§18Μένιππος
μάλιστα δὲ ἐπʼ ἐκείνοις ἐπῄει μοι γελᾶν τοῖς περὶ γῆς ὅρων ἐρίζουσι καὶ τοῖς μέγα φρονοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ τὸ Σικυώνιον πεδίον γεωργεῖν ἢ Μαραθῶνος ἔχειν τὰ περὶ τὴν Οἰνόην ἢ Ἀχαρνῆσι πλέθρα κεκτῆσθαι χίλια· τῆς γοῦν Ἑλλάδος ὅλης ὡς τότε μοι ἄνωθεν ἐφαίνετο δακτύλων οὔσης τὸ μέγεθος τεττάρων, κατὰ λόγον, οἶμαι, ἡ Ἀττικὴ πολλοστημόριον ἦν.
Menippus And most of all I was moved to laugh at those disputing about the boundaries of land, and at those who prided themselves on farming the Sicyonian plain, or on possessing the parts around Oenoe at Marathon, or on owning a thousand plethra at Acharnae; since all Greece, as it then appeared to me from above, was about four fingers in size, and in proportion, I suppose, Attica was but a tiny fraction of it.
ὥστε ἐνενόουν ἐφʼ ὁπόσῳ τοῖς πλουσίοις τούτοις μέγα φρονεῖν κατελείπετο· σχεδὸν γὰρ ὁ πολυπλεθρότατος αὐτῶν μίαν τῶν Ἐπικουρείων ἀτόμων ἐδόκει μοι γεωργεῖν.
So I was thinking how little was left for these rich men to pride themselves on; for almost the one with the most plethra seemed to me to be farming a single one of Epicurus' atoms.
ἀποβλέψας δὲ δὴ καὶ ἐς τὴν Πελοπόννησον, εἶτα τὴν Κυνουρίαν γῆν ἰδὼν ἀνεμνήσθην περὶ ὅσου χωρίου, κατʼ οὐδὲν Αἰγυπτίου φακοῦ πλατυτέρου, τοσοῦτοι ἔπεσον Ἀργείων καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων μιᾶς ἡμέρας.
And looking away indeed also toward the Peloponnese, then seeing the Cynurian land, I remembered for how small a territory, in no way wider than an Egyptian lentil, so many of the Argives and Lacedaemonians fell in a single day.
καὶ μὴν εἴ τινα ἴδοιμι ἐπὶ χρυσῷ μέγα φρονοῦντα, ὅτι δακτυλίους τε εἶχεν ὀκτὼ καὶ φιάλας τέτταρας, πάνυ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἂν ἐγέλων· τὸ γὰρ Πάγγαιον ὅλον αὐτοῖς μετάλλοις κεγχριαῖον ἦν τὸ μέγεθος.
And indeed, if I should see anyone priding himself on gold, because he had eight rings and four cups, I would have laughed heartily at him too; for the whole of Mount Pangaeum, with its mines, was about the size of a millet seed to them.
§19Ἕταιρος
ὦ μακάριε Μένιππε τῆς παραδόξου θέας.
Friend O blessed Menippus, because of your extraordinary sight!
αἱ δὲ δὴ πόλεις πρὸς Διὸς καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες αὐτοὶ πηλίκοι διεφαίνοντο ἄνωθεν;
But by Zeus, how large did the cities and the men themselves appear from above?
Μένιππος
οἶμαί σε πολλάκις ἤδη μυρμήκων ἀγορὰν ἑωρακέναι, τοὺς μὲν εἰλουμένους περὶ τὸ στόμα τοῦ φωλεοῦ κἀν τῷ μέσῳ πολιτευομένους, ἐνίους δʼ ἐξιόντας, ἑτέρους δὲ ἐπανιόντας αὖθις εἰς τὴν πόλιν· καὶ ὁ μέν τις τὴν κόπρον ἐκφέρει, ὁ δὲ ἁρπάσας ποθὲν ἢ κυάμου λέπος ἢ πυροῦ ἡμίτομον θεῖ φέρων.
Menippus I suppose you have already often seen an assembly of ants, some crowding around the mouth of the nest and carrying on public affairs in the middle, some going out, and others returning again to the city; and one carries out dung, while another, having snatched from somewhere either a bean-pod or a half-grain of wheat, runs carrying it.
εἰκὸς δὲ εἶναι παρʼ αὐτοῖς κατὰ λόγον τοῦ μυρμήκων βίου καὶ οἰκοδόμους τινὰς καὶ δημαγωγοὺς καὶ πρυτάνεις καὶ μουσικοὺς καὶ φιλοσόφους.
And it is likely that among them, in proportion to the life of ants, there are also some builders, demagogues, prytaneis, musicians, and philosophers.
πλὴν αἵ γε πόλεις αὐτοῖς ἀνδράσι ταῖς μυρμηκιαῖς μάλιστα ἐῴκεσαν.
At any rate, the cities, men and all, most resembled anthills.
εἰ δέ σοι μικρὸν δοκεῖ τὸ παράδειγμα, τὸ ἀνθρώπους εἰκάσαι τῇ μυρμήκων πολιτείᾳ, τοὺς παλαιοὺς μύθους ἐπίσκεψαι τῶν Θετταλῶν· εὑρήσεις γὰρ τοὺς Μυρμιδόνας, τὸ μαχιμώτατον φῦλον, ἐκ μυρμήκων ἄνδρας γεγονότας.
But if the comparison seems small to you, to liken men to the commonwealth of ants, examine the ancient myths of the Thessalians; for you will find that the Myrmidons, the most warlike tribe, became men from ants.
ἐπειδὴ δʼ οὖν πάντα ἱκανῶς ἑώρατο καὶ κατεγεγέλαστό μοι, διασείσας ἐμαυτὸν ἀνεπτόμην
"δώματʼ ἐς αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς μετὰ δαίμονας ἄλλους. " §20Μένιππος
οὔπω στάδιον ἀνεληλύθειν καὶ ἡ Σελήνη γυναικείαν φωνὴν προϊεμένη,
Μένιππε,
φησίν,
οὕτως ὄναιο, διακόνησαί μοί τι πρὸς τὸν Δία. λέγοις ἄν,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ· βαρὺ γὰρ οὐδέν, ἢν μή τι φέρειν δέῃ. πρεσβείαν,
ἔφη,
τινὰ οὐ χαλεπὴν καὶ δέησιν ἀπένεγκε παρʼ ἐμοῦ τῷ Διί· ἀπείρηκα γὰρ ἤδη, Μένιππε, πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰ παρὰ τῶν φιλοσόφων ἀκούουσα, οἷς οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν ἔργον ἢ τἀμὰ πολυπραγμονεῖν, τίς εἰμι καὶ πηλίκη, καὶ διʼ ἥντινα αἰτίαν διχότομος ἢ ἀμφίκυρτος γίγνομαι.
When, therefore, everything had been sufficiently observed and laughed at by me, shaking myself I flew up: "To the dwellings of aegis-bearing Zeus, after the other deities." Menippus I had not yet ascended a stadium when the Moon, sending forth a woman's voice, "Menippus," she said, "may you prosper thus, do me a service to Zeus." "You may speak," said I; "for nothing is heavy, unless it is necessary to carry something." "Deliver," she said, "some embassy, not a difficult one, and a petition from me to Zeus; for I am already exhausted, Menippus, hearing many terrible things from the philosophers, who have no other business than to busy themselves with my affairs—who I am, and how large, and for what reason I become halved or gibbous.
καὶ οἱ μὲν κατοικεῖσθαί μέ φασιν, οἱ δὲ κατόπτρου δίκην ἐπικρέμασθαι τῇ θαλάττῃ, οἱ δὲ ὅ τι ἂν ἕκαστος ἐπινοήσῃ τοῦτό μοι προσάπτουσι.
And some say that I am inhabited, others that I hang over the sea like a mirror, and others attach to me whatever each one imagines.
τὰ τελευταῖα δὲ καὶ τὸ φῶς αὐτὸ κλοπιμαῖόν τε καὶ νόθον εἶναί μοί φασιν ἄνωθεν ἧκον παρὰ τοῦ Ἡλίου, καὶ οὐ παύονται καὶ πρὸς τοῦτόν με ἀδελφὸν ὄντα συγκροῦσαι καὶ στασιάσαι προαιρούμενοι· οὐ γὰρ ἱκανὰ ἦν αὐτοῖς ἃ περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰρήκασι τοῦ Ἡλίου, λίθον αὐτὸν εἶναι καὶ μύδρον διάπυρον.
And finally, they say that my light itself is stolen and illegitimate, coming from above from the Sun, and they do not stop, purposing to set me at variance and make me rebel against him, who is my brother; as if it were not enough for them what they have said about the Sun himself, that he is a stone and a red-hot mass."