ἔπραττεν ἰσότης τε ἤνθει, μέλας δ' ἀπέκειτο σίδηρος, ὁμονοούντων τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἡ γῆ πᾶσα ἐδόκει μία.”

For when he arrived at the confines of Ethiopia and Egypt, and the name of the place is Sycaminus, he came across a quantity of uncoined gold and linen and an elephant and various roots and myrrh and spices, which are all lying without anyone to watch them at the crossways. I will explain the meaning of this, for the same custom still survives among ourselves. It was a market place to which the Ethiopians bring all the products of their country; and the Egyptians in their turn take them all away and bring to the same spot their own wares of equal value, so bartering what they have got for what they have not. Now the inhabitants of the marches are not yet fully black but are half-breeds in matter of color, for they are partly not so black as the Ethiopians, yet partly more so than the Egyptians. Apollonius, accordingly, when he realized the character of the market, remarked: Contrast our good Hellenes: they pretend they cannot live unless one penny begets another and unless they can force up the price of their goods by chaffering or holding them back; and one pretends that he has got a daughter whom it is time to marry, and another that he has got a son who has just reached manhood, and a third that he has to pay his subscription to his club, and a fourth that he is having a house built for him, and a fifth that he would be ashamed of being thought a worse man of business than his father was before him. What a splendid thing then it would be, if wealth were held in less honor and equality flourished a little more and “if the black iron were left to rust in the ground,” for all men would agree with one another, and the whole earth would be like one brotherhood.

μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Θεσπεσίων ὥσπερ μεθιστάμενος τουτουὶ τοῦ λόγου ἤρετο τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον περὶ τῆς Λακωνικῆς μάστιγος καὶ εἰ δημοσίᾳ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι παίονται: “τὰς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων γε,” εἶπεν “ὦ Θεσπεσίων, αὐτοὶ μάλιστα οἱ ἐλευθέριοι τε καὶ εὐδόκιμοι.” “τοὺς δὲ οἰκέτας ἀδικοῦντας τί” ἔφη “ἐργάζονται;” οὐκέτ' ἀποκτείνουσιν, εἶπεν “ὡς ξυνεχώρει ποτὲ ὁ Λυκοῦργος, ἀλλ' ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ ἐπ' ἐκείνους μάστιξ.” “ἡ δὲ ̔Ελλὰς πῶς” ἔφη “περὶ αὐτῶν γιγνώσκει;” “ξυνίασιν,” εἶπεν “ὥσπερ ἐς τὰ ̔Υακίνθια καὶ τὰς Γυμνοπαιδιάς, θεασόμενοι ξὺν ἡδονῇ τε καὶ ὁρμῇ πάσῃ.” “εἶτ' οὐκ αἰσχύνονται” ἔφη “οἱ χρηστοὶ ̔́Ελληνες ἢ τοὺς αὑτῶν ποτε ἄρξαντας ὁρῶντες μαστιγουμένους ἐς τὸ κοινόν, ἢ ἀρχθέντες ὑπ' ἀνθρώπων, οἳ μαστιγοῦνται δημοσίᾳ; σὺ δὲ πῶς οὐ διωρθώσω ταῦτα; φασὶ γάρ σε καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπιμεληθῆναι.” “ἅ γε” εἶπε “δυνατὸν διορθοῦσθαι, ξυνεβούλευον μὲν ἐγώ, προθύμως δ' ἐκεῖνοι ἔπραττον, ἐλευθεριώτατοι μὲν γὰρ τῶν ̔Ελλήνων εἰσί, μόνοι δ' ὑπήκοοι τοῦ εὖ ξυμβουλεύοντος, τὸ δὲ τῶν μαστίγων ἔθος τῇ ̓Αρτέμιδι τῇ ἀπὸ Σκυθῶν δρᾶται χρησμῶν, φασιν, ἐξηγουμένων ταῦτα: θεοῖς δ' ἀντινομεῖν μανία, οἶμαι.” “οὐ σοφούς, ̓Απολλώνιε,” ἔφη “τοὺς τῶν ̔Ελλήνων θεοὺς εἴρηκας, εἰ μαστίγων ἐγίγνοντο ξύμβουλοι τοῖς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀσκοῦσιν.” “οὐ μαστίγων,” εἶπεν “ἀλλὰ τοῦ αἵματι ἀνθρώπων τὸν βωμὸν ῥαίνειν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ παρὰ Σκύθαις τούτων ἠξιοῦτο, σοφισάμενοι δὲ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὸ ἀπαραίτητον τῆς θυσίας ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς καρτερίας ἀγῶνα ἥκουσιν, ἀφ' ἧς ἐστι μήτε ἀποθνήσκειν καὶ ἀπάρχεσθαι τῇ θεῷ τοῦ σφῶν αἵματος.” “διὰ τί οὖν” ἔφη “τοὺς ξένους οὐ καταθύουσι τῇ ̓Αρτέμιδι, καθάπερ ἐδικαίουν ποτὲ οἱ Σκύθαι;” “ὅτι” εἶπεν “οὐδενὶ ̔Ελλήνων πρὸς τρόπου βάρβαρα ἐξασκεῖν ἤθη.” “καὶ μὴν καὶ φιλανθρωπότεροι ἐδόκουν ἂν ἕνα που καὶ δύο θύοντες ἢ ξενηλασίᾳ χρώμενοι ἐς πάντας.” “μὴ καθαπτώμεθα,” εἶπεν “ὦ Θεσπεσίων, τοῦ Λυκούργου, χρὴ γὰρ ξυνιέναι τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ ὅτι τὸ μὴ ἐνδιατρίβειν ἐᾶν τοὺς ξένους οὐκ ἀμιξίας αὐτῷ νοῦν εἶχεν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ὑγιαίνειν τὰς ἐπιτηδεύσεις μὴ ἐνομιλούντων τῇ Σπάρτῃ τῶν ἔξωθεν.” “ἐγὼ δὲ ἄνδρας” ἔφη “Σπαρτιάτας ἡγούμην ἄν, οἷοι δοκεῖν ἀξιοῦσιν, εἰ συνδιαιτώμενοι τοῖς ξένοις μὴ μεθίσταντο τῶν οἴκοι, οὐ γὰρ τῷ ἀπόντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ παρόντων ὁμοίους ὁρᾶσθαι ἔδει, οἶμαι, τὰς ἀρετὰς κτᾶσθαι. οἱ δὲ καίτοι ξενηλασίαις χρώμενοι διεφθάρησαν τὰς ἐπιτηδεύσεις καὶ οἷς μάλιστα τῶν ̔Ελλήνων ἀπήχθοντο, τούτοις ὅμοια πράττειν ἔδοξαν. τὰ γοῦν περὶ τὴν θάλατταν καὶ αἱ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιτάξεις τῶν φόρων ἀττικώτερον αὐτοῖς ἐβουλεύθη, καὶ ὑπὲρ ὧν πολεμητέα πρὸς ̓Αθηναίους ᾤοντο αὐτοῖς εἶναι, ταῦτ' ἐς τὸ καὶ αὐτοὶ δρᾶν κατέστησαν τὰ μὲν πολέμια τοὺς ̓Αθηναίους νικῶντες, ὧν δὲ ἐκείνοις ἐπιτηδεύειν ἔδοξεν ἡττώμενοι. καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ τὴν ἐκ Ταύρων τε καὶ Σκυθῶν ἐσάγεσθαι δαίμονα ξένα ἦν νομιζόντων. εἰ δὲ χρησμῶν ταῦτα, τί ἔδει μάστιγος; τί δὲ καρτερίαν ἀνδραποδώδη πλάττεσθαι; λακωνικώτερον πρὸς θανάτου ῥώμην ἐκεῖνο ἦν, οἶμαι, Σπαρτιάτην ἔφηβον ἑκόντα ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ θύεσθαι. τουτὶ γὰρ ̔ἂν' τὴν μὲν Σπάρτην εὐψυχοτέρους ἐδείκνυε, τὴν δὲ ̔Ελλάδα ἀπῆγε τοῦ μὴ ἐς ἀντίπαλα αὐτοῖς ἀντικαθίστασθαι. εἰ δὲ ἐς τὰ πολέμια φείδεσθαι τῶν νέων εἰκὸς ἦν, ἀλλ' ὅ γε νόμος ὁ παρὰ Σκύθαις ἐπὶ τοῖς ἑξηκοντούταις κείμενος οἰκειότερος ἦν Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐπιτηδεύειν ἢ Σκύθαις, εἰ τὸν θάνατον ἀτεχνῶς, ἀλλὰ μὴ κόμπου ἕνεκα ἐπαινοῦσι. ταῦτα οὐ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους εἴρηταί μοι, πρὸς δὲ σέ, ̓Απολλώνιε: εἰ γὰρ τὰ παλαιὰ νόμιμα καὶ πολιώτερα ἢ γιγνώσκειν αὐτὰ πικρῶς ἐξετάζοιμεν ἐς ἔλεγχον καθιστάμενοι τοῦ θείου, διότι αὐτοῖς χαίρουσι, πολλοὶ καὶ ἄτοποι λόγοι τῆς τοιᾶσδε φιλοσοφίας ἀναφύσονται, καὶ γὰρ ἂν καὶ τῆς ̓Ελευσῖνι τελετῆς ἐπιλαβοίμεθα, διότι τό, ἀλλὰ μὴ τό, καὶ ὧν Σαμόθρᾳκες τελοῦσιν, ἐπεὶ μὴ τὸ δεῖνα, τὸ δεῖνα δὲ αὐτοῖς δρᾶται, καὶ Διονυσίων καὶ φαλλοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἐν Κυλλήνῃ εἴδους καὶ οὐκ ἂν φθάνοιμεν συκοφαντοῦντες πάντα. ἴωμεν οὖν ἐφ' ὅ τι βούλει ἕτερον, τιμῶντες καὶ τὸν Πυθαγόρου λόγον ἡμεδαπὸν ὄντα: καλὸν γάρ, εἰ καὶ μὴ περὶ πάντων, ἀλλ' ὑπέρ γε τῶν τοιούτων σιωπᾶν.” ὑπολαβὼν δ' ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “εἰ σπουδάσαι,” εἶπεν “ὦ Θεσπεσίων, ἐβούλου τὸν λόγον, πολλὰ ἄν σοι καὶ γενναῖα ἔδοξεν ἡ Λακεδαίμων λέγειν ὑπὲρ ὧν ὑγιῶς τε καὶ παρὰ πάντας ἐπιτηδεύει τοὺς ̔́Ελληνας, ἐπεὶ δὲ οὕτως ἀποσπουδάζεις αὐτόν, ὡς μηδὲ ὅσιον ἡγεῖσθαι τὸ ὑπὲρ τοιούτων λέγειν, ἴωμεν ἐφ' ἕτερον λόγον πολλοῦ ἄξιον, ὡς ἐμαυτὸν πείθω: περὶ δικαιοσύνης γάρ τι ἐρήσομαι.”

nan

Thereupon Thespesion as if anxious to drop the subject, put some questions to Apollonius, about the scourging in Sparta, and asked if the Lacedaemonians were smitten with rods in public. Yes, answered the other, as hard, O Thespesion, as men can smite them; and it is especially men of noble birth among them that are so treated. Then what do they do to menials, he asked, when they do wrong? They do not kill them nowadays, said Apollonius, as Lycurgus formerly allowed, but the same whip is used to them too. And what judgment does Hellas pass upon the matter? They flock, he answered, to see the spectacle with pleasure and utmost enthusiasm, as if to the festival of Hyacinthus, or to that of the naked boys. Then these excellent Hellenes are not ashamed, either to behold those publicly whipped who erewhile governed them or to reflect that they were governed by men who are whipped by men who are whipped before the eyes of all? And how is it that you did not reform this abuse? For they say that you interested yourself in the affairs of the Lacedaemonians, as of other people. So far as anything could be reformed, I gave them my advice, and they readily adopted it; for they are the freest of the Hellenes; but at the same time they will only listen to one who gives them good advice. Now the custom of scourging is a ceremony in honor of the Scythian Artemis, so they say, and was prescribed by oracles, and to oppose the regulations of the gods is in my opinion utter madness. 'Tis a poor wisdom, Apollonius, he replied, which you attribute to the gods of the Hellenes, if they countenance scourging as a part of the discipline of freedom. It's not the scourging, he said, but the sprinkling of the altar with human blood that is important, for the Scythians too held the altar to be worthy thereof; but the Lacedaemonians modified the ceremony of sacrifice because of its implacable cruelty, and turned it into a contest of endurance, undergone without any loss of life, and yet securing to the goddess as first fruits an offering of their own blood. Why then, said the other, do they not sacrifice strangers right out to Artemis, as the Scythians formerly considered right to do? Because, he answered, it is not congenial to any of the Greeks to adopt in full rigor the manners and customs of barbarians. And yet, said the other, it seems to me that it would be more humane to sacrifice one or two of them than to enforce as they do a policy of exclusion against all foreigners.Let us not assail, said the other, O Thespesion, the law-giver Lycurgus; but we must understand him, and then we shall see that his prohibition to strangers to settle in Sparta and live there was not inspired on his part by mere boorish exclusiveness, but by a desire to keep the institutions of Sparta in their original purity by preventing outsiders from mingling in her life. Well, said the other, I should allow the men of Sparta to be what they claim to be, if they had ever lived with strangers, and yet had faithfully adhered to their home principles; for it was not by keeping true to themselves in the absence of strangers, but by doing so in spite of their presence, that they needed to show their superiority. But they, although they enforced his policy of excluding strangers, corrupted their institutions, and were found doing exactly the same as did those of the Greeks whom they most detested. Anyhow, their subsequent naval program and policy of imposing tribute was modelled entirely upon that of Athens, and they themselves ended by committing acts which they had themselves regarded as a just casus belli against the Athenians, whom they had no sooner beaten in the field than they humbly adopted, as if they were the beaten party, their pet institution. And the very fact that the goddess was introduced from Taurus and Scythia was the action of men who embraced alien customs. But if an oracle prescribed this, what want was there of the scourge? What need to feign an endurance fit for slaves? Had they wanted to prove the disdain that Lacedaemonians felt for death, they had I think done better to sacrifice a youth of Sparta with his own consent upon the altar. For this would have been a real proof of the superior courage of the Spartans, and would have disinclined Hellas from ranging herself in the opposite camp to them. But you will say that they had to save their young men for the battlefield; well, in that case the law which prevails among the Scythians, and sentences all men of sixty years of age to death, would have been more suitably introduced and followed among the Lacedaemonians then among the Scythians, supposing that they embrace death in its grim reality and not as a mere parade. These remarks of mine are directed not so much against the Lacedaemonians, as against yourself, O Apollonius. For if ancient institutions, whose hoary age defies our understanding of their origins, are to be examined in an unsympathetic spirit, and the reason why they are pleasing to heaven subjected to cold criticism, such a line of speculation will produce a crop of odd conclusions; for we could attack the mystery rite of Eleusis in the same way and ask, why it is this and not that; and the same with the rites of the Samothracians, for in their ritual they avoid one thing and insist on another; and the same with the Dionysiac ceremonies and the phallic symbol, and the figure erected in Cyllene, and before we know where we are we shall be picking holes in everything. Let us choose, therefore, any other topic you like, but respect the sentiment of Pythagoras, which is also our own; for it is better, if we can't hold our tongues about everything, at any rate to preserve silence about such matters as these. Apollonius replied and said, If, O Thespesion, you had wished to discuss the topic seriously, you would have found that the Lacedaemonians have many excellent arguments to advance in favor of their institutions, proving that they are sound and superior to those of other Hellenes; but since you are so averse to continue the discussion, and even regard it as impious to talk about such things, let us proceed to another subject, of great importance, as I am convinced, for it is about justice that I shall now put a question.

“ἁπτώμεθα” ὁ Θεσπεσίων ἔφη “τοῦ λόγου, προσήκων γὰρ σοφοῖς τε καὶ μὴ σοφοῖς. ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ τὰς ̓Ινδῶν δόξας ἐνείροντες ξυγχέωμεν αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπέλθωμεν ἄπρακτοι τοῦ λόγου, πρῶτον εἰπὲ τὰ περὶ δικαιοσύνης ̓Ινδοῖς δόξαντα, εἰκὸς γὰρ βεβασανίσθαι σοι ἐκεῖ ταῦτα, κἄν μὲν ἡ δόξα ὀρθῶς ἔχῃ, ξυνθησόμεθα, εἰ δ' αὐτοί τι σοφώτερον εἴποιμεν, ξυντίθεσθε, δικαιοσύνης γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο.” “ἄριστα,” εἶπεν “ὦ Θεσπεσίων, καὶ ὡς ἐμοὶ ἥδιστα εἴρηκας: ἄκουε δὴ τῶν ἐκεῖ σπουδασθέντων: διῄειν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐγώ, κυβερνήτης ὡς γενοίμην μεγάλης νεώς, ὁπόθ' ἡ ψυχὴ σώματος ἑτέρου ἐπεμέλετο, καὶ δικαιότατον ἡγοίμην ἐμαυτόν, ἐπειδὴ λῃσταὶ μὲν ἐμισθοῦντό με προδοῦναι τὴν ναῦν καθορμισάμενον οἷ λοχήσειν αὐτὴν ἔμελλον, δἰ ἃ ἦγεν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπαγγειλαίμην μὲν ταῦτα, ὡς μὴ ἐπίθοιντο ἡμῖν, παραπλεύσαιμι δ' αὐτοὺς καὶ ὑπεράραιμι τοῦ χωρίου.” “ξυνέθεντο δ'” ἦ δ' ὁ Θεσπεσίων “δικαιοσύνην εἶναι ̓Ινδοὶ ταῦτα;” “κατεγέλασαν μὲν οὖν,” εἶπε “μὴ γὰρ εἶναι δικαιοσύνην τὸ μὴ ἀδικεῖν.” “ὑγιῶς” ἔφη “ἀπέδοξε τοῖς ̓Ινδοῖς, οὔτε γὰρ φρόνησις τὸ μὴ ἀνοήτως τι ἐνθυμεῖσθαι, οὔτε ἀνδρεία τὸ μὴ λείπειν τὴν τάξιν, οὔτε σωφροσύνη τὸ μὴ ἐς τὰ τῶν μοιχῶν ἐκπίπτειν, οὔτε ἄξιον ἐπαίνου τὸ μὴ κακὸν φαίνεσθαι: πᾶν γάρ, ὃ τιμῆς τε καὶ τιμωρίας ἴσον ἀφέστηκεν, οὔπω ἀρετή.” “πῶς οὖν, ὦ Θεσπεσίων,” εἶπε “στεφανώσομεν τὸν δίκαιον, ἢ τί πράττοντα;” “ἀνελλιπέστερον” ἔφη “καὶ προσφορώτερον ἂν ὑπὲρ δικαιοσύνης ἐσπουδάσατε, ἢ ὁπότε βασιλεὺς τοσῆσδέ τε καὶ οὕτως εὐδαίμονος χώρας ἄρχων ἐπέστη φιλοσοφοῦσιν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ τοῦ βασιλεύειν, δικαιοτάτου κτήματος;” “εἰ ὁ Φραώτης” εἶπεν “ὁ ἀφικόμενος ἦν, ὀρθῶς ἂν ἐμέμφου τὸ μὴ ὑπὲρ δικαιοσύνης ἐπ' αὐτοῦ σπουδάσαι, ἐπεὶ δὲ εἶδες τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐν οἶς χθὲς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ διῄειν μεθύοντα καὶ ἀχθόμενον φιλοσοφίᾳ πάσῃ, τί ἔδει παρέχειν ὄχλον; τί δ' αὐτοὺς ἔχειν φιλοτιμουμένους ἐπ' ἀνθρώπου σύβαριν ἡγουμένου πάντα; ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ σοφοῖς ἀνδράσιν, ὥσπερ ἡμῖν, ἰχνευτέα ἡ δικαιοσύνη μᾶλλον ἢ βασιλεῦσί τε καὶ στρατηγοῖς, ἴωμεν ἐπὶ τὸν ἀτεχνῶς δίκαιον. ὃ γὰρ ἐμαυτόν τε ἡγούμην, ὁπότε ἡ ναῦς, ἑτέρους τε, οἳ μὴ ἀδίκων ἅπτονται, οὔπω δικαίους φατέ, οὐδ' ἀξίους τιμᾶσθαι.” “καὶ εἰκότως” εἶπεν “οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν ̓Αθηναίοις ποτὲ ἢ Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐγράφη γνώμη τὸν δεῖνα στεφανοῦν, ἐπεὶ μὴ τῶν ἡταιρηκότων ἐστίν, ἢ τὸν δεῖνα ποιεῖσθαι πολίτην, ἐπεὶ μὴ τὰ ἱερὰ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ συλᾶται. τίς οὖν ὁ δίκαιος καὶ ὁ τί πράττων; οὐρὲ γὰρ ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνῃ τινὰ στεφανωθέντα οἶδα, οὐδὲ γνώμην ἐπ' ἀνδρὶ δικαίῳ γραφεῖσαν, ὡς τὸν δεῖνα χρὴ στεφανοῦν, ἐπειδὴ τὸ δεῖνα πράττων δίκαιος φαίνεται, τὰ μὲν γὰρ Παλαμήδους ἐνθυμηθέντι τὰ ἐν Τροίᾳ καὶ τὰ Σωκράτους τὰ ̓Αθήνησιν οὐδ' εὐτυχεῖν ἡ δικαιοσύνη δόξει παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἀδικώτατα γὰρ δὴ οἵδε ἔπαθον δικαιότατοι ὄντες. πλὴν ἀλλ' οὗτοι μὲν ἐπὶ δόξῃ ἀδικημάτων ἀπώλοντο ψήφου παρὰ τὸ εὐθὺ ἐνεχθείσης, ̓Αριστείδην δὲ τὸν Λυσιμάχου καὶ αὐτή ποτε ἡ δικαιοσύνη ἀπώλλυ καὶ ἀνὴρ τοιόσδε ἐπὶ τοιᾷδε ἀρετῇ φεύγων ᾤχετο. καὶ ὡς μὲν γελοία ἡ δικαιοσύνη δόξει, γιγνώσκω, τεταγμένη γὰρ ὑπὸ Διός τε καὶ Μοιρῶν ἐς τὸ μὴ ἀδικεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οὐδαμοῦ ἑαυτὴν ἐς τὸ μὴ αὐτὴ ἀδικεῖσθαι τάττει. ἐμοὶ δὲ ἀπόχρη τὰ τοῦ ̓Αριστείδου ἐς τὸ δηλῶσαι, τίς μὲν ὁ μὴ ἄδικος, τίς δὲ ὁ δίκαιος: εἰπὲ γάρ μοι, οὐχ οὗτος ̓Αριστείδης ἐκεῖνος, ὅν φατε ὑμεῖς οἱ ἀπὸ ̔Ελλήνων ἥκοντες πλεύσαντα ἐς τὰς νήσους ὑπὲρ τῶν φόρων ξυμμέτρους τε αὐτοὺς τάξαι καὶ ξὺν τῷ αὐτῷ ἐπανελθεῖν τρίβωνι;” “οὗτος,” εἶπε “δἰ ὃν καὶ πενίας ἔρως ποτὲ ἤνθησεν.” “εἰ οὖν,” ἔφη “δύο ̓Αθήνησι δημαγωγοὶ γενοίσθην ἐπαινοῦντες τὸν ̓Αριστείδην ἄρτι ἐκ τῆς ξυμμαχίδος ἥκοντα, καὶ ὁ μὲν γράφοι στεφανοῦν αὐτόν, ἐπειδὴ μὴ πλουτῶν ἀφῖκται μηδὲ βίον ἑαυτῷ ξυνειλοχὼς μηδένα, ἀλλὰ πενέστατος μὲν ̓Αθηναίων, πενέστερος δὲ ἑαυτοῦ, ὁ δ' αὖ τοιουτονί τι γράφοι ψήφισμα: ἐπειδὴ ̓Αριστείδης οὐχ' ὑπὲρ τὸ δυνατὸν τῶν ξυμμάχων τάξας τοὺς φόρους, ἀλλ' ὡς ἕκαστοι γῆς ἔχουσι, τῆς τε ὁμονοίας αὐτῶν ἐπεμελήθη τῆς πρὸς ̓Αθηναίους καὶ τοῦ μὴ ἀχθομένους δοκεῖν φέρειν ταῦτα, δεδόχθω στεφανοῦν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνῃ, ἆρ' οὐκ ἄν σοι δοκεῖ τῇ μὲν προτέρᾳ γνώμῃ κἂν ἀντειπεῖν αὐτός, ὡς οὐκ ἀξίᾳ τῶν ἑαυτῷ βεβιωμένων, εἰ ἐφ' οἷς οὐκ ἀδικεῖ τιμῷτο, τὴν δ' ἴσως ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπαινέσαι, στοχαζομένην ὧν διενοήθη; βλέψας γάρ που ἐς τὸ ̓Αθηναίων τε καὶ τῶν ὑπηκόων ξυμφέρον ἐπεμελήθη τῆς ξυμμετρίας τῶν φόρων καὶ τοῦτο μετὰ τὸν ̓Αριστείδην ἐδείχθη μᾶλλον: ἐπειδὴ γὰρ παραβάντες ̓Αθηναῖοι τοὺς ἐκείνῳ δόξαντας βαρυτέρους ἐπέγραψαν ταῖς νήσοις, διεσπάσθη μὲν αὐτοῖς ἡ ναυτικὴ δύναμις, ᾗ μάλιστα φοβεροὶ ἦσαν, παρῆλθε δὲ ἡ Λακεδαιμονίων ἐς τὴν θάλατταν, ξυνέμεινε δὲ τῆς δυνάμεως οὐδέν, ἀλλ' ἅπαν τὸ ὑπήκοον ἐς νεώτερα ὥρμησε καὶ ἀποστροφῆς ἥψατο. δίκαιος οὖν, ὦ ̓Απολλώνιε, κατὰ τὸν εὐθὺν λόγον οὐχ ὁ μὴ ἄδικος, ἀλλ' ὁ δίκαια μὲν αὐτὸς πράττων, καθιστὰς δὲ καὶ ἑτέρους ἐς τὸ μὴ ἀδικεὶν, καὶ φύσονται τῆς τοιαύτης δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἄλλαι μὲν ἀρεταί, μάλιστα δὲ ἡ δικαστική τε καὶ ἡ νομοθετική. δικάσει μὲν γὰρ τοιόσδε πολλῷ δικαιότερον ἢ οἱ κατὰ τῶν τομίων ὀμνύντες, νομοθετήσει δέ, ὥσπερ οἱ Σόλωνές τε καὶ οἱ Λυκοῦργοι, καὶ γὰρ δὴ κἀκείνοις τοῦ γράψαι νόμους δικαιοσύνη ἦρξεν.”

Let us, said Thespesion, tackle the subject; for it is one very suitable to men, whether they are wise or not wise. But lest we should drag in the opinions of Indians, and so confuse our discussion, and go off without having formed any conclusions, do you first impart to us the views held by the Indians concerning justice, for you probably examined their views on the spot; and if their opinion is proved to be correct we will adopt it; but if we have something wiser to put in its place, you must adopt our view, for that too is plain justice. Said Apollonius: Your plan is excellent and most satisfactory to me; so do listen to the conversation which I held there. For I related to them how I had once been captain of a large ship, in the period when my soul was in command of another body, and how I thought myself extremely just because, when robbers offered me a reward, if I would betray my ship by running it into roads where they were going to lie in wait for it, in order to seize its cargo, I agreed and made the promise, just to save them from attacking us, but intending to slip by them and get beyond the place agreed upon. And, said Thespesion, did the Indians agree that this was justice? No, they laughed at the idea, he said, for they said that justice was something more than not being unjust. It was very sensible, said the other, of the Indians to reject such a view; for good sense is something more than not entertaining nonsense, just as courage is something more than not running away from the ranks; and so temperance is something more than the avoidance of adultery, and no one reserves his praise for a man who has simply shown himself to be not bad. For because a thing, no matter what, is equidistant between praise and punishment, it is not on that account to be reckoned off-hand to be virtue How then. O Thespesion, said Apollonius, are we to crown the just man and for what actions? Could you have discussed justice more completely and more opportunely, said the other, than when the sovereign of so large and flourishing a country intervened in your philosophic discussion of the art of kingship, a thing intimately connected with justice? If it had been Phraotes, said Apollonius, who turned up on that occasion, you might rightly blame me for not gravely discussing the subject of justice in his presence. But you from the account which I gave of him yesterday that the man is a drunkard and an enemy of all philosophy. What need therefore was there to inflict on him the trouble? Why should we try to win credit for ourselves in the presence of a sybarite who thinks of nothing but his own pleasures? But inasmuch as it is incumbent upon wise men like ourselves to explore and trace out justice, more so than on kings and generals, let us proceed to examine the absolutely just man. For though I thought myself just in the affair of the ship, and thought others just too because they do not practice injustice, you deny that this in itself constitutes them just or worthy of honor. And rightly so, said the other, for whoever heard of a decree drafted by Athenians or Lacedaemonians in favor of crowning so and so, because he is not a libertine, or of granting the freedom of the city to so and so, because the temples have not been robbed by him? Who then is the just man and what are is actions? For neither did I ever hear of anyone being crowned merely for his justice, nor of a decree being proposed over a just man to the effect that so and so shall be crowned, because such and such actions of his show him to be just. For anyone who considers the fate of Palamedes in Troy or Socrates in Athens, will discover that even justice is not sure of success among men, for assuredly these men suffered most unjustly being themselves most just. Still they at least were put to death on the score of acts of injustice imputed on them, and the verdict was a distortion of the truth; whereas in the case of Aristides the son of Lysimachus, it was very justice that was the undoing of him, for he in spite of his integrity was banished merely because of his reputation for this very virtue. And I am sure that justice will appear in a very ridiculous light; for having been appointed by Zeus and by the Fates to prevent men being unjust to one another, she has never been able to defend herself against injustice.And the history of Aristides is sufficient to me to show the difference between one who is nor unjust and one who is really just. For, tell me, is not this the same Aristides of whom your Hellenic compatriots when they come here tell us that he undertook a voyage to the islands to fix the tribute of the allies, and after settling it on a fair basis, returned again to his country still wearing the same cloak in which he left it? It is he, answered Apollonius, who made the love of poverty once to flourish. Now, said the other, let us suppose that there were at Athens two public orators passing an encomium upon Aristides, just after he had returned from the allies; one of the proposes that he shall be crowned, because he has come back again without enriching himself or amassing any fortune, but the poorest of the Athenians, poorer than he was before; and the other orator, we will suppose, drafts his motion somewhat as follows: “Whereas Aristides has fixed the tribute of the allies according to their ability to pay, and not in excess of the resources of their respective countries; and whereas he has endeavored to keep them loyal to the Athenians, and to see that they shall feel it no grievance to pay upon this scale, it is hereby resolved to crown him for justice.” Do you not suppose that Aristides himself would have opposed the first of these resolutions, as an indignity to his entire life, seeing that it only honored him for not doing injustice; whereas, he might perhaps have supported the other resolution as a fair attempt to express his intentions and policy? For I imagine it was with an eye to the interest of Athenians and subject states alike, that he took care to fix the tribute on a fair and moderate basis, and in fact his wisdom in this matter was conclusively proved after his death. For when the Athenians exceeded his valuations and imposed heavier tributes upon the islands, their naval supremacy at once went to pieces, though it more than anything else had made them formidable; on the other hand the prowess of the Lacedaemonians passed on to the sea itself; and nothing was left of Athenian supremacy, for the whole of the subject states rushed into revolution and made good their escape. It follows then, O Apollonius, that rightly judged, it is not the man who abstains from injustice that is just, but the man who himself does what is just, and also influences others not to be unjust; and from such justice as his there will spring up a crop of other virtues, especially those of the law-court and of the legislative chamber. For such a man as he will make a much fairer judge than people who take their oaths upon the dissected parts of victims, and his legislation will be similar to that of Solon and of Lycurgus; for assuredly these great legislators were inspired by justice to undertake their work.

τοσαῦτα ὁ Δάμις διαλεχθῆναί φησιν αὐτοὺς ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς δικαίου, καὶ τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον ξυμφῆσαι τῷ λόγῳ, τοῖς γὰρ ὑγιῶς λεγομένοις ξυμβαίνειν. φιλοσοφήσαντες δὲ καὶ περὶ ψυχῆς, ὡς ἀθάνατος εἴη, καὶ περὶ φύσεως παραπλήσια ταῖς Πλάτωνος ἐν Τιμαίῳ δόξαις, περί τε τῶν παρ' ̔́Ελλησι νόμων πλείω διαλεχθέντες “ἐμοὶ” εἶπεν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “ἡ δεῦρο ὁδὸς ὑμῶν τε ἕωεκα καὶ τῶν τοῦ Νείλου πηγῶν ἐγένετο, ἃς μέχρι μὲν Αἰγύπτου προελθόντι ξυγγνώμη ἀγνοῆσαι, προχωρήσαντι δὲ ἐπ' Αἰθιοπίαν, ὃν ἐγὼ τρόπον, κἂν ὄνειδος φέροι τὸ παρελθεῖν αὐτὰς καὶ μὴ ἀρύσασθαί τινας αὐτῶν λόγους.” “ἴθι χαίρων” ἔφη “καὶ ὅ τι σοι φίλον, εὔχου ταῖς πηγαῖς, θεῖαι γάρ. ἡγεμόνα δὲ οἶμαι ποιήσῃ τὸν πάλαι Ναυκρατίτην, νῦν δὲ Μεμφίτην, Τιμασίωνα, τῶν τε γὰρ πηγῶν ἐθὰς οὗτος καὶ οὕτω τι καθαρός, ὡς μὴ δεῖσθαι τοῦ ῥαίνεσθαι. σοὶ δέ, ὦ Νεῖλε, βουλόμεθα ἐφ' ἑαυτῶν διαλεχθῆναί τι.” ὁ μὲν δὴ νοῦς τῶν λόγων οὐκ ἀφανὴς ἦν τῷ ̓Απολλωνίῳ, ξυνίει γὰρ αὐτῶν δυσχερῶς διακειμένων, ἐπειδὴ ἤρα αὐτοῦ ὁ Νεῖλος, ἐξιστάμενος δὲ αὐτοῖς τῆς διαλέξεως ἀπῄει συσκευασόμενος, ὡς ἐξελῶν ἅμα τῇ ἕῳ, μετ' οὐ πολὺ δὲ ἥκων ὁ Νεῖλος, ἀπήγγειλε μὲν οὐδὲν ὧν ἤκουσεν, ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ δὲ θαμὰ ἐγέλα: ἠρώτα δ' οὐδεὶς ὑπὲρ τοῦ γέλωτος, ἀλλ' ἐφείδοντο τοῦ ἀπορρήτου.

Such, according to Damis, was the discussion held by them with regard to the just man, and Apollonius, he says, assented to their argument, for he always agreed with what was reasonably put. They also had a philosophic talk about the soul, proving its immortality, and about nature, along much the same lines which Plato follows in his Timaeus; and after some further remarks and discussions of the laws of the Hellenes, Apollonius said: For myself I have come all this way to see yourselves and visit the springs of the Nile; for a person who only comes as far as Egypt may be excused if he ignores the latter, but if he advances as far as Ethiopia, as I have done, he will be rightly reproached if he neglects to visit them, and to draw as it were from their well-springs some arguments of his own. Farewell then, said the other, and pray to the springs for whatever you desire, for they are divine. But I imagine you will take as your guide Timasion, who formerly lived at Naucratis, but is now of Memphis; for he is well acquainted with the springs of the Nile and he is not so impure as to stand in need of further lustrations. But as for you, O Nilus, we would like to have a talk to you by ourselves. The meaning of this sally was clear enough to Apollonius, for he well understood their annoyance at Nilus' preference for himself; but to give them an opportunity of speaking him apart, he left them to prepare and pack up for his journey, for he meant to start at daybreak. And after a little time Nilus returned, but did not tell them anything of what they had said to him, though he laughed a good deal to himself. And no one asked him what he was laughing about, but they respected his secret.

τότε μὲν δὴ δειπνήσαντες καὶ διαλεχθέντες οὐχ ὑπὲρ μεγάλων αὐτοῦ ἐκοιμήθησαν, ἅμα δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοὺς Γυμνοὺς προσειπόντες ἐπορεύοντο τὴν ἐς τὰ ὄρη τείνουσαν ἀριστεροὶ τοῦ Νείλου, τάδε ὁρῶντες λόγου ἄξια: οἱ Κατάδουποι γεώδη ὄρη καὶ παραπλήσια τῷ Λυδῶν Τμώλῳ, κατάρρους δὲ ἀπ' αὐτῶν φέρεται Νεῖλος, ἣν ἐπισπᾶται γῆν ποιῶν Αἴγυπτον. ἡ δὲ ἠχὼ τοῦ ῥεύματος καταρρηγνυμένου τῶν ὀρῶν καὶ ψόφῳ ἅμα ἐς τὸν Νεῖλον ἐκπίπτοντος χαλεπὴ δοκεῖ καὶ οὐκ ἀνεκτὴ ἀκοῦσαι, καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν πρόσω τοῦ μετρίου προελθόντες ἀνέζευξαν ἀποβαλόντες τὸ ἀκούειν.

They then took their supper and after a discussion of certain trifles they laid them down to sleep where they were; but at daybreak they said goodbye to the naked sages, and started off along the road which leads to the mountains, keeping the Nile on their right hand, and they saw the following spectacles deserving of notice. The Catadupi [the first cataract] are mountains formed of good soil, about the same size as the hill of the Lydians called Tmolus; and from them the Nile flows rapidly down, washing with it the soil of which it creates Egypt; but the roar of the stream, as it breaks down in a cataract from the mountains and hurls itself into the Nile, is terrible and intolerable to the ears, and many of those have approached it too close have returned with the loss of their hearing.

προϊόντι δὲ τῷ ̓Απολλωνίῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν μαστοὶ ὀρῶν ἐφαίνοντο παρεχόμενοι δένδρα, ὧν Αἰθίοπες τὰ φύλλα καὶ τὸν φλοιὸν καὶ τὸ δάκρυον καρπὸν ἡγοῦνται, ἑώρων δὲ καὶ λέοντας ἀγχοῦ τῆς ὁδοῦ καὶ παρδάλεις καὶ τοιαῦτα θηρία ἕτερα, καὶ ἐπῄει οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλ' ἀπεπήδα σφῶν, ὥσπερ ἐκπεπληγμένα τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἔλαφοι δὲ καὶ δορκάδες καὶ στρουθοὶ καὶ ὄνοι πολλὰ μὲν καὶ ταῦτα ἑωρᾶτο, πλεῖστα δὲ οἱ βόαγροί τε καὶ οἱ βούτραγοι: ξύγκειται δὲ τὰ θηρία ταῦτα τὸ μὲν ἐλάφου τε καὶ ταύρου, τὸ δὲ ἀφ' ὧνπερ τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ᾕρηκε. καὶ ὀστοῖς δὲ τούτων ἐνετύγχανον καὶ ἡμιβρώτοις σώμασιν, οἱ γὰρ λέοντες, ἐπειδὰν θερμῆς τῆς θήρας ἐμφορηθῶσιν, ἀτιμάζουσιν αὐτῆς τὰ περιττά, πιστεύοντες, οἶμαι, τῷ καὶ αὖθις θηράσειν.

Apollonius, however, and his party pushed on till they saw some round-shaped hills covered with trees, the leaves and bark and gum of which the Ethiopians regard as of great value; and they also saw lions close to the path, and leopards and other such wild animals; but they were not attracted by any of them, for they fled from them in haste as if they were scared at the sight of men. And they also saw stags and gazelles, and ostriches an asses, the latter in great numbers, and also many wild bulls and ox-goats, the former of these two animals being a mixture of the stag and the ox, that latter of the creatures from which its name is taken. They found moreover on the road the bones and half-eaten carcases of these; for the lions, when they have gorged themselves with fresh prey, care little for what is left over of it, because, I think, they feel sure of catching fresh quarry whenever they want it.

ἐνταῦθα νομάδες οἰκοῦσιν Αἰθίοπες ἐφ' ἁμαξῶν πεπολισμένοι, καὶ πλησίον τούτων οἱ τοὺς ἐλέφαντας θηρῶντες, κατακόπτοντες δὲ αὐτοὺς ποιοῦνται ἀγοράν, ὅθεν ἐπώνυμοί εἰσι τῆς τῶν ἐλεφάντων πράσεως. Νασαμῶνες δὲ καὶ ̓Ανδροφάγοι καὶ Πυγμαῖοι καὶ Σκιάποδες ἔθνη μὲν Αἰθιόπων καὶ οἵδε, καθήκουσι δὲ ἐς τὸν Αἰθίοπα ̓Ωκεανόν, ὃν μόνον ἐσπλέουσιν οἱ ἀπενεχθέντες ἄκοντες.

It is here that the nomad Ethiopians live in a sort of colony upon wagons, and not far from them the elephant-hunters, who cut up these animals and sell the flesh, and are accordingly called by a name which signifies the selling of elephants. And the Nasamones and the man-eaters and the pigmies and the shadow-footed people are also tribes of Ethiopia, and they extend as far as the Ethiopian ocean, which no mariners ever enter except castaways who do so against their will.

διαλεγομένους δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν θηρίων τοὺς ἄνδρας καὶ φιλοσοφοῦντας ὑπὲρ τῆς φύσεως ἄλλο ἄλλως βοσκούσης ἠχὼ προσέβαλεν οἷον βροντῆς οὔπω σκληρᾶς, ἀλλὰ κοίλης ἔτι καὶ ἐν τῷ νέφει. καὶ ὁ Τιμασίων “ἐγγὺς” ἔφη “ὁ καταρράκτης, ὦ ἄνδρες, ὁ κατιόντων μὲν ὕστατος, ἀνιόντων δὲ πρῶτος.” καὶ στάδια δέκα ἴσως προελθόντες ἰδεῖν φασι ποταμὸν ἐκδιδόμενον τοῦ ὄρους μείω οὐδὲν ἢ ἐν πρώταις ξυμβολαῖς ὁ Μαρσύας καὶ ὁ Μαίανδρος, προσευξάμενοι δὲ τῷ Νείλῳ χωρεῖν πρόσω καὶ θηρία μὲν οὐκέτι ὁρᾶν, ψοφοδεᾶ γὰρ φύσει ὄντα προσοικεῖν τοῖς γαληνοῖς μᾶλλον ἢ τοῖς ῥαγδαίοις τε καὶ ἐνήχοις, ἑτέρου δὲ καταρράκτου ἀκοῦσαι μετὰ πεντεκαίδεκά που στάδια χαλεποῦ ἤδη καὶ οὐκ ἀνεκτοῦ αἰσθέσθαι, διπλασίω μὲν γὰρ εἶναι αὐτὸν τοῦ προτέρου, ὀρῶν δὲ ὑψηλοτέρων ἐκπίπτειν. ἑαυτοῦ μὲν οὖν καί τινος τῶν ἑταίρων οὕτω τι κτυπηθῆναι τὰ ὦτα ὁ Δάμις φησίν, ὡς αὐτός τε ἀναζεῦξαι τοῦ τε ̓Απολλωνίου δεῖσθαι μὴ χωρεῖν πρόσω, τὸν δὲ ἐρρωμένως ξύν τε τῷ Τιμασίωνι καὶ τῷ Νείλῳ τοῦ τρίτου καταρράκτου ἔχεσθαι, περὶ οὗ τάδε ἀπαγγεῖλαι ἥκοντα: ἐπικρέμασθαι μὲν τῷ Νείλῳ κορυφὰς ἐκεῖ σταδίων μάλιστα ὀκτὼ ὕψος, τὴν δὲ ὄχθην τὴν ἀντικειμένην τοῖς ὄρεσιν ὀφρὺν εἶναι λιθοτομίας ἀρρήτου, τὰς δὲ πηγὰς ἀποκρεμαννυμένας τῶν ὀρῶν ὑπερπίπτειν ἐς τὴν πετρώδη ὄχθην, ἀναχεῖσθαι δὲ ἐκεῖθεν ἐς τὸν Νεῖλον κυμαινούσας τε καὶ λευκάς. τὰ δὲ πάθη τὰ περὶ αὐτὰς ξυμβαίνοντα πολλαπλασίας ἢ αἱ πρότεραι οὔσας καὶ τὴν πηδῶσαν ἐκ τούτων ἠχὼ ἐς τὰ ὄρη δυσήκοον ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν ἱστορίαν τοῦ ῥεύματος. τὴν δὲ πρόσω ὁδὸν τὴν ἐπὶ τὰς πρώτας πηγὰς ἄγουσαν ἄπορον μὲν ἐλθεῖν φασιν, ἄπορον δὲ ἐνθυμηθῆναι, πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ περὶ δαιμόνων ᾅδουσιν, οἷα καὶ Πινδάρῳ κατὰ σοφίαν ὕμνηται περὶ τοῦ δαίμονος, ὃν ταῖς πηγαῖς ταύταις ἐφίστησιν ὑπὲρ ξυμμετρίας τοῦ Νείλου.

As our company were discussing these animals and talking learnedly about the food which nature supplies in their different cases, they heard a sound as of thunder; not a crashing sound, but of thunder as it is when it is still hollow and concealed in the cloud. And Timasion said: A cataract is at hand, gentlemen, the last for those who are descending the river, but the first to meet you on your way up. And after they had advanced about ten stades, he says that they saw a river discharging itself from the hill-side as big as the Marsyas and the Meander at their first confluence; and he says that after they had put up a prayer to the Nile, they went on till they no longer saw any animals at all; for the latter are naturally afraid of noise, and therefore live by calm waters rather than by those which rush headlong with a noise. And after fifteen stades they heard another cataract which this time was horrible and unbearable to the senses, for it was twice as loud as the first one and it fell from much higher mountains. And Damis relates that his own ears and those of one of his companions were so stunned by the noise, that he himself turned back and besought Apollonius not to go further; however he, along with Timasion and Nilus, boldly pressed on to the third cataract, of which he made the following report on their return. Peaks overhang the Nile, at the most eight stades in height; but the eminence faces the mountains, namely a beetling brow of rocks mysteriously cut away, as if in a quarry, and the fountains of the Nile cling to the edge of the mountain, till they overbalance and fall on to the rocky eminence, from which they pour into the Nile as an expanse of whitening billows. But the effect produced upon the senses by this cataract, which is many times greater than the earlier ones, and the echo which leaps up therefrom against the mountains render it impossible to hear what your companion tells you about the river [ 1]. But the further road which leads up to the first springs of the river was impracticable, they tell us, and impossible to think of; for they tell many stories of the demons which haunt it, stories similar to those which Pindar in his wisdom puts into verse about the demon whom he sets over these springs to preserve the due proportions of the Nile.

καταλύσαντες δὲ μετὰ τοὺς καταρράκτας ἐν κώμῃ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας οὐ μεγάλῃ ἐδείπνουν μὲν περὶ ἑσπέραν ἐγκαταμιγνύντες σπουδὴν παιδιᾷ, βοῆς δὲ ἀθρόας τῶν ἐν τῇ κώμῃ γυναικῶν ἤκουσαν ἐπικελευομένων ἀλλήλαις ἑλεῖν καὶ διῶξαι, παρεκάλουν δὲ καὶ τοὺς αὑτῶν ἄνδρας ἐς κοινωνίαν τοῦ ἔργου, οἱ δ' ἁρπασάμενοι ξύλα καὶ λίθους καὶ ὅ τι ἐς χεῖρας ἑκάστῳ ἔλθοι, ξυνεκάλουν ὥσπερ ἀδικούμενοι τοὺς γάμους. ἐπεφοίτα δὲ ἄρα τῇ κώμῃ δέκατον ἤδη μῆνα σατύρου φάσμα λυττῶν ἐπὶ τὰ γύναια, καὶ δύο ἀπεκτονέναι σφῶν ἐλέγετο, ὧν μάλιστα ἐδόκει ἐρᾶν. ἐκπλαγέντων οὖν τῶν ἑταίρων “μὴ δέδιτε,” εἶπεν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “ὑβρίζει γάρ τις ἐνταῦθα σάτυρος.” “νὴ Δί',” ἔφη ὁ Νεῖλος “ὅν γε ἡμεῖς οἱ Γυμνοὶ χρόνῳ ἤδη ὑβρίζοντα μήπω μετεστήσαμεν τοῦ σκιρτᾶν.” “ἀλλ' ἔστιν” εἶπεν “ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑβριστὰς τούτους φάρμακον, ᾧ λέγεται Μίδας ποτὲ χρήσασθαι: μετεῖχε μὲν γὰρ τοῦ τῶν σατύρων γένους ὁ Μίδας οὗτος, ὡς ἐδήλου τὰ ὦτα, σάτυρος δὲ ἐπ' αὐτὸν εἷς κατὰ τὸ ξυγγενὲς ἐκώμαζε τὰ τοῦ Μίδου διαβάλλων ὦτα, καὶ οὐ μόνον ᾅδων, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐλῶν τούτω, ὁ δ', οἶμαι, τῆς μητρὸς ἀκηκοώς, ὅτι σάτυρος οἴνῳ θηρευθείς, ἐπειδὰν ἐς ὕπνον καταπέσῃ, σωφρονεῖ καὶ διαλλάττεται, κρήνην τὴν οὖσαν αὐτῷ περὶ τὰ βασίλεια κεράσας οἴνῳ ἐπαφῆκεν αὐτῇ τὸν σάτυρον, ὁ δὲ ἔπιέ τε καὶ ἥλω. καὶ ὅτι μὴ ψεύδεται ὁ λόγος, ἴωμεν παρὰ τὸν κωμάρχην, καὶ ἢν ἔχωσιν οἱ κωμῆται οἶνον, κεράσωμεν αὐτὸν τῷ σατύρῳ, καὶ ταὐτὰ τῷ Μίδου πείσεται.” ἔδοξε ταῦτα καὶ ἀμφορέας Αἰγυπτίους τέτταρας οἰνοχοήσας ἐς ληνόν, ἀφ' ἧς ἔπινε τὰ ἐν τῇ κώμῃ πρόβατα, ἐκάλει τὸν σάτυρον ἀφανῶς τι ἐπιπλήττων, ὁ δὲ οὔπω μὲν ἑωρᾶτο, ὑπεδίδου δὲ ὁ οἶνος, ὥσπερ πινόμενος: ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐξεπόθη “σπεισώμεθα” ἔφη “τῷ σατύρῳ, καθεύδει γάρ.” καὶ εἰπὼν ταῦτα ἡγεῖτο τοῖς κωμήταις ἐς Νυμφῶν ἄντρον, πλέθρον οὔπω ἀπέχον τῆς κώμης, ἐν ᾧ καθεύδοντα δείξας αὐτὸν ἀπέχεσθαι εἶπε τοῦ παίειν ἢ λοιδορεῖσθαί οἱ, “πέπαυται γὰρ τῶν ἀνοήτων.” τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τοιοῦτον ̓Απολλωνίου, μὰ Δί', οὐχὶ ὁδοῦ πάρεργον, ἀλλὰ παρόδου ἔργον, κἂν ἐντύχῃ τις ἐπιστολῇ τοῦ ἀνδρός, ἣν πρὸς μειράκιον ὑβρίζον γράφων καὶ σάτυρον δαίμονα σωφρονίσαι φησὶν ἐν Αἰθιοπίᾳ, μεμνῆσθαι χρὴ τοῦ λόγου τούτου. σατύρους δὲ εἶναί τε καὶ ἐρωτικῶν ἅπτεσθαι μὴ ἀπιστῶμεν: οἶδα γὰρ κατὰ τὴν Λῆμνον τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ τινα ἰσηλίκων, οὗ τῇ μητρὶ ἐλέγετο τις ἐπιφοιτᾶν σάτυρος, ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν τῇ ἱστορίᾳ ταύτῃ, νεβρίδα γὰρ ξυμφυᾶ ἐῴκει ἐνημμένῳ κατὰ τὸν νῶτον, ἧς οἱ ποδεῶνες οἱ πρῶτοι ξυνειληφότες τὴν δέρην περὶ τὸ στέρνον αὐτῷ ἀφήπτοντο. ἀλλὰ μὴ πλείω ὑπὲρ τούτων, οὔτε γὰρ ἡ πεῖρα ἀπιστητέα οὔτε ἐγώ.

After passing the cataracts they halted in a village of the Ethiopians of no great size, and they were dining, towards the evening, mingling in their conversation the grave with the gay, when all on a sudden they heard the women of the village screaming and calling to one another to join in the pursuit and catch the thing; and they also summoned their husbands to help them in the matter. And the latter caught up sticks and stones and anything which came handy, and called upon one another to avenge the insult to their wives. And it appears that for ten months the ghost of a satyr had been haunting the village, who was mad after the women and was said to have killed two of them to whom he was supposed to be specially attached. The companions, then, of Apollonius were frightened out of their wits till Apollonius said: You need not be afraid, for it's only a satyr that is running amuck here. Yes, by Zeus, said Nilus, it's the one that we naked sages have found insulting us for a long time past and we could never stop his jumps and leaps. But, said Apollonius, I have a remedy against these hell-hounds, which Midas is said once to have employed; for Midas himself had some of the blood of satyrs in his veins, as was clear from the shape of his ears; and a satyr once, trespassing on his kinship with Midas, made merry at the expense of his ears, not only singing about them, but piping about them. Well, Midas, I understand, had heard from his mother that when a satyr is overcome by wine he falls asleep, and at such times comes to his senses and will make friends with you; so he mixed wine which he had in his palace in a fountain and let the satyr get at it, and the latter drank it up and was overcome. And to show that the story is true, let us go to the head man of the village, and if the villagers have any wine, we will mix it with water for the satyr and he will share the fate of Midas' satyr. They thought it a good plan, so he poured four Egyptian jars of wine into the trough out of which the village cattle drank, and then called the satyr by means of some secret rebuke or threat; and though as yet the latter was not visible, the wine sensibly diminished as if it was being drunk up. And when it was quite finished, Apollonius said: Let us make peace with the satyr, for he is fast asleep. And with these words he led the villagers to the cave of the nymphs, which was not quite a furlong away from the village; and he showed them a satyr lying fast asleep in it, but he told them not to hit him or abuse him, For, he said, his nonsense is stopped for ever. Such was this exploit of Apollonius, and, by heavens, we may call it not an incidental work in passing, but a masterwork of his passing by [ 1]; and if you read the sage's epistle, in which he wrote to an insolent young man that he had sobered even a satyr demon in Ethiopia, you will perforce call to mind the above story. But we must not disbelieve that satyrs both exist and are susceptible to the passion of love; for I knew a youth of my own age in Lemnos whose mother was said to be visited by a satyr, as he well might to judge by this story; for he was represented as wearing in his back a fawn-skin that exactly fitted him, the front paws of which were drawn around his neck and fastened over his chest. But I must not go further into this subject; but, anyhow, credit is due as much to experience of facts as it is to myself.

τοιαῦτα διαλεγόμενος καὶ ξυμβούλους τῶν διαλέξεων, ὥσπερ εἰώθει, ποιούμενος τοὺς καιροὺς ἐχώρει ἐπὶ Μέμνονος, ἡγεῖτο δ' αὐτοῖς μειράκιον Αἰγύπτιον, ὑπὲρ οὗ τάδε ἀναγράφει Δάμις: Τιμασίων μὲν τῷ μειρακίῳ τούτῳ ὄνομα ἦν, ἐφήβου δὲ ἄρτι ὑπαπῄει καὶ τὴν ὥραν ἔτι ἔρρωτο. σωφρονοῦντι δὲ αὐτῷ μητρυιὰ ἐρῶσα ἐνέκειτο καὶ χαλεπὸν τὸν πατέρα ἐποίει, ξυντιθεῖσα μὲν οὐδὲν ὧνπερ ἡ Φαίδρα, διαβάλλουσα δ' αὐτὸν ὡς θῆλυν καὶ ἐρασταῖς μᾶλλον ἢ γυναίοις χαίροντα. ὁ δ' ἐκλιπὼν Ναύκρατιν, ἐκεῖ γὰρ ταῦτα ἐγίγνετο, περὶ Μέμφιν διῃτᾶτο, καὶ ναῦν δὲ ἰδιόστολον ἐκέκτητο καὶ ἐναυκλήρει ἐν τῷ Νείλῳ. ἰδὼν οὖν ἀναπλέοντα τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον καταπλέων αὐτὸς ξυνῆκέ τε, ὡς ἀνδρῶν σοφῶν εἴη τὸ πλήρωμα ξυμβαλλόμενος τοῖς τρίβωσι καὶ τοῖς βιβλίοις, οἷς προσεσπούδαζον, καὶ ἱκέτευε προσδοῦναί οἱ τῆς τοῦ πλοῦ κοινωνίας ἐρῶντι σοφίας, ὁ δ' ̓Απολλώνιος “σώφρων” ἔφη “ὁ νεανίσκος, ὦ ἄνδρες, καὶ ἀξιούσθω ὧν δεῖται,” καὶ διῆλθε τὸν περὶ τῆς μητρυιᾶς λόγον πρὸς τοὺς ἐγγὺς τῶν ἑταίρων ὑφειμένῳ τῷ τόνῳ προσπλέοντος τοῦ μειρακίου ἔτι. ὡς δὲ ξυνῄεσαν αἱ νῆες, μεταβὰς ὁ Τιμασίων καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ κυβερνήτην εἰπών τι ὑπὲρ τοῦ φόρτου προσεῖπε τοὺς ἄνδρας. κελεύσας οὖν αὐτὸν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ ἱζῆσαι “μειράκιον” ἔφη “Αἰγύπτιον, ἔοικας γὰρ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων εἶναί τις, τί σοι φαῦλον ἢ τί χρηστὸν εἴργασται, λέξον, ὡς τῶν μὲν λύσις παρ' ἐμοῦ γένοιτό σοι δι' ἡλικίαν, τῶν δ' αὖ ἐπαινεθεὶς ἐμοί τε ξυμφιλοσοφοίης καὶ τοῖσδε.” ὁρῶν δὲ τὸν Τιμασίωνα ἐρυθριῶντα καὶ μεταβάλλοντα τὴν ὁρμὴν τοῦ στόματος ἐς τὸ λέξαι τι ἢ μή, θαμὰ ἤρειδε τὴν ἐρώτησιν, ὥσπερ οὐδεμιᾷ προγνώσει ἐς αὐτὸν κεχρημένος, ἀναθαρσήσας δὲ ὁ Τιμασίων “ὦ θεοί,” ἔφη “τίνα ἐμαυτὸν εἴπω; κακὸς μὲν γὰρ οὐκ εἰμί, ἀγαθὸν δὲ εἰ χρὴ νομίζεσθαί με, οὐκ οἶδα, τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἀδικεῖν οὔπω ἔπαινος.” καὶ ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “βαβαί,” ἔφη “μειράκιον, ὡς ἀπὸ ̓Ινδῶν μοι διαλέγῃ, ταυτὶ γὰρ καὶ ̓Ιάρχᾳ δοκεῖ τῷ θείῳ. ἀλλ' ̔εἰπὲ̓ ὅπως ταῦτα δοξάζεις, κἀξ ὅτου; φυλαξομένῳ γάρ τι ἁμαρτεῖν ἔοικας.” ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀρξαμένου λέγειν, ὡς ἡ μητρυιὰ μὲν ἐπ' αὐτὸν φέροιτο, αὐτὸς δ' ἐρώσῃ ἐκσταίη, βοὴ ἐγένετο, ὡς δαιμονίως αὐτὰ τοῦ ̓Απολλωνίου προειπόντος, ὑπολαβὼν ὁ Τιμασίων “ὦ λῷστοι,” ἔφη “τί πεπόνθατε; τοσοῦτον γὰρ ἀπέχει τὰ εἰρημένα θαύματος, ὅσον, οἶμαι, γέλωτος.” καὶ ὁ Δάμις “ἕτερόν τι” ἔφη “ἐθαυμάσαμεν, ὃ μήπω γιγνώσκεις. καὶ σὲ δέ, μειράκιον, ἐπαινοῦμεν, ὅτι μηδὲν οἴει λαμπρὸν εἰργάσθαι.” “̓Αφροδίτῃ δὲ θύεις, ὦ μειράκιον;” ἤρετο ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος, καὶ ὁ Τιμασίων, “νὴ Δί',” εἶπεν, “ὁσημέραι γε, πολλὴν γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι τὴν θεὸν ̔ἐν' ἀνθρωπείοις τε καὶ θείοις πράγμασιν.” ὑπερησθεὶς οὖν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος, “ψηφισώμεθα,” ἔφη “ὦ ἄνδρες, ἐστεφανῶσθαι αὐτὸν ἐπὶ σωφροσύνῃ καὶ πρὸ ̔Ιππολύτου τοῦ Θησέως, ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐς τὴν ̓Αφροδίτην ὕβρισε καὶ διὰ τουτὶ ἴσως οὐδὲ ἀφροδισίων ἥττητο, οὐδὲ ἔρως ἐπ' αὐτὸν οὐδεὶς ἐκώμαζεν, ἀλλ' ἦν τῆς ἀγροικοτέρας τε καὶ ἀτέγκτου μοίρας, οὑτοσὶ δὲ ἡττᾶσθαι τῆς θεοῦ φάσκων οὐδὲν πρὸς τὴν ἐρῶσαν ἔπαθεν, ἀλλ' ἀπῆλθεν αὐτὴν δείσας τὴν θεόν, εἰ τὸ κακῶς ἐρᾶσθαι μὴ φυλάξοιτο, καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ διαβεβλῆσθαι πρὸς ὁντιναδὴ τῶν θεῶν, ὥσπερ πρὸς τὴν ̓Αφροδίτην ὁ ̔Ιππόλυτος, οὐκ ἀξιῶ σωφροσύνης, σωφρονέστερον γὰρ τὸ περὶ πάντων θεῶν εὖ λέγειν καὶ ταῦτα ̓Αθήνησιν, οὗ καὶ ἀγνώστων δαιμόνων βωμοὶ ἵδρυνται.” τοσαῦτα ἐς τὸν Τιμασίωνα αὐτῷ ἐσπουδάσθη. πλὴν ἀλλὰ ̔Ιππόλυτόν γε ἐκάλει αὐτὸν διὰ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, οἷς τὴν μητρυιὰν εἶδεν. ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ τοῦ σώματος ἐπιμεληθῆναι καὶ γυμναστικῆς ἐπαφροδίτως ἅψασθαι.

With such conversations, the occasions providing as usual the topics he talked about, he turned his steps towards Memnon; an Egyptian showed them the way, of whom Damis gives the following account: Timasion was the name of this stripling, who was just emerging from boyhood, and was now in the prime of life and strength. He had a stepmother who had fallen in love with him; and when he rejected her overtures, she set upon him and by way of spiting him had poisoned his father's mind against him, condescending to a lower intrigue than ever Phaedra had done, for she accused him of being effeminate, and of finding his pleasure in pederasts rather than in women. He had accordingly abandoned Naucratis, for it was there that all this happened, and was living in the neighborhood of Memphis; and he had acquired and manned a boat of his own and was plying as a waterman on the Nile. He then, was going down the river when he saw Apollonius sailing up it; and he concluded that the crew consisted of wise men, because he judged them by the cloaks they wore and the books they were hard at work studying. So he asked them whether they would allow one who was so passionately fond of wisdom as himself to share their voyage; and Apollonius said: This youth is wise, my friends, so let him be granted his request. And he further related the story about his stepmother to those of his companions who were nearest to him in a low tone while the stripling was still sailing towards them. But when the ships were alongside of one another, Timasion stepped out of his boat, and after addressing a word or two to his pilot, about the cargo in his own boat, he greeted the company. Apollonius then ordered him to sit down under his eyes, and said: You stripling of Egypt, for you seem to be one of the natives, tell me what you have done of evil or what of good; for in the one case you shall be forgiven by me, in consideration of your youth; but in the other you shall reap my commendation and become a fellow-student of philosophy with me and with these gentlemen. Then noticing that Timasion blushed and checked his impulse to speak, and hesitated whether to say or not what he had been going to say, he pressed his question and repeated it, just as if he had no foreknowledge of the youth at his command. Then Timasion plucked up courage and said: O Heavens, how shall I describe myself? for I am not a bad boy, and yet I do not know whether I ought to be considered a good one, for there is no particular merit in having abstained from wrong. But Apollonius cried: Bravo, my boy, you answer me just as if you were a sage from India; for this was just the sentiment of the divine Iarchas. But tell me how you came to form these opinions, and how long ago; for it strikes me that you have been on your guard against some sin. The youth then began to tell them of his stepmother's infatuation for himself, and of how he had rejected her advances; and when he did so, there was a shout in recognition of the divine inspiration under which Apollonius had foretold these details. Timasion, however, caught them up and said: Most excellent people, what is the matter with you? for my story is one which calls as little for your admiration, I think, as for your ridicule. But Damis said: It was not that we were admiring, but something else which you don't know about yet. As for you, my boy, we praise you because you think that you did nothing very remarkable. And Apollonius said: Do you sacrifice to Aphrodite, my boy? And Timasion answered: Yes, by Zeus, every day; for I consider that this goddess has great influence in human and divine affairs. Thereat Apollonius was delighted beyond measure, and cried: Let us, gentlemen, vote a crown to him for his continence rather than to Hippolytus the son of Theseus, for the latter insulted Aphrodite; and that perhaps is why he never fell a victim to the tender passion, and why love never ran riot in his soul; but he was allotted an austere and unbending nature. But our friend here admits that he is devoted to the goddess, and yet did not respond to his stepmother's guilty overtures, but went away in terror of the goddess herself, in case he were not on his guard against another's evil passions; and the mere aversion to any one of the gods, such as Hippolytus entertained in regard to Aphrodite, I do not class as a form of sobriety; for it is a much greater proof of wisdom and sobriety to speak well of the gods, especially at Athens, where altars are set up in honor even of unknown gods. So great was the interest which he took in Timasion. Nevertheless he called him Hippolytus for the eyes with which he looked at his stepmother. It seemed also that he was a young man who was particular about his person and enhanced its charms by attention to athletic exercises.

ἀναρρηθεὶς δὲ αὐτοκράτωρ ἐν τῇ ̔Ρώμῃ καὶ ἀριστείων στείων ἀξιωθεὶς τούτων ἀπῄει μὲν ἰσομοιρήσων τῆς ἀρχῆς τῷ πατρί, τὸν δὲ ̓Απολλώνιον ἐνθυμηθείς, ὡς πολλοῦ ἄξιος αὑτῷ ἔσται κἂν πρὸς βραχὺ ξυγγενόμενος, ἐδεῖτο αὐτοῦ ἐς Ταρσοὺς ἥκειν, καὶ περιβαλὼν ἐλθόντα “πάντα μοι ὁ πατὴρ” ἔφη “ἐπέστειλεν, ὧν ξύμβουλον ἐποιεῖτό σε, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἡ ἐπιστολή, ὡς εὐεργέτης τε αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῇ γέγραψαι καὶ πᾶν ὅ τι ἐσμέν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἔτη μὲν τριάκοντα ταυτὶ γέγονα, ἀξιούμενος δὲ ὧν ὁ πατὴρ ἑξηκοντούτης ὢν καὶ καλούμενος ἐς τὸ ἄρχειν πρὶν οὐκ οἶδ' εἰ ἀρχθῆναι εἰδέναι, δέδια μὴ μειζόνων, ἢ ἐμὲ χρή, ἅπτωμαι.” ἐπιψηλαφήσας δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸν αὐχένα ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος, καὶ γὰρ δὴ ἔρρωτο αὐτὸν ἴσα τοῖς ἀσκοῦσι τὸ σῶμα, “καὶ τίς” εἶπε “βιάσεται ταῦρον αὐχένα οὕτω κρατερὸν ὑποσχεῖν ζυγῷ;” “ὁ ἐκ νέου” ἔφη, “μοσχεύσας με,” τὸν πατέρα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λέγων ὁ Τίτος καὶ τὸ ὑπ' ἐκείνου ἂν μόνου ἀρχθῆναι, ὃς ἐκ παιδὸς αὐτὸν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἀκροάσει ξυνείθιζε. “χαίρω” εἶπεν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “πρῶτον μὲν παρεσκευασμένον σε ὁρῶν ἕπεσθαι τῷ πατρί, ὑφ' οὗ χαίρουσιν ἀρχόμενοι καὶ οἱ μὴ φύσει παῖδες, θεραπεύσοντά τε τὰς ἐκείνου θύρας, ᾧ ξυνθεραπευθήσῃ. νεότητος δὲ γήρᾳ ἅμα ἐς τὸ ἄρχειν ἰούσης τίς μὲν λύρα, τίς δὲ αὐλὸς ἡδεῖαν ὧδε ἁρμονίαν καὶ ξυγκεκραμένην ᾅσεται; πρεσβύτερα γὰρ ξυμβήσεται νέοις, ἐξ ὧν καὶ γῆρας ἰσχύσει καὶ νεότης οὐκ ἀτακτήσει.”

ὑπὸ τούτῳ ἡγεμόνι παρελθεῖν φασιν ἐς τὸ τέμενος τοῦ Μέμνονος. περὶ δὲ τοῦ Μέμνονος τάδε ἀναγράφει Δάμις: ̓Ηοῦς μὲν παῖδα γενέσθαι αὐτόν, ἀποθανεῖν δὲ οὐκ ἐν Τροίᾳ, ὅτι μηδὲ ἀφικέσθαι ἐς Τροίαν, ἀλλ' ἐν Αἰθιοπίᾳ τελευτῆσαι βασιλεύσαντα Αἰθιόπων γενεὰς πέντε. οἱ δ', ἐπειδὴ μακροβιώτατοι ἀνθρώπων εἰσίν, ὀλοφύρονται τὸν Μέμνονα ὡς κομιδῇ νέον καὶ ὅσα ἐπὶ ἀώρῳ κλαίουσι, τὸ δὲ χωρίον, ἐν ᾧ ἵδρυται, φασὶ μὲν προσεοικέναι ἀγορᾷ ἀρχαίᾳ, οἷαι τῶν ἀγορῶν ἐν πόλεσί ποτε οἰκηθείσαις λείπονται στηλῶν παρεχόμεναι τρύφη καὶ τειχῶν ἴχνη καὶ θάκους καὶ φλιὰς ἑρμῶν τε ἀγάλματα, τὰ μὲν ὑπὸ χειρῶν διεφθορότα, τὰ δὲ ὑπὸ χρόνου. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα τετράφθαι πρὸς ἀκτῖνα μήπω γενειάσκον, λίθου δὲ εἶναι μέλανος, ξυμβεβηκέναι δὲ τὼ πόδε ἄμφω κατὰ τὴν ἀγαλματοποιίαν τὴν ἐπὶ Δαιδάλου καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἀπερείδειν ὀρθὰς ἐς τὸν θᾶκον, καθῆσθαι γὰρ ἐν ὁρμῇ τοῦ ὑπανίστασθαι. τὸ δὲ σχῆμα τοῦτο καὶ τὸν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν νοῦν καὶ ὁπόσα τοῦ στόματος ὡς φθεγξομένου ᾅδουσι, τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον ἧττον θαυμάσαι φασίν, οὔπω γὰρ ἐνεργὰ φαίνεσθαι, προσβαλούσης δὲ τὸ ἄγαλμα τῆς ἀκτῖνος, τουτὶ δὲ γίγνεσθαι περὶ ἡλίου ἐπιτολάς, μὴ κατασχεῖν τὸ θαῦμα, φθέγξασθαι μὲν γὰρ παραχρῆμα τῆς ἀκτῖνος ἐλθούσης αὐτῷ ἐπὶ στόμα, φαιδροὺς δὲ ἱστάναι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς δόξαι πρὸς τὸ φῶς, οἷα τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ εὐήλιοι. τότε ξυνεῖναι λέγουσιν, ὅτι τῷ ̔Ηλίῳ δοκεῖ ὑπανίστασθαι, καθάπερ οἱ τὸ κρεῖττον ὀρθοὶ θεραπεύοντες. θύσαντες οὖν ̔Ηλίῳ τε Αἰθίοπι καὶ ̓Ηῴῳ Μέμνονι, τουτὶ γὰρ ἔφραζον οἱ ἱερεῖς, τὸν μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴθειν τε καὶ θάλπειν, τὸν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς ἐπονομάζοντες, ἐπορεύοντο ἐπὶ καμήλων ἐς τὰ τῶν Γυμνῶν ἤθη.

Under his guidance, they say, they went on to the sacred enclosure of Memnon, of whom Damis gives the following account. He says that he was the son of the Dawn, and that he did not meet his death in Troy, where indeed he never went; but that he died in Ethiopia after ruling the land for five generations. But his countrymen being the longest lived of men, still mourn him as a mere youth and deplore his untimely death. But the place in which his statue is set up resembles, they tell us, an ancient market-place, such as remain in cities that were long ago inhabited, and where we come on broken stumps and fragments of columns, and find traces of walls as well as seats and jambs of doors, and images of Hermes, some destroyed by the hand of man, others by that of time. Now this statue, says Damis, was turned towards the sunrise, and was that of a youth still unbearded; and it was made of a black stone, and the two feet were joined together after the style in which statues were made in the time of Daedalus; and the arms of the figure were perpendicular to the seat pressing upon it, for though the figure was still sitting it was represented in the very act of rising up. We hear much of this attitude of the statue, and of the expression of its eyes, and of how the lips seem about to speak; but they say that they had no opportunity of admiring these effects until they saw them realized; for when the sun's rays fell upon the statue, and this happened exactly at dawn, they could not restrain their admiration; for the lips spoke immediately the sun's ray touched them, and the eyes seemed to stand out and gleam against the light as do those of men who love to bask in the sun. Then they say they understood that the figure was of one in the act of rising and making obeisance to the sun, in the way those do who worship the powers above standing erect. They accordingly offered a sacrifice to the Sun of Ethiopia and to Memnon of the Dawn, for this the priests recommended them to do, explaining that one name was derived from the words signifying to burn and be warm [ 1] and the other from his mother. Having done this they set out upon camels for the home of the naked philosophers.

κἀκεῖνα ἀξιομνημόνευτα εὗρον τοῦ ἀνδρός: ἐρᾶν τις ἐδόκει τοῦ τῆς ̓Αφροδίτης ἕδους, ὃ ἐν Κνίδῳ γυμνὸν ἵδρυται, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀνετίθει, τὰ δ' ἀναθήσειν ἔφασκεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ γάμου, ̓Απολλωνίῳ δὲ καὶ ἄλλως μὲν ἄτοπα ἐδόκει ταῦτα, ἐπεὶ δὲ μὴ παρῃτεῖτο ἡ Κνίδος, ἀλλ' ἐναργεστέραν ἔφασαν τὴν θεὸν δόξειν, εἰ ἐρῷτο, ἔδοξε τῷ ἀνδρὶ καθῆραι τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς ἀνοίας ταύτης, καὶ ἐρομένων τῶν Κνιδίων αὐτόν, εἴ τι βούλοιτο τῶν θυτικῶν ἢ εὐκτικῶν διορθοῦσθαι “ὀφθαλμοὺς” ἔφη “διορθώσομαι, τὰ δὲ τοῦ ἱεροῦ πάτρια ἐχέτω, ὡς ἔχει.” καλέσας οὖν τὸν θρυπτόμενον ἤρετο αὐτόν, εἰ θεοὺς νενόμικε, τοῦ δ' οὕτω νομίζειν θεοὺς φήσαντος, ὡς καὶ ἐρᾶν αὐτῶν, καὶ τῶν γάμων μνημονεύσαντος, οὓς θύσειν ἡγεῖτο, “σὲ μὲν ποιηταὶ” ἔφη “ἐπαίρουσι τοὺς ̓Αγχίσας τε καὶ τοὺς Πηλέας θεαῖς ξυζυγῆναι εἰπόντες, ἐγὼ δὲ περὶ τοῦ ἐρᾶν καὶ ἐρᾶσθαι τόδε γιγνώσκω: θεοὶ θεῶν ἄνθρωποι ἀνθρώπων θηρία θηρίων καὶ καθάπαξ ὅμοια ὁμοίων ἐρᾷ ἐπὶ τῷ ἔτυμα καὶ ξυγγενῆ τίκτειν, τὸ δὲ ἑτερογενὲς τῷ μὴ ὁμοίῳ ξυνελθὸν οὔτε ζυγὸς οὔτε ἔρως. εἰ δὲ ἐνεθυμοῦ τὰ ̓Ιξίονος, οὐδ' ἂν ἐς ἔννοιαν καθίστασο τοῦ μὴ ὁμοίων ἐρᾶν. ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος μὲν τροχῷ εἰκασμένος δι' οὐρανοῦ κνάμπτεται, σὺ δ', εἰ μὴ ἄπει τοῦ ἱεροῦ, ἀπολεῖ ἐν ἁπάσῃ τῇ γῇ οὐδ' ἀντειπεῖν ἔχων τὸ μὴ οὐ δίκαια τοὺς θεοὺς ἐπὶ σοὶ γνῶναι.” ὧδε ἡ παροινία ἐσβέσθη καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ὁ φάσκων ἐρᾶν ὑπὲρ ξυγγνώμης θύσας.

ἀνδρὶ δὲ ἐντυχόντες ἐσταλμένῳ τρόπον, ὅνπερ οἱ Μεμφῖται καὶ ἀλύοντι μᾶλλον ἢ ξυντείνοντι ἤροντο οἱ περὶ τὸν Δάμιν, ὅστις εἴη καὶ ̔δἰ̓ ὅ τι πλανῷτο, καὶ ὁ Τιμασίων “ἐμοῦ” ἔφη “πυνθάνεσθε, ἀλλὰ μὴ τούτου, οὗτος μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἂν εἴποι πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ πάθος αἰδοῖ τῆς ξυμφορᾶς, ᾗ κέχρηται, ἐγὼ δέ, γιγνώσκω γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ ἐλεῶ, λέξω τὰ περὶ αὐτὸν πάντα: ἀπέκτεινε γὰρ Μεμφίτην τινὰ ἄκων, κελεύουσι δ' οἱ κατὰ Μέμφιν νόμοι τὸν φεύγοντα ἐπ' ἀκουσίῳ, δεῖ δὲ φεύγειν, ἐπὶ τοῖς Γυμνοῖς εἶναι, κἂν ἐκνίψηται τοῦ φόνου, χωρεῖν ἐς ἤθη καθαρὸν ἤδη, βαδίσαντα πρότερον ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦ πεφονευμένου σῆμα καὶ σφάξαντά τι ἐκεῖ οὐ μέγα. τὸν δὲ χρόνον, ὃν οὔπω τοῖς Γυμνοῖς ἐνέτυχεν, ἀλᾶσθαι χρὴ περὶ ταυτὶ τὰ ὅρια, ἔστ' ἂν αἰδέσωνται αὐτόν, ὥσπερ ἱκέτην.” ἤρετο οὖν τὸν Τιμασίωνα ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος, πῶς οἱ Γυμνοὶ περὶ τοῦ φεύγοντος ἐκείνου φρονοῦσιν, ὁ δὲ “οὐκ οἶδα,” εἶπε “μῆνα γὰρ τουτονὶ ἕβδομον ἱκετεύει δεῦρο καὶ οὔπω λύσις.” “οὐ σοφοὺς λέγεις ἄνδρας,” ἔφη “εἰ μὴ καθαίρουσιν αὐτόν, μηδὲ γιγνώσκουσιν, ὅτι Φιλίσκος, ὃν ἀπέκτεινεν οὗτος, ἀνέφερεν ἐν Θαμοῦν τὸν Αἰγύπτιον, ὃς ἐδῄωσέ ποτε τὴν τῶν Γυμνῶν χώραν.” θαυμάσας οὖν ὁ Τιμασίων “πῶς” ἔφη “λέγεις;” “ὥς γε” εἶπεν, “ὦ μειράκιον, καὶ πέπρακται: Θαμοῦν γάρ ποτε νεώτερα ἐπὶ Μεμφίτας πράττοντα ἤλεγξαν οἱ Γυμνοὶ καὶ ἔσχον, ὁ δὲ ὁρμῆς ἁμαρτὼν ἔκειρε πᾶσαν, ἣν οὗτοι νέμονται, λῃστρικῶς γὰρ περὶ Μέμφιν ἔρρωτο: τούτου Φιλίσκον, ὃν οὗτος ἀπέκτεινεν, ὁρῶ ἔκγονον τρίτον ἀπὸ δεκάτου, κατάρατον δηλαδὴ τούτοις, ὧν ὁ Θαμοῦς τότε διεπόρθει τὴν χώραν: καὶ ποῦ σοφόν, ὃν στεφανοῦν ἐχρῆν, εἰ καὶ προνοήσας ἀπέκτεινε, τοῦτον ἀκουσίου φόνου μέν, ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν δ' εἰργασμένου μὴ καθῆραι;” ἐκπλαγὲν οὖν τὸ μειράκιον “ξένε,” εἶπε “τίς εἶ;” καὶ ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος “ὃν ἂν” ἔφη “παρὰ τοῖς Γυμνοῖς εὕροις. ἐπεὶ δὲ οὔπω μοι ὅσιον προσφθέγξασθαι τὸν ἐν τῷ αἵματι, κέλευσον αὐτόν, ὦ μειράκιον, θαρρεῖν, ὡς αὐτίκα δὴ καθαρεύσοντα, εἰ βαδίσειεν οὗ καταλύω.” ἀφικομένῳ δὲ ἐπιδράσας ὅσα ̓Εμπεδοκλῆς τε καὶ Πυθαγόρας ὑπὲρ καθαρσίων νομίζουσιν, ἐκέλευσεν ἐς ἤθη στείχειν ὡς καθαρὸν ἤδη τῆς αἰτίας.

On the way they met a man wearing the garb of the inhabitants of Memphis, but who was wandering about rather than wending his steps to a fixed point; so Damis asked him who he was and why he was roving about like that. But Timasion said: You had better ask me, and not him; for he will never tell you what is the matter with him, because he is ashamed of the plight in which he finds himself; but as for me, I know the poor man and pity him, and I will tell you all about him. For he has slain unwittingly a certain inhabitant of Memphis, and the laws of Memphis prescribe that a person exiled for an involuntary offense of this kind, — and the penalty is exile, — should remain with the naked philosophers until he has washed away the guilt of bloodshed, and then he may return home as soon as he is pure, though he must first go to the tomb of the slain man and sacrifice there some trifling victim. Now until he has been received by the naked philosophers, so long he must roam about these marches, until they take pity upon him as if he were a suppliant. Apollonius therefore put the question to Timasion: What do the naked philosophers think of this particular exile? And he answered: I do not know anything more than that this is the seventh month that he has remained here as a suppliant, and that he has not yet obtained redemption. Said Apollonius: You don't call men wise, who refuse to purify him, and are not aware that Philiscus whom he slew was a descendant of Thamus the Egyptian, who long ago laid waste the country of these naked philosophers. Thereat Timasion said in surprise: What do you mean? I mean, said the other, my good youth, what was actually the fact; for this Thamus once on a time was intriguing against the inhabitants of Memphis, and these philosophers detected his plot and prevented him; and he having failed in his enterprise retaliated by laying waste all the land upon which they live, for by his brigandage he tyrannized the country round Memphis. I perceive that Philiscus whom this man slew was the thirteenth in descent from this Thamus, and was obviously an object of execration to those whose country the latter so thoroughly ravaged at the time in question. Where then is their wisdom? Here is a man that they ought to crown, even if he had slain the other intentionally; and yet they refuse to purge him of a murder which he committed involuntarily on their behalf.. The youth then was astounded and said: Stranger, who are you? And Apollonius replied: He whom you shall find among these naked philosophers. But as it is not allowed me by my religion to address one who is stained with blood, I would ask you, my good boy, to encourage him, and tell him that he will at once be purged of guilt, if he will come to the place where I am lodging. And when the man in question came, Apollonius went through the rites over him which Empedocles and Pythagoras prescribe for the purification of such offenses, and told him to return home, for that he was now pure of guilt.

ἐντεῦθεν ἐξελάσαντες ἡλίου ἀνίσχοντος, ἀφίκοντο πρὸ μεσημβρίας ἐς τὸ τῶν Γυμνῶν φροντιστήριον. τοὺς δὲ Γυμνοὺς τούτους οἰκεῖν μὲν ἐπί τινος λόφου, φασί, ξυμμέτρου μικρὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ὄχθης τοῦ Νείλου, σοφίᾳ δὲ ̓Ινδῶν λείπεσθαι πλέον ἢ προὔχειν Αἰγυπτίων, γυμνοὺς δὲ ἐστάλθαι κατὰ ταὐτὰ τοῖς εἱληθεροῦσιν ̓Αθήνησι. δένδρα δὲ ἐν τῷ νομῷ ὀλίγα καί τι ἄλσος οὐ μέγα, ἐς ὃ ξυνίασιν ὑπὲρ τῶν κοινῶν, ἱερὰ δὲ οὐκ ἐς ταὐτόν, ὥσπερ τὰ ̓Ινδῶν, ἄλλο δὲ ἄλλῃ τοῦ γηλόφου ἵδρυται σπουδῆς ἀξιούμενα, ὡς Αἰγυπτίων λόγοι. θεραπεύουσι δὲ Νεῖλον μάλιστα, τὸν γὰρ ποταμὸν τοῦτον ἡγοῦνται γῆν καὶ ὕδωρ. καλύβης μὲν οὖν ἢ οἰκίας οὐδὲν αὐτοὶ δέονται ζῶντες ὑπαίθριοι καὶ ὑπὸ τῷ οὐρανῷ αὐτῷ, καταγωγὴν δὲ ἀποχρῶσαν τοῖς ξένοις ἐδείμαντο στοὰν οὐ μεγάλην, ἰσομήκη ταῖς ̓Ηλείων, ὑφ' αἷς ὁ ἀθλητὴς περιμένει τὸ μεσημβρινὸν κήρυγμα.

Thence they rode out at sunrise, and arrived before midday at the academy of the naked sages, who dwell, they relate, upon a moderate-sized hill a little way from the bank of the Nile; and in point of wisdom they fall short of the Indians rather more than they excel the Egyptians. And they wear next to no clothes in the same way as people do at Athens in the heat of summer. And in their district there are few trees, and a certain grove of no great size to which they resort when they meet for the transaction of common affairs; but they do not build their shrines in one and the same place, as Indian shrines are built, but one is in one part of the hill and another in another, all worthy of observation, according to the accounts of the Egyptians. The Nile is the chief object of their worship, for they regard this river as land and water at once. They have no need, however, of hut or dwelling, because they live in the open air directly under the heaven itself, but they have built an hospice to accommodate strangers, and it is a portico of no great size, about equal in length to those of Elis, beneath which the athletes await the sound of the midday trumpet.

ἐνταῦθά τι ἀναγράφει Δάμις Εὐφράτου ἔργον, ἡγώμεθα δὲ αὐτὸ μὴ μειρακιῶδες, ἀλλ' ἀφιλοτιμότερον τοῦ φιλοσοφίᾳ προσήκοντος: ἐπεὶ γὰρ τοῦ ̓Απολλωνίου θαμὰ ἤκουε βουλομένου σοφίαν ̓Ινδικὴν ἀντικρῖναι Αἰγυπτίᾳ, πέμπει παρὰ τοὺς Γυμνοὺς Θρασύβουλον τὸν ἐκ Ναυκράτιδος ὑπὲρ διαβολῆς τοῦ ἀνδρός, ὁ δὲ ἥκειν μὲν ὑπὲρ ξυνουσίας ἔφη τῆς πρὸς αὐτούς, ἀφίξεσθαι δὲ καὶ τὸν Τυανέα, τουτὶ δὲ ἐκείνοις ἀγῶνα ἔχειν οὐ σμικρόν, φρονεῖν τε γὰρ αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τοὺς ̓Ινδῶν σοφούς, οὓς ἐν λόγῳ παντὶ αἴρει, μυρίας δὲ ἐλέγξεις ἐπ' αὐτοὺς συνεσκευάσθαι, ξυγχωρεῖν τε οὔτε ἡλίῳ οὐδὲν οὔτε οὐρανῷ καὶ γῇ, κινεῖν γὰρ καὶ ὀχεῖν αὐτὸς ταῦτα καὶ μετατάττειν οἷ βούλεται.

At this place Damis records an action of Euphrates, which if we do not regard it as juvenile, was anyhow unworthy of the dignity of a philosopher. Euphrates had heard Apollonius often say that he wished to compare the wisdom of India with that of Egypt, so he sent up to the naked sages one Thrasybulus, a native of Naucratis, to take away our sage's character. Thrasybulus at the same time that he pretended to have come there in order to enjoy their society, told them that the sage of Tyana would presently arrive, and that they would have no little trouble with him, because he esteemed himself more highly than the sages of India did themselves, though he extolled the latter whenever he opened his mouth; and he added that Apollonius had contrived a thousand pitfalls for them, and that he would not allow any sort of influence either to the sun, or to the sky, or to the earth, but pretended to move and juggle and rearrange these forces for whatever end he chose.

τοιαῦτα ὁ Ναυκρατίτης ξυνθεὶς ἀπῆλθεν, οἱ δ' ἀληθῆ ταῦτα ἡγούμενοι τὴν μὲν ξυνουσίαν οὐ παρῃτοῦντο ἥκοντος, ὑπὲρ μεγάλων δὲ σπουδάζειν ἐπλάττοντο καὶ πρὸς ἐκείνοις εἶναι, ἀφίξεσθαι δὲ κἀκείνῳ ἐς λόγους, ἢν σχολὴν ἄγωσι μάθωσί τε, ὅ τι βούλεται καὶ ὅτου ἐρῶν ἧκεν. ἐκέλευε δὲ ὁ παρ' αὐτῶν ἥκων καὶ καταλύειν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ στοᾷ, ὁ δὲ ̓Απολλώνιος “ὑπὲρ μὲν στέγης” ἔφη “μηδὲν διαλέγου, ξυγχωρεῖ γὰρ πᾶσιν ὁ οὐρανὸς ὁ ἐνταῦθα γυμνοῖς ζῆν,” διαβάλλων αὐτοὺς ὡς οὐ καρτερίᾳ γυμνούς, ἀλλ' ἀνάγκῃ, “ὅ τι δὲ βούλομαι καὶ ὑπὲρ ὅτου ἥκω τοὺς μὲν οὐ θαυμάζω οὔπω γιγνώσκοντας, ̓Ινδοὶ δὲ με οὐκ ἤροντο ταῦτα.”

Having concocted these stories the man of Naucratis went away; and they, imagining they were true, did not indeed decline to meet Apollonius when he arrived, but pretended that they were occupied with important business and were so intent upon it, that they could only arrange an interview with him if they had time, and if they were informed first of what he wanted and of what attracted him thither.And a messenger from the bade them stay and lodge in the portico, but Apollonius remarked: We do not want to hear about a house for ourselves, for the climate here is such that anyone can live naked, — an unkind reference this to them, as it implied that they went without clothes not to show their endurance, but because it was too to wear any. And he added: I am not surprised indeed at their nor yet knowing what I want, and what I am come here for, though the Indians never asked me these questions.

ὁ μὲν δὴ ̓Απολλώνιος ἑνὶ τῶν δένδρων ὑποκλιθεὶς ξυνῆν τοῖς ἑταίροις ὁπόσα ἠρώτων, ἀπολαβὼν δὲ τὸν Τιμασίωνα ὁ Δάμις ἤρετο ἰδίᾳ: “οἱ Γυμνοὶ οὗτοι, βέλτιστε, ξυγγέγονας γὰρ αὐτοῖς, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, τί σοφοί εἰσι;” “πολλὰ” ἔφη “καὶ μεγάλα.” “καὶ μὴν οὐ σοφὰ” εἶπεν “αὐτῶν, ὦ γενναῖε, τὰ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ταῦτα, τὸ γὰρ μὴ ξυμβῆναι τοιῷδε ἀνδρὶ ὑπὲρ σοφίας, ὄγκῳ δ' ἐπ' αὐτὸν χρήσασθαι τί φῶ οὐκ οἶδα ἢ τῦφον,” ἔφη “ὦ ἑταῖρε.” “τῦφον; ὃν οὔπω πρότερον περὶ αὐτοὺς εἶδον δὶς ἤδη ἀφικόμενος, ἀεὶ γὰρ μέτριοί τε καὶ χρηστοὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐπιμιγνύντας ἦσαν: πρῴην γοῦν, πεντήκοντα δὲ τοῦτ' ἴσως ἡμέραι, Θρασύβουλος μὲν ἐπεχωρίαζεν ἐνταῦθα λαμπρὸν οὐδὲν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ πράττων, οἱ δ' ἄσμενοι αὐτὸν ἀπεδέξαντο, ἐπειδὴ προσέγραψεν ἑαυτὸν τῷ Εὐφράτῃ.” καὶ ὁ Δάμις “τί λέγεις, ὦ μειράκιον; ἑώρακας σὺ Θρασύβουλον τὸν Ναυκρατίτην ἐν τῷ φροντιστηρίῳ τούτῳ,” “καὶ πρός γε” εἶπε “διήγαγον αὐτὸν τῇ ἐμαυτοῦ νηὶ κατιόντα ἐνθένδε.” “τὸ πᾶν ἔχω, νὴ τὴν ̓Αθηνᾶν,” ἔφη ὁ Δάμις ἀναβοήσας τε καὶ σχετλιάσας “ἔοικε γὰρ πεπανουργῆσθαί τι.” ὑπολαβὼν οὖν ὁ Τιμασίων “ὁ μὲν ἀνήρ,” ἔφη “ὡς ἠρόμην αὐτὸν χθές, ὅστις εἴη, οὔπω με ἠξίου τοῦ ἀπορρήτου, σὺ δ', εἰ μὴ μυστήρια ταῦτα, λέγε ὅστις οὗτος, ἴσως γὰρ ἂν κἀγώ τι ξυμβαλοίμην τῇ τοῦ ζητουμένου θήρᾳ.” ἐπεὶ δὲ ἤκουσε τοῦ Δάμιδος καὶ ὅτι ὁ Τυανεὺς εἴη “ξυνείληφας” ἔφη “τὸ πρᾶγμα: Θρασύβουλος γὰρ καταπλέων μετ' ἐμοῦ τὸν Νεῖλον ἐρομένῳ μοι ἐφ' ὅ τι ἀναβαίη ἐνταῦθα, σοφίαν οὐ χρηστὴν ἑαυτοῦ διηγεῖτο τοὺς Γυμνοὺς τούτους ὑποψίας ἐμπεπληκέναι φάσκων πρὸς τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον, ὡς ὑπεροφθείη, ὁπότε ἔλθοι, κἀξ ὅτου μὲν διαφέρεται πρὸς αὐτὸν οὐκ οἶδα, τὸ δὲ ἐς διαβολὰς καθίστασθαι γυναικεῖόν τε ἡγοῦμαι καὶ ἀπαίδευτον. ἐγὼ δ' ἄν, ὡς διάκεινται, μάθοιμι προσειπὼν τοὺς ἄνδρας, φίλοι γάρ.” καὶ ἐπανῆλθε περὶ δείλην ὁ Τιμασίων πρὸς μὲν τὸν ̓Απολλώνιον οὐδὲν φράζων πλὴν τοῦ προσειρηκέναι σφᾶς, ἰδίᾳ δ' ἀπαγγέλλων πρὸς τὸν Δάμιν, ὡς ἀφίξοιντο αὔριον μεστοὶ ὧν τοῦ Θρασυβούλου ἤκουσαν.

Accordingly Apollonius lay down under one of the trees, and let his companions who were there with him ask whatever question they pleased. Damis took Timasion apart and asked him the question in private: About these naked sages, my good fellow, as you have lived with them, and in all probability know, tell me what their wisdom comes to? It is, answered the other, manifold an profound. And yet, said Damis, their demeanor towards us does not evince any wisdom, my fine fellow; for when they refuse to converse about wisdom with so great a man as our master, and assume all sorts of airs against him, what can I say of them except that they are too vain and proud. Pride and vanity! said the other, I have already come among them twice, and I never saw any such thing about them; for they were always very modest and courteous towards those who came to visit them. At any rate a little time ago, perhaps a matter of fifty days, one Thrasybulus was staying here who achieved nothing remarkable in philosophy, and they received him with open arms merely because he said he was a disciple of Euphrates. Then Damis cried: What's that you say, my boy? Then you saw Thrasybulus of Naucratis in this academy of theirs? Yes, and what's more, answered the other, I conveyed him hence, when he went down the river, in my own boat. Now I have it, by Athena, cried Damis, in a loud tone of indignation. I warrant he has played us some dirty trick. Timasion then replied: Your master, when I asked him yesterday who he was, would not answer me at once, but kept his name a secret; but do you, unless this is a mystery, tell me who he is, for then I could probably help you to find what you seek. And when he heard from Damis, that it was the sage of Tyana, You have put the matter, he said, in a nutshell. For Thrasybulus, as he descended the Nile with me, in answer to my question what he had gone up there for, explained to me that his love for wisdom was not genuine, and said that he had filled these naked sages with suspicion of Apollonius, to the end that whenever he came here they might flout him; and what his quarrel is with him I know not, but anyhow, it is, I think, worthy of a woman or of a vulgar person to backbite him as he has done. But I will address myself to these people and ascertain their real disposition; for they are friendly to me. And about eventide Timasion returned, though without telling Apollonius any more than that he had interchanged words with them; however he told Damis in private that they meant to come the next morning primed with all that they had heard from Thrasybulus.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

13 results

1. Philo of Alexandria, On Husbandry, 24 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

24. For as fishermen let down their nets at times to the most extraordinary depths, comprehending a vast surface of the sea in their circle, in order to catch the greatest possible number of fish enclosed within their nets, like people shut up within the walls of a besieged city; so in the same manner the greatest part of men having extended their universal nets to take everything, as the poets somewhere say, not only over the parts of the sea, but also over the whole nature of earth, and air, and water, seek to catch everything from every quarter for the enjoyment and attainment of pleasure.

2. Philo of Alexandria, On The Special Laws, 4.128 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

4.128. For a vast cloud being Raised{28}{#ex 16:13.} out of the sea showered down quails about the time of sunrise, and the camp and all the district around it for a day's journey for a well-girt active man was overshadowed all about with the Birds.{29}{#nu 11:31.} And the height of the flight of the birds was distant from the ground a height of about two cubits, in order that they might be easily caught.

3. Philo of Alexandria, On The Contemplative Life, 15, 18, 2, 22, 3-9, 14 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

14. The Greeks celebrate Anaxagoras and Democritus, because they, being smitten with a desire for philosophy, allowed all their estates to be devoured by cattle. I myself admire the men who thus showed themselves superior to the attractions of money; but how much better were those who have not permitted cattle to devour their possessions, but have supplied the necessities of mankind, of their own relations and friends, and have made them rich though they were poor before? For surely that was inconsiderate conduct (that I may avoid saying that any action of men whom Greece has agreed to admire was a piece of insanity); but this is the act of sober men, and one which has been carefully elaborated by exceeding prudence.

4. Philo of Alexandria, On The Life of Moses, 2.251 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

2.251. The fear is necessary, and the terror is inevitable, and the danger is great; in front of us is the widely open sea, there is no retreat to which we can flee, we have no vessels, behind are the phalanxes of the enemy ready to attack us, which march on and pursue us, never stopping to take breath. Where shall any one turn? Which way can any one look to escape? Every thing from every quarter has unexpectedly become hostile to us, the sea, the land, men, and the elements of nature.

5. Philo of Alexandria, Hypothetica, 11.1 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

6. Philo of Alexandria, On The Embassy To Gaius, 291 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

291. Agrippa, when he came to the temple, did honour to it, and he was thy grandfather; and so did Augustus, when by his letters he commanded all first fruits from all quarters to be sent thither; and by the continual sacrifice. And thy great grandmother ...( 292) "On which account, no one, whether Greek or barbarian, satrap, or king, or implacable enemy; no sedition, no war, no capture, no destruction, no occurrence that has ever taken place, has ever threatened this temple with such innovation as to place in it any image, or statue, or any work of any kind made with hands;

7. Philo of Alexandria, That Every Good Person Is Free, 76, 75 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

75. Moreover Palestine and Syria too are not barren of exemplary wisdom and virtue, which countries no slight portion of that most populous nation of the Jews inhabits. There is a portion of those people called Essenes, in number something more than four thousand in my opinion, who derive their name from their piety, though not according to any accurate form of the Grecian dialect, because they are above all men devoted to the service of God, not sacrificing living animals, but studying rather to preserve their own minds in a state of holiness and purity.

8. Apollonius of Tyana, Letters, 48.2, 55.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)

9. New Testament, Matthew, 6.7-6.8 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)

6.7. In praying, don't use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. 6.8. Therefore don't be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.

10. Philostratus The Athenian, Life of Apollonius, 1.1, 1.4, 1.14-1.16, 3.9, 3.35-3.36, 3.43, 3.49, 6.2-6.27, 6.2.1, 6.6.1 (2nd cent. CE

1.1. The votaries of Pythagoras of Samos have this story to tell of him, that he was not an Ionian at all, but that, once on a time in Troy, he had been Euphorbus, and that he had come to life after death, but had died as the songs of Homer relate. And they say that he declined to wear apparel made from dead animal products and, to guard his purity, abstained from all flesh diet, and from the offering of animals in sacrifice. For that he would not stain the altars with blood; nay, rather the honey-cake and frankincense and the hymn of praise, these they say were the offerings made to the Gods by this man, who realized that they welcome such tribute more than they do the hecatombs and the knife laid upon the sacrificial basket. For they say that he had of a certainty social intercourse with the gods, and learnt from them the conditions under which they take pleasure in men or are disgusted, and on this intercourse he based his account of nature. For he said that, whereas other men only make conjectures about divinity and make guesses that contradict one another concerning it, — in his own case he said that Apollo had come to him acknowledging that he was the god in person; and that Athena and the Muses and other gods, whose forms and names men did not yet know, had also consorted with him though without making such acknowledgment. And the followers of Pythagoras accepted as law any decisions communicated by him, and honored him as an emissary from Zeus, but imposed, out of respect for their divine character, a ritual silence on themselves. For many were the divine and ineffable secrets which they had heard, but which it was difficult for any to keep who had not previously learnt that silence also is a mode of speech.Moreover they declare that Empedocles of Acragas had trodden this way of wisdom when he wrote the lineRejoice ye, for I am unto you an immortal God, and no more mortal.And this also:For erewhile, I already became both girl and boy.And the story that he made at Olympia a bull of pastry and sacrificed it to the god also shows that he approved of the sentiments of Pythagoras. And there is much else that they tell of those sages who observe the rule of Pythagoras; but I must not now enter upon such points, but hurry on to the work which I have set myself to complete. 1.4. APOLLONIUS' home, then, was Tyana, a Greek city amidst a population of Cappadocians. His father was of the same name, and the family descended from the first settlers. It excelled in wealth the surrounding families, though the district is a rich one. To his mother, just before he was born, there came an apparition of Proteus, who changes his form so much in Homer, in the guise of an Egyptian demon. She was in no way frightened, but asked him what sort of child she would bear. And he answered: Myself. And who are you? she asked. Proteus, answered he, the god of Egypt. Well, I need hardly explain to readers of the poets the quality of Proteus and his reputation as regards wisdom; how versatile he was, and for ever changing his form, and defying capture, and how he had a reputation of knowing both past and future. And we must bear Proteus in mind all the more, when my advancing story shows its hero to have been more of a prophet than Proteus, and to have triumphed over many difficulties and dangers in the moment when they beset him most closely. 1.14. ON one occasion, Euxenus asked Apollonius why so noble a thinker as he and one who was master of a diction so fine and nervous did not write a book. He replied: I have not yet kept silence. And forthwith he began to hold his tongue from a sense of duty, and kept absolute silence, though his eyes and his mind were taking note of very many things, and though most things were being stored in his memory. Indeed, when he reached the age of a hundred, he still surpassed Simonides in point of memory, and he used to chant a hymn addressed to memory, in which it is said that everything is worn and withered away by time, whereas time itself never ages, but remains immortal because of memory. Nevertheless his company was not without charm during the period of his silence; for he would maintain a conversation by the expression of his eyes, by gestures of his hands and nodding his head; nor did he strike men as gloomy or morse; for he retained his fondness for company and cheerfulness. This part of his life he says was the most uphill work he knew, since he practiced silence for five whole years; for he says he often had things to say and could not do so, and he was often obliged not to hear things the hearing of which would have enraged him, and often when he was moved and inclined to break out in a rebuke to others, he said to himself: Bear up then, my heart and tongue; and when reasoning offended him he had to give up for the time the refuting of it. 1.15. THESE years of silence he spent partly in Pamphylia and partly in Cilicia; and though his paths lay through such effeminate races as these, he never spoke nor was even induced to murmur. Whenever, however, he came on a city engaged in civil conflict (and many were divided into fractions over spectacles of a low kind), he would advance and show himself, and by indicating part of his intended rebuke by manual gesture or by look on his face, he would put an end to all the disorder, and people hushed their voices, as if they were engaged in the mysteries. Well, it is not so very difficult to restrain those who have started a quarrel about dances and horses, for those who are rioting about such matters, if they turn their eyes to a real man, blush and check themselves and easily recover their senses; but a city hard pressed by famine is not so tractable, nor so easily brought to a better mood by persuasive words and its passion quelled. But in the case of Apollonius, mere silence on his part was enough for those so affected. Anyhow, when he came to Aspendus in Pamphylia (and this city is built on the river Eurymedon, lesser only than two others about there), he found vetches on sale in the market, and the citizens were feeding upon this and on anything else they could get; for the rich men had shut up all the grain and were holding it up for export from the country. Consequently an excited crowd of all ages had set upon the governor, and were lighting a fire to burn him alive, although he was clinging to the statues of the Emperor, which were more dreaded at that time and more inviolable than the Zeus in Olympia; for they were statues of Tiberius, in whose reign a master is said to have been held guilty of impiety, merely because he struck his own slave when he had on his person a silver drachma coined with the image of Tiberius. Apollonius then went up to the governor and with a sign of his hand asked him what was the matter; and he answered that he had done no wrong, but was indeed being wronged quite as much as the populace; but, he said, if he could not get a hearing, he would perish along with the populace. Apollonius then turned to the bystanders, and beckoned to them that they must listen; and they not only held their tongues from wonderment at him, but they laid the brands they had kindled on the altars which were there. The governor then plucked up courage and said: This man and that man, and he named several, are to blame for the famine which has arisen; for they have taken away the grain and are keeping it, one in one part of the country and another in another. The inhabitants of Aspendus thereupon passed the word to one another to make for these men's estates, but Apollonius signed with his head, that they should do no such thing, but rather summon those who were to blame and obtain the grain from them with their consent. And when, after a little time the guilty parties arrived, he very nearly broke out in speech against them, so much was he affected by the tears of the crowd; for the children and women had all flocked together, and the old men were groaning and moaning as if they were on the point of dying by hunger. However, he respected his vow of silence and wrote on a writing board his indictment of the offenders and handed it to the governor to read out aloud; and his indictment ran as follows: Apollonius to the grain dealers of Aspendus. The earth is mother of us all, for she is just; but you, because you are unjust have pretended that she is your mother alone; and if you do not stop, I will not permit you to remain upon her. They were so terrified by these words, that they filled the market-place with grain and the city revived. 1.16. After the term of his silence was over he also visited the great Antioch, and passed into the sanctuary of Apollo Daphnaios, to which the Assyrians attach the legend of Arcadia. For they say that Daphne, the daughter of Ladon, there underwent her metamorphosis, and they have a river flowing there, the Ladon, and a laurel tree is worshipped by them which they say is the one substituted for the maiden; and cypress trees of enormous height surround the sanctuary, and the ground sends up springs both ample and placid, in which they say Apollo purifies himself by ablution. And there it is that the earth sends up a shoot of cypress, they say in honor of Cyparissus, an Assyrian youth; and the beauty of the shrub lends credence to the story of his metamorphosis. Well, perhaps I may seem to have fallen into a somewhat juvenile vein to approach my story by such legendary particulars as these, but my interest is not really mythology. What then is the purport of my narrative? Apollonius, when he beheld a sanctuary so charming and yet the home of no serious studies, but only of men half-barbarous and uncultivated, remarked: O Apollo, change these voiceless ones into trees, so that at least as cypresses they may become vocal. And when he saw the Ladon, he said: It is not your daughter alone that underwent a change, but you too, so far as one can see, have become a barbarian after being a Hellene and an Arcadian. And when he was minded to converse, he avoided the frequented regions and the disorderly, and said, that it was not people he wanted but real men; and he resorted to the more solemn places, and lived in such sanctuaries as were not shut up. At sunrise, indeed, he performed certain rites by himself, rites which he only communicated to those who had disciplined themselves by a four years' spell of silence; but during the rest of the day, in case the city was a Greek one, and the sacred rituals familiar to a Greek, he would call the priests together and talk wisely about the gods, and would correct them, supposing they had departed from the traditional forms. If, however, the rites were barbarous and peculiar, then he would find out who had founded them and on what occasion they were established, and having learnt the sort of cult it was, he would make suggestions, in case he could think of any improvement upon them, and then he would go in quest of his followers and bid them ask any questions they liked. For he said that it was the duty of philosophers of his school to hold converse at the earliest dawn with the gods, but as the day advanced, about the gods, and during the rest of the day to discuss human affairs in friendly intercourse. And having answered all the questions which his companions addressed to him, and when he had enough of their society, he would rise and give himself up for the rest to haranguing the general public, not however before midday, but as far as possible just when the day stood still. And when he thought he had enough of such discussion, he would be anointed and rubbed, and then fling himself into cold water, for he called hot baths the old age of men. At any rate when the people of Antioch were shut out of them because of the enormities committed there, he said: The emperor, for your sins, has granted you a new lease of life. And when the Ephesians wanted to stone their governor because he did not fire up the baths, he said to them: You are blaming your governor because you get such a sorry bath; but I blame you because you take a bath at all. 3.9. THEY tell us that the city under the mountain is of great size and is called Paraca, and that in the center of it are enshrined a great many heads of dragons, for the Indians who inhabit it are trained from their boyhood in this form of sport. And they are also said to acquire an understanding of the language and ideas of animals by feeding either on the heart or the liver of the dragon. And as they advanced they thought they heard the pipe of some shepherd marshaling his flock, but it turned out to be a man looking after a herd of white hinds, for the Indians use these for milking, and find their milk very nutritious. 3.35. And the subject is so vast and so far transcends our mental powers, that I do not know any example adequate to illustrate it; but we will take that of a ship, such as the Egyptians construct for our seas and launch for the exchange of Egyptian goods against Indian wares. For there is an ancient law in regard to the Red Sea, which the king Erythras laid down, when he held sway over that sea, to the effect that the Egyptians should not enter it with a vessel of war, and indeed should employ only a single merchant ship. This regulation obliged the Egyptians to contrive a ship equivalent to several at once of those which other races have; and they ribbed the sides of this ship with bolts such as hold a ship together, and they raised its bulwarks and its mast to a great height, and they constructed several compartments, such as are built upon the timber balks which run athwart a ship, and they set several pilots in this boat and subordinated them to the oldest and wisest of their number, to conduct the voyage; and there were several officers on the prow and excellent and handy sailors to man the sails; and in the crew of this ship there was a detachment of armed men, for it is necessary to equip the ship and protect it against the savages of the Gulf that live on the right hand as you enter it, in case they should ever attack and plunder it on the high seas. Let us apply this imagery to the universe, and regard it in the light of a naval construction; for then you must apportion the first and supreme position to God the begetter of this animal, and subordinate posts to the gods who govern its parts; and we may well assent to the statements of the poets, when they say that there are many gods in heaven and many in the sea, and many in the fountains and streams, and many round about the earth, and that there are some even under the earth. But we shall do well to separate from the universe the region under the earth, if there is one, because the poets represent it as an abode of terror and corruption. 3.36. AS the Indian concluded this discourse, Damis says that he was transported with admiration and applauded loudly; for he could never have thought that a native of India could show such mastery of the Greek tongue, nor even that, supposing he understood that language, he could have used it with so much ease and elegance. And he praises the look and smile of Iarchas, and the inspired air with which he expressed his ideas, admitting that Apollonius, although he had a delivery as graceful as it was free from bombast, nevertheless gained a great deal by contact with this Indian, and he says that whenever he sat down to discuss a theme, as he very often did, he resembled Iarchas. 3.43. And with these words he turned to Damis and said playfully: And you, O Assyrian, have you no foreknowledge of anything, especially as you associate with such a man as this? Yes, by Zeus, answered Damis, at any rate of the things that are necessary for myself; for when I first met with Apollonius here, he at once struck me as full of wisdom and cleverness and sobriety and of true endurance; but when I saw that he also had a good memory, and that he was very learned and entirely devoted to the love of learning, he became to me something superhuman; and I came to the conclusion that if I stuck to him I should be held a wise man instead of an ignoramus and a dullard, and an educated man instead of a savage; and I saw that, if I followed him and shared his pursuits, I should visit the Indians and visit you, and that I should be turned into a Hellene by him and be able to mix with the Hellenes. Now of course you set your oracles, as they concern important issues, on a level with those of Delphi and Dodona and of any other shrine you like; as for my own premonitions, since Damis is the person who has them, and since his foreknowledge concerns himself alone, we will suppose that they resemble the guesses of an old beggar wife foretelling what will happen to sheep and such like. 3.49. And the phoenix, he said, is the bird which visits Egypt every five hundred years, but the rest of that time it flies about in India; and it is unique in that it gives out rays of sunlight and shines with gold, in size and appearance like an eagle; and it sits upon the nest; which is made by it at the springs of the Nile out of spices. The story of the Egyptians about it, that it comes to Egypt, is testified to by the Indians also, but the latter add this touch to the story, that the phoenix which is being consumed in its nest sings funeral strains for itself. And this is also done by the swans according to the account of those who have the wit to hear them. 6.2. For when he arrived at the confines of Ethiopia and Egypt, and the name of the place is Sycaminus, he came across a quantity of uncoined gold and linen and an elephant and various roots and myrrh and spices, which are all lying without anyone to watch them at the crossways. I will explain the meaning of this, for the same custom still survives among ourselves. It was a market place to which the Ethiopians bring all the products of their country; and the Egyptians in their turn take them all away and bring to the same spot their own wares of equal value, so bartering what they have got for what they have not. Now the inhabitants of the marches are not yet fully black but are half-breeds in matter of color, for they are partly not so black as the Ethiopians, yet partly more so than the Egyptians. Apollonius, accordingly, when he realized the character of the market, remarked: Contrast our good Hellenes: they pretend they cannot live unless one penny begets another and unless they can force up the price of their goods by chaffering or holding them back; and one pretends that he has got a daughter whom it is time to marry, and another that he has got a son who has just reached manhood, and a third that he has to pay his subscription to his club, and a fourth that he is having a house built for him, and a fifth that he would be ashamed of being thought a worse man of business than his father was before him. What a splendid thing then it would be, if wealth were held in less honor and equality flourished a little more and “if the black iron were left to rust in the ground,” for all men would agree with one another, and the whole earth would be like one brotherhood. 6.3. With such conversations, the occasions providing as usual the topics he talked about, he turned his steps towards Memnon; an Egyptian showed them the way, of whom Damis gives the following account: Timasion was the name of this stripling, who was just emerging from boyhood, and was now in the prime of life and strength. He had a stepmother who had fallen in love with him; and when he rejected her overtures, she set upon him and by way of spiting him had poisoned his father's mind against him, condescending to a lower intrigue than ever Phaedra had done, for she accused him of being effeminate, and of finding his pleasure in pederasts rather than in women. He had accordingly abandoned Naucratis, for it was there that all this happened, and was living in the neighborhood of Memphis; and he had acquired and manned a boat of his own and was plying as a waterman on the Nile. He then, was going down the river when he saw Apollonius sailing up it; and he concluded that the crew consisted of wise men, because he judged them by the cloaks they wore and the books they were hard at work studying. So he asked them whether they would allow one who was so passionately fond of wisdom as himself to share their voyage; and Apollonius said: This youth is wise, my friends, so let him be granted his request. And he further related the story about his stepmother to those of his companions who were nearest to him in a low tone while the stripling was still sailing towards them. But when the ships were alongside of one another, Timasion stepped out of his boat, and after addressing a word or two to his pilot, about the cargo in his own boat, he greeted the company. Apollonius then ordered him to sit down under his eyes, and said: You stripling of Egypt, for you seem to be one of the natives, tell me what you have done of evil or what of good; for in the one case you shall be forgiven by me, in consideration of your youth; but in the other you shall reap my commendation and become a fellow-student of philosophy with me and with these gentlemen. Then noticing that Timasion blushed and checked his impulse to speak, and hesitated whether to say or not what he had been going to say, he pressed his question and repeated it, just as if he had no foreknowledge of the youth at his command. Then Timasion plucked up courage and said: O Heavens, how shall I describe myself? for I am not a bad boy, and yet I do not know whether I ought to be considered a good one, for there is no particular merit in having abstained from wrong. But Apollonius cried: Bravo, my boy, you answer me just as if you were a sage from India; for this was just the sentiment of the divine Iarchas. But tell me how you came to form these opinions, and how long ago; for it strikes me that you have been on your guard against some sin. The youth then began to tell them of his stepmother's infatuation for himself, and of how he had rejected her advances; and when he did so, there was a shout in recognition of the divine inspiration under which Apollonius had foretold these details. Timasion, however, caught them up and said: Most excellent people, what is the matter with you? for my story is one which calls as little for your admiration, I think, as for your ridicule. But Damis said: It was not that we were admiring, but something else which you don't know about yet. As for you, my boy, we praise you because you think that you did nothing very remarkable. And Apollonius said: Do you sacrifice to Aphrodite, my boy? And Timasion answered: Yes, by Zeus, every day; for I consider that this goddess has great influence in human and divine affairs. Thereat Apollonius was delighted beyond measure, and cried: Let us, gentlemen, vote a crown to him for his continence rather than to Hippolytus the son of Theseus, for the latter insulted Aphrodite; and that perhaps is why he never fell a victim to the tender passion, and why love never ran riot in his soul; but he was allotted an austere and unbending nature. But our friend here admits that he is devoted to the goddess, and yet did not respond to his stepmother's guilty overtures, but went away in terror of the goddess herself, in case he were not on his guard against another's evil passions; and the mere aversion to any one of the gods, such as Hippolytus entertained in regard to Aphrodite, I do not class as a form of sobriety; for it is a much greater proof of wisdom and sobriety to speak well of the gods, especially at Athens, where altars are set up in honor even of unknown gods. So great was the interest which he took in Timasion. Nevertheless he called him Hippolytus for the eyes with which he looked at his stepmother. It seemed also that he was a young man who was particular about his person and enhanced its charms by attention to athletic exercises. 6.4. Under his guidance, they say, they went on to the sacred enclosure of Memnon, of whom Damis gives the following account. He says that he was the son of the Dawn, and that he did not meet his death in Troy, where indeed he never went; but that he died in Ethiopia after ruling the land for five generations. But his countrymen being the longest lived of men, still mourn him as a mere youth and deplore his untimely death. But the place in which his statue is set up resembles, they tell us, an ancient market-place, such as remain in cities that were long ago inhabited, and where we come on broken stumps and fragments of columns, and find traces of walls as well as seats and jambs of doors, and images of Hermes, some destroyed by the hand of man, others by that of time. Now this statue, says Damis, was turned towards the sunrise, and was that of a youth still unbearded; and it was made of a black stone, and the two feet were joined together after the style in which statues were made in the time of Daedalus; and the arms of the figure were perpendicular to the seat pressing upon it, for though the figure was still sitting it was represented in the very act of rising up. We hear much of this attitude of the statue, and of the expression of its eyes, and of how the lips seem about to speak; but they say that they had no opportunity of admiring these effects until they saw them realized; for when the sun's rays fell upon the statue, and this happened exactly at dawn, they could not restrain their admiration; for the lips spoke immediately the sun's ray touched them, and the eyes seemed to stand out and gleam against the light as do those of men who love to bask in the sun. Then they say they understood that the figure was of one in the act of rising and making obeisance to the sun, in the way those do who worship the powers above standing erect. They accordingly offered a sacrifice to the Sun of Ethiopia and to Memnon of the Dawn, for this the priests recommended them to do, explaining that one name was derived from the words signifying to burn and be warm [ 1] and the other from his mother. Having done this they set out upon camels for the home of the naked philosophers. 6.5. On the way they met a man wearing the garb of the inhabitants of Memphis, but who was wandering about rather than wending his steps to a fixed point; so Damis asked him who he was and why he was roving about like that. But Timasion said: You had better ask me, and not him; for he will never tell you what is the matter with him, because he is ashamed of the plight in which he finds himself; but as for me, I know the poor man and pity him, and I will tell you all about him. For he has slain unwittingly a certain inhabitant of Memphis, and the laws of Memphis prescribe that a person exiled for an involuntary offense of this kind, — and the penalty is exile, — should remain with the naked philosophers until he has washed away the guilt of bloodshed, and then he may return home as soon as he is pure, though he must first go to the tomb of the slain man and sacrifice there some trifling victim. Now until he has been received by the naked philosophers, so long he must roam about these marches, until they take pity upon him as if he were a suppliant. Apollonius therefore put the question to Timasion: What do the naked philosophers think of this particular exile? And he answered: I do not know anything more than that this is the seventh month that he has remained here as a suppliant, and that he has not yet obtained redemption. Said Apollonius: You don't call men wise, who refuse to purify him, and are not aware that Philiscus whom he slew was a descendant of Thamus the Egyptian, who long ago laid waste the country of these naked philosophers. Thereat Timasion said in surprise: What do you mean? I mean, said the other, my good youth, what was actually the fact; for this Thamus once on a time was intriguing against the inhabitants of Memphis, and these philosophers detected his plot and prevented him; and he having failed in his enterprise retaliated by laying waste all the land upon which they live, for by his brigandage he tyrannized the country round Memphis. I perceive that Philiscus whom this man slew was the thirteenth in descent from this Thamus, and was obviously an object of execration to those whose country the latter so thoroughly ravaged at the time in question. Where then is their wisdom? Here is a man that they ought to crown, even if he had slain the other intentionally; and yet they refuse to purge him of a murder which he committed involuntarily on their behalf.. The youth then was astounded and said: Stranger, who are you? And Apollonius replied: He whom you shall find among these naked philosophers. But as it is not allowed me by my religion to address one who is stained with blood, I would ask you, my good boy, to encourage him, and tell him that he will at once be purged of guilt, if he will come to the place where I am lodging. And when the man in question came, Apollonius went through the rites over him which Empedocles and Pythagoras prescribe for the purification of such offenses, and told him to return home, for that he was now pure of guilt. 6.6. Thence they rode out at sunrise, and arrived before midday at the academy of the naked sages, who dwell, they relate, upon a moderate-sized hill a little way from the bank of the Nile; and in point of wisdom they fall short of the Indians rather more than they excel the Egyptians. And they wear next to no clothes in the same way as people do at Athens in the heat of summer. And in their district there are few trees, and a certain grove of no great size to which they resort when they meet for the transaction of common affairs; but they do not build their shrines in one and the same place, as Indian shrines are built, but one is in one part of the hill and another in another, all worthy of observation, according to the accounts of the Egyptians. The Nile is the chief object of their worship, for they regard this river as land and water at once. They have no need, however, of hut or dwelling, because they live in the open air directly under the heaven itself, but they have built an hospice to accommodate strangers, and it is a portico of no great size, about equal in length to those of Elis, beneath which the athletes await the sound of the midday trumpet. 6.7. At this place Damis records an action of Euphrates, which if we do not regard it as juvenile, was anyhow unworthy of the dignity of a philosopher. Euphrates had heard Apollonius often say that he wished to compare the wisdom of India with that of Egypt, so he sent up to the naked sages one Thrasybulus, a native of Naucratis, to take away our sage's character. Thrasybulus at the same time that he pretended to have come there in order to enjoy their society, told them that the sage of Tyana would presently arrive, and that they would have no little trouble with him, because he esteemed himself more highly than the sages of India did themselves, though he extolled the latter whenever he opened his mouth; and he added that Apollonius had contrived a thousand pitfalls for them, and that he would not allow any sort of influence either to the sun, or to the sky, or to the earth, but pretended to move and juggle and rearrange these forces for whatever end he chose. 6.8. Having concocted these stories the man of Naucratis went away; and they, imagining they were true, did not indeed decline to meet Apollonius when he arrived, but pretended that they were occupied with important business and were so intent upon it, that they could only arrange an interview with him if they had time, and if they were informed first of what he wanted and of what attracted him thither.And a messenger from the bade them stay and lodge in the portico, but Apollonius remarked: We do not want to hear about a house for ourselves, for the climate here is such that anyone can live naked, — an unkind reference this to them, as it implied that they went without clothes not to show their endurance, but because it was too to wear any. And he added: I am not surprised indeed at their nor yet knowing what I want, and what I am come here for, though the Indians never asked me these questions. 6.9. Accordingly Apollonius lay down under one of the trees, and let his companions who were there with him ask whatever question they pleased. Damis took Timasion apart and asked him the question in private: About these naked sages, my good fellow, as you have lived with them, and in all probability know, tell me what their wisdom comes to? It is, answered the other, manifold an profound. And yet, said Damis, their demeanor towards us does not evince any wisdom, my fine fellow; for when they refuse to converse about wisdom with so great a man as our master, and assume all sorts of airs against him, what can I say of them except that they are too vain and proud. Pride and vanity! said the other, I have already come among them twice, and I never saw any such thing about them; for they were always very modest and courteous towards those who came to visit them. At any rate a little time ago, perhaps a matter of fifty days, one Thrasybulus was staying here who achieved nothing remarkable in philosophy, and they received him with open arms merely because he said he was a disciple of Euphrates. Then Damis cried: What's that you say, my boy? Then you saw Thrasybulus of Naucratis in this academy of theirs? Yes, and what's more, answered the other, I conveyed him hence, when he went down the river, in my own boat. Now I have it, by Athena, cried Damis, in a loud tone of indignation. I warrant he has played us some dirty trick. Timasion then replied: Your master, when I asked him yesterday who he was, would not answer me at once, but kept his name a secret; but do you, unless this is a mystery, tell me who he is, for then I could probably help you to find what you seek. And when he heard from Damis, that it was the sage of Tyana, You have put the matter, he said, in a nutshell. For Thrasybulus, as he descended the Nile with me, in answer to my question what he had gone up there for, explained to me that his love for wisdom was not genuine, and said that he had filled these naked sages with suspicion of Apollonius, to the end that whenever he came here they might flout him; and what his quarrel is with him I know not, but anyhow, it is, I think, worthy of a woman or of a vulgar person to backbite him as he has done. But I will address myself to these people and ascertain their real disposition; for they are friendly to me. And about eventide Timasion returned, though without telling Apollonius any more than that he had interchanged words with them; however he told Damis in private that they meant to come the next morning primed with all that they had heard from Thrasybulus. 6.10. They spent that evening conversing about trifles which are not worth recording, and then they lay down to sleep on the spot where they had supped; but at daybreak Apollonius, after adoring the sun according to his custom, had set himself to meditate upon some problem, when Nilus, who was the youngest of the naked philosophers, running up to him, exclaimed: We are coming to you. Quite right, said Apollonius, for to get to you I have made this long journey from the sea all the way here. And with these words he followed Nilus. So after exchanging greetings with the sages, and they met him close to the portico. Where, said Apollonius, shall we hold our interview? Here, said Thespesion, pointing to the grove. Now Thespesion was the eldest of the sect, and led them in procession; and they followed him with an orderly and leisurely step, just as the jury of the athletic sports at Olympia follow the eldest of their number. And when they had sat down, which they did anyhow, and without the observing their previous order, they all fixed their eyes on Thespesion as the one who should regale them with a discourse, which he proceeded as follows: They say, Apollonius, that you have visited the Pythian and Olympian festivals; for this was reported of you here by Stratocles of Pharos, who says he met you there. Now those who come to the Pythian festival are, they say, escorted with the sound of pipe and song and lyre, and are honored with shows of comedies and tragedies; and then last of all they are presented with an exhibition of games and races run by naked athletes. At the Olympic festival, however, these superfluities are omitted as inappropriate and unworthy of the place; and those who go to the festival are only provided with the show of naked athletes originally instituted by Heracles. You may see the same contrast between the wisdom of the Indians and our own. For they, like those who invite others to the Pythian festival, appeal to the crowd with all sorts of charms and wizardry; but we, like the athletes of Olympia, go naked. Here earth strews for us no couches, nor does it yield us milk or wine as if we were bacchants, nor does the air uplift us and sustain us aloft. But the earth beneath us is our only couch, and we live by partaking of its natural fruits, which we would have it yield to us gladly and without being tortured against its will. But you shall see that we are not unable to work tricks if we like. Heigh! you tree yonder, he cried, pointing to an elm tree, the third in the row from that under which they were talking, just salute the wise Apollonius, will you? And forthwith the tree saluted him, as it was bidden to do, in accents which were articulate and like those of a woman. Now he wrought this sign to discredit the Indians, and in the belief that by doing so he would wean Apollonius of his excessive estimate of their powers; for he was always recounting to everybody what the Indians said and did.Then the Egyptian added these precepts: he said that it is sufficient for the sage to abstain from eating all flesh of living animals, and from the roving desires which mount up in the soul through the eyes, and from envy which ends by teaching injustice to hand and will, and that truth stands not in need of miracle-mongering and sinister arts. For look, he said, at the Apollo of Delphi, who keeps the center of Hellas for the utterance of his oracles. There then, as you probably know yourself, a person who desires a response, puts his question briefly, and Apollo tells what he knows without any miraculous display. And yet it would be just as easy for him to convulse the whole mountain of Parnassus, and to alter the springs of the Castalian fountain so that it should run with wine, and to check the river Cephisus and stay its stream; but he reveals the bare truth without any of this show of ostentation. Nor must we suppose that it is by his will, that so much gold and showy offerings enter his treasury, nor that he would care for his temple even if it were made twice as large as it already is. For once on a time this god Apollo dwelt in quite a humble habitation; and a little hut was constructed for him to which the bees are said to have contributed their honeycomb and wax, and the birds their feathers. For simplicity is the teacher of wisdom and the teacher of truth; and you must embrace it, if you would have men think you really wise, and forget all your legendary tales that you have acquired among the Indians. For what need is there to beat the drum over such simple matters as: “Do this, or do not do it,” or “I know it, or I do not know it,” or “It is this and not that'? What do you want with thunder, nay, I would say, What do you want to be thunder-struck for?You have seen in picture-books the representation of Heracles by Prodicus; in it Heracles is represented as a youth, who has not yet chosen the life he will lead; and vice and virtue stand in each side of him plucking his garments and trying to draw him to themselves. Vice is adorned with gold and necklaces and with purple raiment, and her cheeks are painted and her hair delicately plaited and her eyes underlined with henna; and she also wears golden slippers, for she is pictured strutting about in these; but virtue in the picture resembles a woman worn out with toil, with a pinched look; and she has chosen for her adornment rough squalor, and she goes without shoes and in the plainest of raiment, and she would have appeared naked if she had not too much regard for her feminine decency. Now figure yourself, Apollonius, as standing between Indian wisdom on one side, and our humble wisdom on the other; imagine that you hear the one telling you how she will strew flowers under you when you lie down to sleep, yes, and by Heaven, how she will regale you upon milk and nourish you on honey-comb, and how she will supply you with nectar and wings, whenever you want them; and how she will wheel in tripods, whenever you drink, and golden thrones; and you shall have no hard work to do, but everything will be flung unsought into your lap. But the other discipline insists that you must lie on the bare ground in squalor, and be seen to toil naked like ourselves; and that you must not find dear or sweet anything which you have not won by hard work; and that you must not be boastful, not hunt after vanities and pursue pride; and that you must be on your guard against all dreams and visions which lift you off the earth. If then you really make the choice of Heracles, and steel your will resolutely, neither to dishonor truth, nor to decline the simplicity of nature, then you may say that you have overcome many lions and have cut off the heads of many hydras and of monsters like Geryon and Nessus, and have accomplished all his other labors, but if you embrace the life of a strolling juggler, you will flatter men's eyes and ears, but they will think you no wiser than anybody else, and you will become the vanquished of any naked philosopher of Egypt. 6.11. When he ended, all turned their eyes upon Apollonius; his own followers knowing well that he would reply, while Thespesion's friends wondered what he could say in answer. But he, after praising the fluency and vigor of the Egyptian, merely said: Have you anything more to say? No, by Zeus, said the other, for I have said all I have to say. Then he asked afresh: And has not any one of the rest of the Egyptians anything to say? I am their spokesman, answered his antagonist, and you have heard them all. Apollonius accordingly paused for a minute and then, fixing his eyes, as it were, on the discourse he had heard, he spoke as follows: You have very well described and in a sound philosophic spirit the choice which Prodicus declares Heracles to have made as a young man; but, ye wise men of the Egyptians, it does not apply in the least to myself. For I am not come here to ask your advice about how to live, insomuch as I long ago made choice of the life which seemed best to myself; and as I am older than any of you, except Thespesion, I myself am better qualified, now I have got here, to advise you how to choose wisdom, if I did not find that you had already made the choice. Being, however, as old as I am, and so far advanced in wisdom as I am, I shall not hesitate as it were to make you the auditors of my life and motives, and teach you that I rightly chose this life of mine, than which no better one has ever suggested itself to me. For I discerned a certain sublimity in the discipline of Pythagoras, and how a certain secret wisdom enabled him to know, not only who he was himself, but also who he had been; and I saw that he approached the altars in purity, and suffered not his belly to be polluted by partaking of the flesh of animals and that he kept his body pure of all garments woven of dead animal refuse; and that he was the first of mankind to restrain his tongue, inventing a discipline of silence described in the proverbial phrase, An ox sits upon it. I also saw that his philosophical system was in other respects oracular and true. So I ran to embrace his teachings, not choosing one form of wisdom rather than another of two presented me, as you, my excellent Thespesion, advise me to do. For philosophy marshaled before me her various points of view, investing them with the adornment proper to each and she commanded me to look upon them and make a sound choice. Now they were all possessed of an august and divine beauty; and some of them were of such dazzling brightness that you might well have closed your eyes. However I fixed my eyes firmly upon all of them, for they themselves encouraged me to do so by moving towards me, and telling me beforehand how much they would give me. Well, one of them professed that she would shower upon me a swarm of pleasures without any toil on my part and another that she would give me rest after toil; and a third that she would mingle mirth and merriment in my toil; and everywhere I had glimpses of pleasures and of unrestrained indulgence in the pleasures of the table; and it seemed that I had only to stretch out my hand to be rich, and that I needed not to set any bridle upon my eyes, but love and loose desire and such-like feelings were freely allowed me. One of them, however, boasted that she would restrain me from such things, but she was bold and abusive and in an unabashed manner elbowed all others aside; and I beheld the ineffable form of wisdom 6.12. Damis says that he breathed afresh when he heard this address; for that the Egyptians were so impressed by Apollonius' words, that Thespesion, in spite of the blackness of his complexion, visibly blushed, while the rest of them seemed in some way stunned by the vigorous and fluent discourse which they listened to; but the youngest of them, whose name was Nilus, leapt up from the ground, he says, in admiration, and passing over to Apollonius shook hands with him, and besought him to tell him about the interviews which he had had with the Indians. And Apollonius, he says, replied: I should not grudge you anything, for you are ready to listen, as I see, and are ready to welcome wisdom of every kind; but I should not care to pour out the teachings I gathered there upon Thespesion or on anyone else who regards the lore of the Indians as so much nonsense. Whereupon Thespesion said: But if you were a merchant or a seafarer, and you brought to us some cargo or other from over there, would you claim, merely because it came from India, to dispose of it untested and unexamined, refusing us either the liberty of looking at it or tasting it? But Apollonius repled as follows: I should furnish it to those who asked for it; but if the moment my ship had reached the harbor, someone came down the beach and began to run down my cargo and abuse myself, and say that I came from a country which produces nothing worth having, and if he reproached me for sailing with a cargo of shoddy goods, and tried to persuade the rest to think like himself, do you suppose that one would, after entering such a harbor, cast anchor or make his cables fast, and not rather hoist his sails and put to sea afresh, entrusting his goods more gladly to the winds than to such undiscerning and inhospitable people? Well, I anyhow, said Nilus, lay hold on your cables, and entreat you, my skipper, to let me share your goods that you bring hither; and I would gladly embark with you in your ship as a super-cargo and a clerk to check your merchandise. 6.13. Thespesion, however, was anxious to put a stop to such propositions, so he said: I am glad, Apollonius, that you are annoyed at what we said to you; for you can the more readily condone our annoyance at the misrepresentation you made of our local wisdom, long before you had gained any experience of its quality. Apollonius was for a moment astonished at these words, for he had heard nothing as yet of the intrigues of Thrasybulus and Euphrates; but as was his wont, he guessed the truth and said: The Indians, O Thespesion, would never have behaved as you have, nor have given ear to these insinuation dropped by Euphrates, for they have a gift of prescience. Now I never have had any quarrel of my own with Euphrates; I only tried to wean him of his passion for money and cure his propensity to value everything by what he could make out of it; but I found that my advice was not congenial to him, nor in his case practicable; nay he merely takes it as a tacit reproach, and never loses any opportunity of intriguing against me. But since you have found his attacks upon my character so plausible, I may as well tell you that it is you, rather than myself, that he has calumniated. For though, as is clear to me, the victims of calumny incur considerable dangers, since they are, I suppose, sure to be disliked without having done any wrong, yet neither are those who incline to listen to the calumnies free from danger; for in the first place they will be convicted of paying respect to lies and giving them as much attention as they would to the truth, and secondly they are convicted of levity and credulity, faults which it is disgraceful even for a stripling to fall into. And they will be thought envious, because they allow envy to teach them to listen to unjust tittle-tattle; and they expose themselves all the more to calumny, because they think it true of others. For man is by nature inclined to commit a fault which he does not discredit when he hears it related to others. Heaven forbid that a man of these inclinations should become a tyrant, or even president of a popular state; for in his hands even a democracy would become a tyranny; nor let him be made a judge, for surely he will not ever discern the truth. Nor let him be captain of a ship, for the crew would mutiny, nor general of an army, for that would bring luck to the adversary; nor let one of his disposition attempt philosophy, for he would not consider the truth in forming his opinions. But Euphrates has deprived you of even the quality of wisdom; for how can those on whom he has imposed with his falsehoods claim wisdom for themselves? have they not deserted from it to take sides with one who has persuaded them of improbabilities? Here Thespesion tried to calm him, and remarked: Enough of Euphrates and of his small-minded affairs; for we are quite ready even to reconcile you with him, since we consider it the proper work of a sage to be umpire in the disputes of other sages. But, said Apollonius, who shall reconcile me with you? For the victim of lies must surely be driven into hostility by the falsehood. ... Be it so, said Apollonius, and let us hold a conversation, for that will be the best way of reconciling us. 6.14. And Nilus, as he was passionately anxious to listen to Apollonius, said: And what's more, it behoves you to begin the conversation, and to tell us all about the journey which you made to the people of India, and about the conversations which you held there, I have no doubt, on the most brilliant topics. And I too, said Thespesion, long to hear about the wisdom of Phraotes, for you are said to have brought from India some examples of his arguments. Apollonius accordingly began by telling them about the events which occurred in Babylon, and told them everything, and they gladly listened to him, spellbound by his words. But when it was midday, they broke of the conversations, for at this time of day the naked sages, like others, attend to the ceremonies of religion. 6.15. Apollonius and his comrades were about to dine, when Nilus presented himself with vegetables and bread and dried fruits, some of which he carried himself, while his friends carried the rest; and very politely he said: The sages send these gifts of hospitality, not only to yourselves but to me; for I mean to share in your repast, not uninvited, as they say, but inviting myself. It is a delightful gift of hospitality, said Apollonius, which you bring to us, O youth, in the shape of yourself and your disposition, for you are evidently a philosopher without guile, and an enthusiastic lover of the doctrines of the Indians and of Pythagoras. So lie down here and eat with us. I will do so, said the other, but your dishes will not be ample enough to satisfy me. It seems to me, said the other, that you are a gourmand and an appalling eater. None like me, said the other, for although you have set before me so ample and so brilliant a repast, I am not sated; and after a little time I am come back again to eat afresh. What then can you call me but an insatiable cormorant? Eat your fill, said Apollonius, and as for topics of conversation, some you must yourself supply, and I will give you others. 6.16. So when they had dined, I, said Nilus, until now have been camping together with the naked sages, and joined my forces with them as with certain light armed troops or slingers. But now I intend to put on my heavy armor, and it is your shield that shall adorn me. But, said Apollonius, I think, my good Egyptian, that you will incur the censure of Thespesion and his society for two reasons; firstly, that after no further examination and testing of ourselves you have left them, and secondly that you give the preference to our manners and discipline with more precipitancy than is admissible where a man is making choice of how he shall live. I agree with you, said the young man, but if I am to blame for making this choice, I might also be to blame if I did not make it; and anyhow they will be most open to rebuke, if they make the same choice as myself. For it will be more justly reprehensible in them, as they are both older and wiser than myself, not to have made the choice long ago which I make now; for with all their advantages they will have failed to choose what in practice would so much redound to their advantage. A very generous sentiment indeed, my good youth, is this which you have expressed, said Apollonius; but beware lest the mere fact of their being so wise and aged should give them an appearance, at any rate, of being right in choosing as they have done, and of having good reason for rejecting my doctrine; and lest you should seem to take up a very bold position in setting them to rights rather than in following them. But the Egyptian turned short round upon Apollonius and countering his opinion said: So far as it was right for a young man to agree with his elders, I have been careful to do so; for so long as I thought that these gentlemen were possessed of a wisdom which belonged to no other set of men, I attached myself to them; and the motive which actuated me to do so was the following: My father once made a voyage on his own initiative to the Red Sea, for he was, I may tell you, captain of the ship which the Egyptians send to the Indies. And after he had had intercourse with the Indians of the seaboard, he brought home stories of the wise men of that region, closely similar to those which you have told us. And his account which I heard was somewhat as follows, namely that the Indians are the wisest of mankind, but that the Ethiopians are colonists sent from India, who follow their forefathers in matters of wisdom, and fix their eyes on the institutions of their home. Well, I, having reached my teens, surrendered my patrimony to those who wanted it more than myself, and frequented the society of these naked sages, naked myself as they, in the hope of picking up the teaching of the Indians, or at any rate teaching allied to theirs. And they certainly appeared to me to be wise, though not after the manner of India; but when I asked them point blank why they did not teach the philosophy of India, they plunged into abuse of the natives of that country very much as you have heard them do in their speeches this very day. Now I was still young, as you see, so they made me a member of their society, because I imagine they were afraid I might hastily quit them and undertake a voyage to the Red Sea, as my father did before me. And I should certainly have done so, yes, by Heaven, I would have pushed on until I reached the hill of the sages, unless someone of the gods had sent you hither to help me and enabled me without either making any voyage over the Red Sea or adventuring to the inhabitants of the Gulf, to taste the wisdom of India. It is not today therefore for the first time that I shall make my choice, but I made it long ago, though I did not obtain what I hoped to obtain. For what is there to wonder at if a man who has missed what he was looking for, returns to the search? And if I should convert my friends yonder to this point of view, and persuade them to adopt the convictions which I have adopted myself, should I, tell me, be guilty of any hardihood? For you must not reject the claim that youth makes, that in some way it assimilates an idea more easily than old age; and anyone who counsels another to adopt the wisdom and teaching which he himself has chosen, anyhow escapes the imputation of trying to persuade others of things he does not believe himself. And anyone who takes the blessings bestowed upon him by fortune into a corner and there enjoys them by himself, violates their character as blessings, for he prevents their sweetness from being enjoyed by as many as possible. 6.17. When Nilus had finished these arguments, and juvenile enough they were, Apollonius took him up and said: If you were in love with my wisdom, had you not better, before I begin, discuss with me the question of my reward? Let us discuss it, answered Nilus, and do you ask whatever you like. I ask you, he said, to be content with the choice you have made, and not to annoy the naked sages by giving them advice which they will not take. I consent, he said, and let this be agreed upon as your reward. This then was the substance of their conversation, and when Nilus at its close asked him how long a time he would stay among the naked sages he replied: So long as the quality of their wisdom justifies anyone in remaining in their company; and after that I shall take my way to the cataracts, in order to see the springs of the Nile, for it will be delightful not only to behold the sources of the Nile, but also to listen to the roar of its waterfalls. 6.18. After they had held this discussion and listened to some recollections of India, they lay down to sleep upon the grass; but at daybreak, having offered their accustomed prayers, they followed Nilus, who led them into the presence of Thespesion. They accordingly greeted one another, and sitting down together in the grove they began a conversation in which Apollonius led as follows: How important it is, said he, not to conceal wisdom, is proved by our conversation of yesterday; for because the Indians taught me as much of their wisdom as I thought it proper for me to know, I not only remember my teachers, but I go about instilling into others what I heard from them. And you too will be richly rewarded by me, if you send me away with a knowledge of your wisdom as well; for I shall not cease to go about and repeat your teachings to the Greeks, while to the Indians I shall write them. 6.19. Ask, they said, for you know question comes first and argument follows on it. It is about the gods that I would like to ask you a question first, namely, what induced you to impart, as your tradition, to the people of this country forms of the gods that are absurd and grotesque in all but a few cases? In a few cases, do I say? I would rather say that in very few are the gods' images fashioned in a wise and god-like manner, for the mass of your shrines seem to have been erected in honor rather of irrational and ignoble animals than of gods. Thespesion, resenting these remarks, said: And your own images in Greece, how are they fashioned? In the way, he replied, in which it is best and most reverent to construct images of the gods. I suppose you allude, said the other, to the statue of Zeus in Olympia, and to the image of Athena and to that of the Cnidian goddess and to that of the Argive goddess and to other images equally beautiful and full of charm? Not only to these, replied Apollonius, but without exception I maintain, that whereas in other lands statuary has scrupulously observed decency and fitness, you rather make ridicule of the gods than really believe in them. Your artists, then, like Phidias, said the other, and like Praxiteles, went up, I suppose, to heaven and took a copy of the forms of the gods, and then reproduced these by their art or was there any other influence which presided over and guided their molding? There was, said Apollonius, and an influence pregt with wisdom and genius. What was that? said the other, for I do not think you can adduce any except imitation. Imagination, said Apollonius, wrought these works, a wiser and subtler artist by far than imitation; for imitation can only create as its handiwork what it has seen, but imagination equally what it has not seen; for it will conceive of its ideal with reference to the reality, and imitation is often baffled by terror, but imagination by nothing; for it marches undismayed to the goal which it has itself laid down. When you entertain a notion of Zeus you must, I suppose, envisage him along with heaven and seasons and stars, as Phidias in his day endeavoured to do, and if you would fashion an image of Athena you must imagine in your mind armies and cunning, and handicrafts, and how she leapt out of Zeus himself. But if you make a hawk or an owl or a wolf or a dog, and put it in your temples instead of Hermes or Athena or Apollo, your animals and your birds may be esteemed and of much price as likenesses, but the gods will be very much lowered in their dignity. I think, said the other, that you criticize our religion very superficially; for if the Egyptians have any wisdom, they show it by their deep respect and reverence in the representation of the gods, and by the circumstance that they fashion their forms as symbols of a profound inner meaning, so as to enhance their solemnity and august character. Apollonius thereon merely laughed and said: My good friends, you have indeed greatly profited by the wisdom of Egypt and Ethiopia, if your dog and your ibis and your goat seem particularly august and god-like, for this is what I learn from Thespesion the sage.But what is there that is august or awe-inspiring in these images? Is it not likely that perjurers and temple-thieves and all the rabble of low jesters will despise such holy objects rather than dread them; and if they are to be held for the hidden meanings which they convey, surely the gods in Egypt would have met with much greater reverence, if no images of them had ever been set up at all, and if you had planned your theology along other lines wiser and more mysterious. For I imagine you might have built temples for them, and have fixed the altars and laid down rules about what to sacrifice and what not, and when and on what scale, and with what liturgies and rites, without introducing any image at all, but leaving it to those who frequented the temples to imagine the images of the gods; for the mind can more or less delineate and figure them to itself better than can any artist; but you have denied to the gods the privilege of beauty both of the outer eye and of an inner suggestion. Thespesion replied and said: There was a certain Athenian, called Socrates, a foolish old man like ourselves, who thought that the dog and the goose and the plane tree were gods and used to swear by them. He was not foolish, said Apollonius, but a divine and unfeignedly wise man; for he did not swear by these objects on the understanding that they were gods, but to save himself from swearing by the gods. 6.20. Thereupon Thespesion as if anxious to drop the subject, put some questions to Apollonius, about the scourging in Sparta, and asked if the Lacedaemonians were smitten with rods in public. Yes, answered the other, as hard, O Thespesion, as men can smite them; and it is especially men of noble birth among them that are so treated. Then what do they do to menials, he asked, when they do wrong? They do not kill them nowadays, said Apollonius, as Lycurgus formerly allowed, but the same whip is used to them too. And what judgment does Hellas pass upon the matter? They flock, he answered, to see the spectacle with pleasure and utmost enthusiasm, as if to the festival of Hyacinthus, or to that of the naked boys. Then these excellent Hellenes are not ashamed, either to behold those publicly whipped who erewhile governed them or to reflect that they were governed by men who are whipped by men who are whipped before the eyes of all? And how is it that you did not reform this abuse? For they say that you interested yourself in the affairs of the Lacedaemonians, as of other people. So far as anything could be reformed, I gave them my advice, and they readily adopted it; for they are the freest of the Hellenes; but at the same time they will only listen to one who gives them good advice. Now the custom of scourging is a ceremony in honor of the Scythian Artemis, so they say, and was prescribed by oracles, and to oppose the regulations of the gods is in my opinion utter madness. 'Tis a poor wisdom, Apollonius, he replied, which you attribute to the gods of the Hellenes, if they countece scourging as a part of the discipline of freedom. It's not the scourging, he said, but the sprinkling of the altar with human blood that is important, for the Scythians too held the altar to be worthy thereof; but the Lacedaemonians modified the ceremony of sacrifice because of its implacable cruelty, and turned it into a contest of endurance, undergone without any loss of life, and yet securing to the goddess as first fruits an offering of their own blood. Why then, said the other, do they not sacrifice strangers right out to Artemis, as the Scythians formerly considered right to do? Because, he answered, it is not congenial to any of the Greeks to adopt in full rigor the manners and customs of barbarians. And yet, said the other, it seems to me that it would be more humane to sacrifice one or two of them than to enforce as they do a policy of exclusion against all foreigners.Let us not assail, said the other, O Thespesion, the law-giver Lycurgus; but we must understand him, and then we shall see that his prohibition to strangers to settle in Sparta and live there was not inspired on his part by mere boorish exclusiveness, but by a desire to keep the institutions of Sparta in their original purity by preventing outsiders from mingling in her life. Well, said the other, I should allow the men of Sparta to be what they claim to be, if they had ever lived with strangers, and yet had faithfully adhered to their home principles; for it was not by keeping true to themselves in the absence of strangers, but by doing so in spite of their presence, that they needed to show their superiority. But they, although they enforced his policy of excluding strangers, corrupted their institutions, and were found doing exactly the same as did those of the Greeks whom they most detested. Anyhow, their subsequent naval program and policy of imposing tribute was modelled entirely upon that of Athens, and they themselves ended by committing acts which they had themselves regarded as a just casus belli against the Athenians, whom they had no sooner beaten in the field than they humbly adopted, as if they were the beaten party, their pet institution. And the very fact that the goddess was introduced from Taurus and Scythia was the action of men who embraced alien customs. But if an oracle prescribed this, what want was there of the scourge? What need to feign an endurance fit for slaves? Had they wanted to prove the disdain that Lacedaemonians felt for death, they had I think done better to sacrifice a youth of Sparta with his own consent upon the altar. For this would have been a real proof of the superior courage of the Spartans, and would have disinclined Hellas from ranging herself in the opposite camp to them. But you will say that they had to save their young men for the battlefield; well, in that case the law which prevails among the Scythians, and sentences all men of sixty years of age to death, would have been more suitably introduced and followed among the Lacedaemonians then among the Scythians, supposing that they embrace death in its grim reality and not as a mere parade. These remarks of mine are directed not so much against the Lacedaemonians, as against yourself, O Apollonius. For if ancient institutions, whose hoary age defies our understanding of their origins, are to be examined in an unsympathetic spirit, and the reason why they are pleasing to heaven subjected to cold criticism, such a line of speculation will produce a crop of odd conclusions; for we could attack the mystery rite of Eleusis in the same way and ask, why it is this and not that; and the same with the rites of the Samothracians, for in their ritual they avoid one thing and insist on another; and the same with the Dionysiac ceremonies and the phallic symbol, and the figure erected in Cyllene, and before we know where we are we shall be picking holes in everything. Let us choose, therefore, any other topic you like, but respect the sentiment of Pythagoras, which is also our own; for it is better, if we can't hold our tongues about everything, at any rate to preserve silence about such matters as these. Apollonius replied and said, If, O Thespesion, you had wished to discuss the topic seriously, you would have found that the Lacedaemonians have many excellent arguments to advance in favor of their institutions, proving that they are sound and superior to those of other Hellenes; but since you are so averse to continue the discussion, and even regard it as impious to talk about such things, let us proceed to another subject, of great importance, as I am convinced, for it is about justice that I shall now put a question. 6.21. Let us, said Thespesion, tackle the subject; for it is one very suitable to men, whether they are wise or not wise. But lest we should drag in the opinions of Indians, and so confuse our discussion, and go off without having formed any conclusions, do you first impart to us the views held by the Indians concerning justice, for you probably examined their views on the spot; and if their opinion is proved to be correct we will adopt it; but if we have something wiser to put in its place, you must adopt our view, for that too is plain justice. Said Apollonius: Your plan is excellent and most satisfactory to me; so do listen to the conversation which I held there. For I related to them how I had once been captain of a large ship, in the period when my soul was in command of another body, and how I thought myself extremely just because, when robbers offered me a reward, if I would betray my ship by running it into roads where they were going to lie in wait for it, in order to seize its cargo, I agreed and made the promise, just to save them from attacking us, but intending to slip by them and get beyond the place agreed upon. And, said Thespesion, did the Indians agree that this was justice? No, they laughed at the idea, he said, for they said that justice was something more than not being unjust. It was very sensible, said the other, of the Indians to reject such a view; for good sense is something more than not entertaining nonsense, just as courage is something more than not running away from the ranks; and so temperance is something more than the avoidance of adultery, and no one reserves his praise for a man who has simply shown himself to be not bad. For because a thing, no matter what, is equidistant between praise and punishment, it is not on that account to be reckoned off-hand to be virtue How then. O Thespesion, said Apollonius, are we to crown the just man and for what actions? Could you have discussed justice more completely and more opportunely, said the other, than when the sovereign of so large and flourishing a country intervened in your philosophic discussion of the art of kingship, a thing intimately connected with justice? If it had been Phraotes, said Apollonius, who turned up on that occasion, you might rightly blame me for not gravely discussing the subject of justice in his presence. But you from the account which I gave of him yesterday that the man is a drunkard and an enemy of all philosophy. What need therefore was there to inflict on him the trouble? Why should we try to win credit for ourselves in the presence of a sybarite who thinks of nothing but his own pleasures? But inasmuch as it is incumbent upon wise men like ourselves to explore and trace out justice, more so than on kings and generals, let us proceed to examine the absolutely just man. For though I thought myself just in the affair of the ship, and thought others just too because they do not practice injustice, you deny that this in itself constitutes them just or worthy of honor. And rightly so, said the other, for whoever heard of a decree drafted by Athenians or Lacedaemonians in favor of crowning so and so, because he is not a libertine, or of granting the freedom of the city to so and so, because the temples have not been robbed by him? Who then is the just man and what are is actions? For neither did I ever hear of anyone being crowned merely for his justice, nor of a decree being proposed over a just man to the effect that so and so shall be crowned, because such and such actions of his show him to be just. For anyone who considers the fate of Palamedes in Troy or Socrates in Athens, will discover that even justice is not sure of success among men, for assuredly these men suffered most unjustly being themselves most just. Still they at least were put to death on the score of acts of injustice imputed on them, and the verdict was a distortion of the truth; whereas in the case of Aristides the son of Lysimachus, it was very justice that was the undoing of him, for he in spite of his integrity was banished merely because of his reputation for this very virtue. And I am sure that justice will appear in a very ridiculous light; for having been appointed by Zeus and by the Fates to prevent men being unjust to one another, she has never been able to defend herself against injustice.And the history of Aristides is sufficient to me to show the difference between one who is nor unjust and one who is really just. For, tell me, is not this the same Aristides of whom your Hellenic compatriots when they come here tell us that he undertook a voyage to the islands to fix the tribute of the allies, and after settling it on a fair basis, returned again to his country still wearing the same cloak in which he left it? It is he, answered Apollonius, who made the love of poverty once to flourish. Now, said the other, let us suppose that there were at Athens two public orators passing an encomium upon Aristides, just after he had returned from the allies; one of the proposes that he shall be crowned, because he has come back again without enriching himself or amassing any fortune, but the poorest of the Athenians, poorer than he was before; and the other orator, we will suppose, drafts his motion somewhat as follows: “Whereas Aristides has fixed the tribute of the allies according to their ability to pay, and not in excess of the resources of their respective countries; and whereas he has endeavored to keep them loyal to the Athenians, and to see that they shall feel it no grievance to pay upon this scale, it is hereby resolved to crown him for justice.” Do you not suppose that Aristides himself would have opposed the first of these resolutions, as an indignity to his entire life, seeing that it only honored him for not doing injustice; whereas, he might perhaps have supported the other resolution as a fair attempt to express his intentions and policy? For I imagine it was with an eye to the interest of Athenians and subject states alike, that he took care to fix the tribute on a fair and moderate basis, and in fact his wisdom in this matter was conclusively proved after his death. For when the Athenians exceeded his valuations and imposed heavier tributes upon the islands, their naval supremacy at once went to pieces, though it more than anything else had made them formidable; on the other hand the prowess of the Lacedaemonians passed on to the sea itself; and nothing was left of Athenian supremacy, for the whole of the subject states rushed into revolution and made good their escape. It follows then, O Apollonius, that rightly judged, it is not the man who abstains from injustice that is just, but the man who himself does what is just, and also influences others not to be unjust; and from such justice as his there will spring up a crop of other virtues, especially those of the law-court and of the legislative chamber. For such a man as he will make a much fairer judge than people who take their oaths upon the dissected parts of victims, and his legislation will be similar to that of Solon and of Lycurgus; for assuredly these great legislators were inspired by justice to undertake their work. 6.22. Such, according to Damis, was the discussion held by them with regard to the just man, and Apollonius, he says, assented to their argument, for he always agreed with what was reasonably put. They also had a philosophic talk about the soul, proving its immortality, and about nature, along much the same lines which Plato follows in his Timaeus; and after some further remarks and discussions of the laws of the Hellenes, Apollonius said: For myself I have come all this way to see yourselves and visit the springs of the Nile; for a person who only comes as far as Egypt may be excused if he ignores the latter, but if he advances as far as Ethiopia, as I have done, he will be rightly reproached if he neglects to visit them, and to draw as it were from their well-springs some arguments of his own. Farewell then, said the other, and pray to the springs for whatever you desire, for they are divine. But I imagine you will take as your guide Timasion, who formerly lived at Naucratis, but is now of Memphis; for he is well acquainted with the springs of the Nile and he is not so impure as to stand in need of further lustrations. But as for you, O Nilus, we would like to have a talk to you by ourselves. The meaning of this sally was clear enough to Apollonius, for he well understood their annoyance at Nilus' preference for himself; but to give them an opportunity of speaking him apart, he left them to prepare and pack up for his journey, for he meant to start at daybreak. And after a little time Nilus returned, but did not tell them anything of what they had said to him, though he laughed a good deal to himself. And no one asked him what he was laughing about, but they respected his secret. 6.23. They then took their supper and after a discussion of certain trifles they laid them down to sleep where they were; but at daybreak they said goodbye to the naked sages, and started off along the road which leads to the mountains, keeping the Nile on their right hand, and they saw the following spectacles deserving of notice. The Catadupi [the first cataract] are mountains formed of good soil, about the same size as the hill of the Lydians called Tmolus; and from them the Nile flows rapidly down, washing with it the soil of which it creates Egypt; but the roar of the stream, as it breaks down in a cataract from the mountains and hurls itself into the Nile, is terrible and intolerable to the ears, and many of those have approached it too close have returned with the loss of their hearing. 6.24. Apollonius, however, and his party pushed on till they saw some round-shaped hills covered with trees, the leaves and bark and gum of which the Ethiopians regard as of great value; and they also saw lions close to the path, and leopards and other such wild animals; but they were not attracted by any of them, for they fled from them in haste as if they were scared at the sight of men. And they also saw stags and gazelles, and ostriches an asses, the latter in great numbers, and also many wild bulls and ox-goats, the former of these two animals being a mixture of the stag and the ox, that latter of the creatures from which its name is taken. They found moreover on the road the bones and half-eaten carcases of these; for the lions, when they have gorged themselves with fresh prey, care little for what is left over of it, because, I think, they feel sure of catching fresh quarry whenever they want it. 6.25. It is here that the nomad Ethiopians live in a sort of colony upon wagons, and not far from them the elephant-hunters, who cut up these animals and sell the flesh, and are accordingly called by a name which signifies the selling of elephants. And the Nasamones and the man-eaters and the pigmies and the shadow-footed people are also tribes of Ethiopia, and they extend as far as the Ethiopian ocean, which no mariners ever enter except castaways who do so against their will. 6.26. As our company were discussing these animals and talking learnedly about the food which nature supplies in their different cases, they heard a sound as of thunder; not a crashing sound, but of thunder as it is when it is still hollow and concealed in the cloud. And Timasion said: A cataract is at hand, gentlemen, the last for those who are descending the river, but the first to meet you on your way up. And after they had advanced about ten stades, he says that they saw a river discharging itself from the hill-side as big as the Marsyas and the Meander at their first confluence; and he says that after they had put up a prayer to the Nile, they went on till they no longer saw any animals at all; for the latter are naturally afraid of noise, and therefore live by calm waters rather than by those which rush headlong with a noise. And after fifteen stades they heard another cataract which this time was horrible and unbearable to the senses, for it was twice as loud as the first one and it fell from much higher mountains. And Damis relates that his own ears and those of one of his companions were so stunned by the noise, that he himself turned back and besought Apollonius not to go further; however he, along with Timasion and Nilus, boldly pressed on to the third cataract, of which he made the following report on their return. Peaks overhang the Nile, at the most eight stades in height; but the eminence faces the mountains, namely a beetling brow of rocks mysteriously cut away, as if in a quarry, and the fountains of the Nile cling to the edge of the mountain, till they overbalance and fall on to the rocky eminence, from which they pour into the Nile as an expanse of whitening billows. But the effect produced upon the senses by this cataract, which is many times greater than the earlier ones, and the echo which leaps up therefrom against the mountains render it impossible to hear what your companion tells you about the river [ 1]. But the further road which leads up to the first springs of the river was impracticable, they tell us, and impossible to think of; for they tell many stories of the demons which haunt it, stories similar to those which Pindar in his wisdom puts into verse about the demon whom he sets over these springs to preserve the due proportions of the Nile. 6.27. After passing the cataracts they halted in a village of the Ethiopians of no great size, and they were dining, towards the evening, mingling in their conversation the grave with the gay, when all on a sudden they heard the women of the village screaming and calling to one another to join in the pursuit and catch the thing; and they also summoned their husbands to help them in the matter. And the latter caught up sticks and stones and anything which came handy, and called upon one another to avenge the insult to their wives. And it appears that for ten months the ghost of a satyr had been haunting the village, who was mad after the women and was said to have killed two of them to whom he was supposed to be specially attached. The companions, then, of Apollonius were frightened out of their wits till Apollonius said: You need not be afraid, for it's only a satyr that is running amuck here. Yes, by Zeus, said Nilus, it's the one that we naked sages have found insulting us for a long time past and we could never stop his jumps and leaps. But, said Apollonius, I have a remedy against these hell-hounds, which Midas is said once to have employed; for Midas himself had some of the blood of satyrs in his veins, as was clear from the shape of his ears; and a satyr once, trespassing on his kinship with Midas, made merry at the expense of his ears, not only singing about them, but piping about them. Well, Midas, I understand, had heard from his mother that when a satyr is overcome by wine he falls asleep, and at such times comes to his senses and will make friends with you; so he mixed wine which he had in his palace in a fountain and let the satyr get at it, and the latter drank it up and was overcome. And to show that the story is true, let us go to the head man of the village, and if the villagers have any wine, we will mix it with water for the satyr and he will share the fate of Midas' satyr. They thought it a good plan, so he poured four Egyptian jars of wine into the trough out of which the village cattle drank, and then called the satyr by means of some secret rebuke or threat; and though as yet the latter was not visible, the wine sensibly diminished as if it was being drunk up. And when it was quite finished, Apollonius said: Let us make peace with the satyr, for he is fast asleep. And with these words he led the villagers to the cave of the nymphs, which was not quite a furlong away from the village; and he showed them a satyr lying fast asleep in it, but he told them not to hit him or abuse him, For, he said, his nonsense is stopped for ever. Such was this exploit of Apollonius, and, by heavens, we may call it not an incidental work in passing, but a masterwork of his passing by [ 1]; and if you read the sage's epistle, in which he wrote to an insolent young man that he had sobered even a satyr demon in Ethiopia, you will perforce call to mind the above story. But we must not disbelieve that satyrs both exist and are susceptible to the passion of love; for I knew a youth of my own age in Lemnos whose mother was said to be visited by a satyr, as he well might to judge by this story; for he was represented as wearing in his back a fawn-skin that exactly fitted him, the front paws of which were drawn around his neck and fastened over his chest. But I must not go further into this subject; but, anyhow, credit is due as much to experience of facts as it is to myself.

11. Philostratus The Athenian, Lives of The Sophists, 1.1 (2nd cent. CE

12. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of The Philosophers, 8.10 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)

8.10. He divides man's life into four quarters thus: Twenty years a boy, twenty years a youth, twenty years a young man, twenty years an old man; and these four periods correspond to the four seasons, the boy to spring, the youth to summer, the young man to autumn, and the old man to winter, meaning by youth one not yet grown up and by a young man a man of mature age. According to Timaeus, he was the first to say, Friends have all things in common and Friendship is equality; indeed, his disciples did put all their possessions into one common stock. For five whole years they had to keep silence, merely listening to his discourses without seeing him, until they passed an examination, and thenceforward they were admitted to his house and allowed to see him. They would never use coffins of cypress, because the sceptre of Zeus was made from it, so we are informed by Hermippus in his second book On Pythagoras.

13. Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras, 72 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
alexander the great	Demoen and Praet, Theios Sophistes: Essays on Flavius Philostratus' Vita Apollonii (2009) 334
alexandria, vespasians uprising in	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23
apollonius	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256; Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 169
apollonius of tyana, compares indian and egyptian wisdom	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273, 274, 283
apollonius of tyana, greek and universal	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273, 278, 283
apollonius of tyana, resists monarchs	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273
apollonius of tyana, traveler on the nile	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273, 274, 276, 278
apollonius of tyana, wins over the young man nilus	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 283
brevity	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
chaeremon the stoic, on the egyptian priests	Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 169
colossus of memnon	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 274
commercialism and egypt	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 283
cosmopolitanism, antonine and severan	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23
egypt, helen of troy in	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273
egypt, land of wisdom	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273, 278
emperors and egypt, hadrian	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 258
ethiopia, ethiopian	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23, 283
geography	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23, 274, 283
greek, thought	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
gymnoi, ethiopian philosophers, rivals of the indian sophoi	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273, 278, 283
gymnoi, ethiopian philosophers, self-identified as egyptian	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 278
hellenization of egyptian institutions, in philostratus	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273, 278, 283
imagining, imagination	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 283
logos, logoi	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273
memphis, erroneous geography in philostratus	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 274
meroe, capital of ancient ethiopia	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 274, 278
metanarrative perspectives	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 258
musonius rufus	Demoen and Praet, Theios Sophistes: Essays on Flavius Philostratus' Vita Apollonii (2009) 334
nile, begins in ethiopia	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23
nile, cataracts of the	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 274, 283
nile, delta (mouths of the nile)	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23, 273
nile, departure and destination	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 278
nile, familiar and unfamiliar experiences	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23
nile, indus	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 258, 276, 278, 283
nile, philosophic zetema	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23, 273, 283
nile, rulers and philosophers	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23
nile, sources of the	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 274
nile, unrealistic topography in philostratus	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 274, 283
nilus, character in philostratus va	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 276, 283
paideia	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273
pharos, port of alexandria	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 258
philostratus	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
plato, and egypt	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23
prayers	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
pyramids	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 276
pythagoraean	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
pythagoras, pythagoreanism, and apollonius of tyana	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 258
pythagoras	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
pythagorean / pythagoreans, initiation	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
pythagorean / pythagoreans, sage	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
pythagorean / pythagoreans, tradition	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
religious, discourses	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
ritual, practice	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
schooled in egypt	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 23
second sophistic, as field of scholarship	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273
self/other, egypt between	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 278
silence	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
sophia, in philostratus	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273, 278, 283
verbosity	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
wisdom'	Demoen and Praet, Theios Sophistes: Essays on Flavius Philostratus' Vita Apollonii (2009) 334
wisdom	Manolaraki, Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus (2012) 273, 274, 276, 283; Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
wise / wise man	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256
worship	Petersen and van Kooten, Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (2017) 256