§11Μένιππος
ὡς δὲ ἀκινδύνως κατεπτόμην, ἤδη καὶ μετέωρα ἐφρόνουν καὶ ἄρας ἀπὸ Πάρνηθος ἢ ἀπὸ Ὑμηττοῦ μέχρι Γερανείας ἐπετόμην, εἶτʼ ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀκροκόρινθον ἄνω, εἶτα ὑπὲρ Φολόης καὶ Ἐρυμάνθου μέχρι πρὸς τὸ Ταΰγετον.
Menippus: When I flew down without danger, I already began to think of high things, and rising from Parnes or Hymettus, I flew as far as Geraneia, then from there up to Acrocorinth, then over Pholoe and Erymanthus as far as Taygetus.
ἤδη δʼ οὖν μοι τοῦ τολμήματος ἐκμεμελετημένου τέλειός τε καὶ ὑψιπέτης γενόμενος οὐκέτι τὰ νεοττῶν ἐφρόνουν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸν Ὄλυμπον ἀναβὰς καὶ ὡς ἐνῆν μάλιστα κούφως ἐπισιτισάμενος τὸ λοιπὸν ἔτεινον εὐθὺ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἰλιγγιῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ βάθους, μετὰ δὲ ἔφερον καὶ τοῦτο εὐμαρῶς.
Now that my venture had been thoroughly practiced by me, having become a complete and high-flying flyer, I no longer thought like a nestling, but having gone up to Olympus and having provisioned myself as lightly as possible, I stretched out for the rest straight for heaven, at first feeling dizzy from the depth, but afterwards I bore even this easily.
ἐπεὶ δὲ κατʼ αὐτὴν ἤδη τὴν σελήνην ἐγεγόνειν πάμπολυ τῶν νεφῶν ἀποσπάσας, ᾐσθόμην κάμνοντος ἐμαυτοῦ, καὶ μάλιστα κατὰ τὴν ἀριστερὰν πτέρυγα τὴν γυπίνην.
And when I had already arrived at the moon itself, having pulled myself far away from the clouds, I perceived that I was weary, especially in my left wing, the vulture one.
προσελάσας οὖν καὶ καθεζόμενος ἐπʼ αὐτῆς διανεπαυόμην ἐς τὴν γῆν ἄνωθεν ἀποβλέπων καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ τοῦ Ὁμήρου Ζεὺς ἐκεῖνος ἄρτι μὲν τὴν τῶν ἱπποπόλων Θρῃκῶν καθορώμενος, ἄρτι δὲ τὴν Μυσῶν, μετʼ ὀλίγον δέ, εἰ δόξειέ μοι, τὴν Ἑλλάδα, τὴν Περσίδα καὶ τὴν Ἰνδικήν.
Approaching and sitting down on it, therefore, I rested, looking down from above at the earth, and just like that Zeus of Homer, now looking down upon the horse-tending Thracians, now upon the Mysians, and after a little while, if it should please me, upon Greece, Persia, and India.
ἐξ ὧν ἁπάντων ποικίλης τινὸς ἡδονῆς ἐνεπιμπλάμην.
From all of which I was filled with a certain manifold pleasure.
Ἕταιρος
οὐκοῦν καὶ ταῦτα λέγοις ἄν, ὦ Μένιππε, ἵνα μηδὲ καθʼ ἓν ἀπολειπώμεθα τῆς ἀποδημίας, ἀλλʼ εἴ τί σοι καὶ ὁδοῦ πάρεργον ἱστόρηται, καὶ τοῦτο εἰδῶμεν· ὡς ἔγωγε οὐκ ὀλίγα προσδοκῶ ἀκούσεσθαι σχήματός τε πέρι γῆς καὶ τῶν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς ἁπάντων, οἷά σοι ἄνωθεν ἐπισκοποῦντι κατεφαίνετο.
Companion: Would you not then tell us these things as well, Menippus, so that we may not be left behind in any single part of your journey, but if any side-matter of your journey has been observed by you, we may know this too; since I indeed expect to hear not a few things about the shape of the earth and all things upon it, how they appeared to you as you looked down from above.
Μένιππος
καὶ ὀρθῶς γε, ὦ ἑταῖρε, εἰκάζεις· διόπερ ὡς οἷόν τε ἀναβὰς ἐπὶ τὴν σελήνην τῷ λόγῳ συναποδήμει τε καὶ συνεπισκόπει τὴν ὅλην τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς διάθεσιν.
Menippus: And indeed you guess rightly, my companion; therefore, having ascended to the moon as far as possible in our discourse, travel with me and look down with me upon the whole arrangement of the things on earth.
§12Μένιππος
καὶ πρῶτόν γέ μοι πάνυ μικρὰν δόκει τινὰ τὴν γῆν ὁρᾶν, πολὺ λέγω τῆς σελήνης βραχυτέραν, ὥστε ἐγὼ ἄφνω κατακύψας ἐπὶ πολὺ ἠπόρουν ποῦ εἴη τὰ τηλικαῦτα ὄρη καὶ ἡ τοσαύτη θάλαττα· καὶ εἴ γε μὴ τὸν Ῥοδίων κολοσσὸν ἐθεασάμην καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ Φάρῳ πύργον, εὖ ἴσθι, παντελῶς ἄν με ἡ γῆ διέλαθε.
Menippus: And first indeed, the earth seemed to me to look quite small, far smaller, I say, than the moon, so that, suddenly bending down, I was for a long time at a loss as to where such great mountains and so great a sea were; and if I had not beheld the Colossus of the Rhodians and the tower on Pharos, know well, the earth would have escaped me completely.
νῦν δὲ ταῦτα ὑψηλὰ ὄντα καὶ ὑπερανεστηκότα καὶ ὁ Ὠκεανὸς ἠρέμα πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ὑποστίλβων διεσήμαινέ μοι γῆν εἶναι τὸ ὁρώμενον.
But as it was, these being high and standing out above, and the Ocean gently reflecting the sun, indicated to me that the thing seen was the earth.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἅπαξ τὴν ὄψιν ἐς τὸ ἀτενὲς ἀπηρεισάμην, ἅπας ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίος ἤδη κατεφαίνετο, οὐ κατὰ ἔθνη μόνον καὶ πόλεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ σαφῶς οἱ πλέοντες, οἱ πολεμοῦντες, οἱ γεωργοῦντες, οἱ δικαζόμενοι, τὰ γύναια, τὰ θηρία, καὶ πάνθʼ ἁπλῶς ὁπόσα τρέφει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα.
But when once I fixed my sight intently, all the life of men already began to appear, not only by nations and cities, but also clearly those sailing, those fighting, those farming, those litigating, the womenfolk, the wild beasts, and simply all things whatsoever the life-giving earth nurtures.
Ἕταιρος
παντελῶς ἀπίθανα φὴς ταῦτα καὶ αὑτοῖς ὑπεναντία· ὃς γὰρ ἀρτίως, ὦ Μένιππε, τὴν γῆν ἐζήτεις ὑπὸ τοῦ μεταξὺ διαστήματος ἐς βραχὺ συνεσταλμένην, καὶ εἴ γε μὴ ὁ κολοσσὸς ἐμήνυσέ σοι, τάχα ἂν ἄλλο τι ᾠήθης ὁρᾶν, πῶς νῦν καθάπερ Λυγκεύς τις ἄφνω γενόμενος ἅπαντα διαγινώσκεις τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τὰ θηρία, μικροῦ δεῖν τὰς τῶν ἐμπίδων νεοττιάς;
Companion: You say things altogether incredible and contradictory to themselves; for you who just now, Menippus, were looking for the earth, contracted into a small size by the intervening distance, and if the Colossus had not pointed it out to you, would perhaps have thought you were seeing something else, how do you now, having suddenly become like some Lynceus, discern all things on earth, the men, the wild beasts, and almost even the nests of gnats?