§22Χάρων
Ἓν ἔτι ἐπόθουν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, εἰδέναι, καί μοι δείξας αὐτὸ ἐντελῆ ἔσῃ τὴν περιήγησιν πεποιημένος, τὰς ἀποθήκας τῶν σωμάτων, ἵνα κατορύττουσι, θεάσασθαι.
Charon One thing more I was longing to know, Hermes, and if you show me it, you will have made the tour complete: to behold the storehouses of bodies, where they bury them.
Ἑρμῆς
ἠρία, ὦ Χάρων, καὶ τύμβους καὶ τάφους καλοῦσι τὰ τοιαῦτα.
Hermes Such things, Charon, they call tombs and mounds and graves.
πλὴν τὰ πρὸ τῶν πόλεων ἐκεῖνα τὰ χώματα ὁρᾷς καὶ τὰς στήλας καὶ πυραμίδας;
But do you see those mounds before the cities, and the stelae and pyramids?
ἐκεῖνα πάντα νεκροδοχεῖα καὶ σωματοφυλάκιά ἐστιν.
Those are all receptacles of the dead and guardians of bodies.
Χάρων
τί οὖν ἐκεῖνοι στεφανοῦσι τοὺς λίθους καὶ χρίουσι μύρῳ;
Charon Why then do they crown those stones and anoint them with perfume?
οἱ δὲ καὶ πυρὰν νήσαντες πρὸ τῶν χωμάτων καὶ βόθρον τινὰ ὀρύξαντες καίουσί τε ταυτὶ τὰ πολυτελῆ δεῖπνα καὶ εἰς τὰ ὀρύγματα οἶνον καὶ μελίκρατον, ὡς γοῦν εἰκάσαι, ἐγχέουσιν;
And others, having piled up a pyre before the mounds and dug some trench, burn these costly dinners and pour wine and hydromel, so one would guess, into the excavations?
Ἑρμῆς
οὐκ οἶδα, ὦ πορθμεῦ, τί ταῦτα πρὸς τοὺς ἐν Ἅιδου· πεπιστεύκασι δʼ οὖν τὰς ψυχὰς ἀναπεμπομένας κάτωθεν δειπνεῖν μὲν ὡς οἷόν τε περιπετομένας τὴν κνῖσαν καὶ τὸν καπνόν, πίνειν δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ βόθρου τὸ μελίκρατον.
Hermes I do not know, ferryman, what these things have to do with those in Hades; but they have believed, at any rate, that the souls, sent up from below, dine as far as possible by flying around the fat-savor and smoke, and drink the hydromel from the trench.
Χάρων
ἐκείνους ἔτι πίνειν ἢ ἐσθίειν, ὧν τὰ κρανία ξηρότατα;
Charon Those still drink or eat, whose skulls are most dry?
καίτοι γελοῖός εἰμι σοὶ λέγων ταῦτα ὁσημέραι κατάγοντι αὐτούς.
And yet I am ridiculous saying these things to you who bring them down every day.
οἶσθα οὖν εἰ δύναιντʼ ἂν ἔτι ἀνελθεῖν ἅπαξ ὑποχθόνιοι γενόμενοι.
You know, then, if they would be able to return up once they have become subterranean.
ἐπεί τοι καὶ παγγέλοια ἄν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, ἔπασχον, οὐκ ὀλίγα πράγματα ἔχων, εἰ ἔδει μὴ κατάγειν μόνον αὐτούς, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὖθις ἀνάγειν πιομένους.
Since, indeed, I would have suffered most ridiculous things, Hermes, having no small trouble, if it were necessary not only to bring them down, but also to bring them up again to drink.
ὦ μάταιοι, τῆς ἀνοίας, οὐκ εἰδότες ἡλίκοις ὅροις διακέκριται τὰ νεκρῶν καὶ τὰ ζώντων πράγματα καὶ οἷα τὰ παρʼ ἡμῖν ἐστι καὶ ὅτι
"
κάτθανʼ ὁμῶς ὅ τʼ ἄτυμβος ἀνὴρ ὅς τʼ ἔλλαχε τύμβου,
ἐν δὲ ἰῇ τιμῇ Ἶρος κρείων τʼ Ἀγαμέμνων· Θερσίτῃ δʼ ἶσος Θέτιδος παῖς ἠϋκόμοιο
πάντες δʼ εἰσὶν ὁμῶς νεκύων ἀμενηνὰ κάρηνα,
γυμνοί τε ξηροί τε κατʼ ἀσφοδελὸν λειμῶνα. "
O foolish ones, for your folly! not knowing by how great boundaries the affairs of the dead and of the living have been distinguished, and what kind of things those among us are, and that "Dead alike is the tomb-less man and he who obtained a tomb, and in one and the same honor are Irus and ruling Agamemnon; and equal to Thersites is the son of fair-haired Thetis; and all are alike the strengthless heads of the dead, naked and dry along the asphodel meadow.
§23Ἑρμῆς
Ἡράκλεις, ὡς πολὺν τὸν Ὅμηρον ἐπαντλεῖς.
"Hermes Heracles! How much Homer you pour over me!
ἀλλʼ ἐπείπερ ἀνέμνησας, ἐθέλω σοι δεῖξαι τὸν τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως τάφον.
But since you have reminded me, I wish to show you the tomb of Achilles.
ὁρᾷς τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ;
Do you see that one on the sea?
Σίγειον μὲν ἐκεῖθέν ἐστι τὸ Τρωϊκόν· ἀντικρὺ δὲ ὁ Αἴας τέθαπται ἐν τῷ Ῥοιτείῳ.
Sigeum indeed is there, the Trojan site; and opposite, Ajax is buried at Rhoeteum.
Χάρων
οὐ μεγάλοι, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, οἱ τάφοι.
Charon The tombs are not large, Hermes.
τὰς πόλεις δὲ τὰς ἐπισήμους δεῖξόν μοι ἤδη, ἃς κάτω ἀκούομεν, τὴν Νίνον τὴν Σαρδαναπάλλου καὶ Βαβυλῶνα καὶ Μυκήνας καὶ Κλεωνὰς καὶ τὴν Ἴλιον αὐτήν· πολλοὺς γοῦν μέμνημαι διαπορθμεύσας ἐκεῖθεν, ὡς δέκα ὅλων ἐτῶν μὴ νεωλκῆσαι μηδὲ διαψῦξαι τὸ σκαφίδιον.
But show me now the famous cities which we hear of below: Ninus, that of Sardanapalus, and Babylon, and Mycenae, and Cleonae, and Ilium itself; at any rate, I remember carrying many across from there, so that for ten whole years I did not haul up my little boat nor dry it out.
Ἑρμῆς
ἡ Νίνος μέν, ὦ πορθμεῦ, ἀπόλωλεν ἤδη καὶ οὐδὲ ἴχνος ἔτι λοιπὸν αὐτῆς, οὐδʼ ἂν εἴποις ὅπου ποτὲ ἦν· ἡ Βαβυλὼν δέ σοι ἐκείνη ἐστὶν ἡ εὔπυργος, ἡ τὸν μέγαν περίβολον, οὐ μετὰ πολὺ καὶ αὐτὴ ζητηθησομένη ὥσπερ ἡ Νίνος· Μυκήνας δὲ καὶ Κλεωνὰς αἰσχύνομαι δεῖξαί σοι, καὶ μάλιστα τὸ Ἴλιον.
Hermes Ninus, ferryman, has already perished and not even a trace of it remains, nor could you say where it once was; and that Babylon is the one with fine towers, the one with the great wall, which itself not long from now will be sought for just like Ninus; but I am ashamed to show you Mycenae and Cleonae, and especially Ilium.
ἀποπνίξεις γὰρ εὖ οἶδʼ ὅτι τὸν Ὅμηρον κατελθὼν ἐπὶ τῇ μεγαληγορίᾳ τῶν ἐπῶν.
For I know well that you will choke Homer when you go down, because of the grandiloquence of his verses.
πλὴν ἀλλὰ πάλαι μὲν ἦσαν εὐδαίμονες, νῦν δὲ τεθνᾶσι καὶ αὗται· ἀποθνήσκουσι γάρ, ὦ πορθμεῦ, καὶ πόλεις ὥσπερ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ τὸ παραδοξότατον, καὶ ποταμοὶ ὅλοι· Ἰνάχου γοῦν οὐδὲ τάφος ἔτι ἐν Ἄργει καταλείπεται.
Yet they were once prosperous, but now they too have died; for cities, ferryman, die just like humans, and, what is most paradoxical, even whole rivers; at any rate, not even a tomb of Inachus is left in Argos.
Χάρων
παπαὶ τῶν ἐπαίνων, Ὅμηρε, καὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων, Ἴλιος ἱρὴ καὶ εὐρυάγυια καὶ ἐϋκτίμεναι Κλεωναί.
Charon Oh, Homer, what praises and names! "Sacred Ilium" and "broad-wayed" and "well-built Cleonae"!
§24Χάρων
ἀλλὰ μεταξὺ λόγων, τίνες ἐκεῖνοί εἰσιν οἱ πολεμοῦντες ἢ ὑπὲρ τίνος ἀλλήλους φονεύουσιν;
Charon But by the way, who are those fighting, or for what are they killing one another?
Ἑρμῆς
Ἀργείους ὁρᾷς, ὦ Χάρων, καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ τὸν ἡμιθνῆτα ἐκεῖνον στρατηγὸν Ὀθρυάδαν τὸν ἐπιγράφοντα τὸ τρόπαιον τῷ αὑτοῦ αἵματι.
Hermes You see Argives, Charon, and Lacedaemonians, and that half-dead general Othryades, who is inscribing the trophy with his own blood.
Χάρων
ὑπὲρ τίνος δʼ αὐτοῖς, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, ὁ πόλεμος;
Charon And for what is the war to them, Hermes?
Ἑρμῆς
ὑπὲρ τοῦ πεδίου αὐτοῦ, ἐν ᾧ μάχονται.
Hermes For the plain itself in which they are fighting.
Χάρων
ὢ τῆς ἀνοίας, οἵ γε οὐκ ἴσασιν ὅτι, κἂν ὅλην τὴν Πελοπόννησον ἕκαστος αὐτῶν κτήσωνται, μόγις ἂν ποδιαῖον λάβοιεν τόπον παρὰ τοῦ Αἰακοῦ· τὸ δὲ πεδίον τοῦτο ἄλλοτε ἄλλοι γεωργήσουσι πολλάκις ἐκ βάθρων τὸ τρόπαιον ἀνασπάσαντες τῷ ἀρότρῳ.
Charon Oh, what folly! Since they do not know that even if each of them should acquire the whole Peloponnese, they would scarcely get a square-foot space from Aeacus; and other people at other times will cultivate this plain, often pulling up the trophy from its foundations with the plow.
Ἑρμῆς
οὕτω μὲν ταῦτα ἔσται·
Hermes So these things will be.
ἡμεῖς δὲ καταβάντες ἤδη καὶ κατὰ χώραν εὐθετήσαντες αὖθις τὰ ὄρη ἀπαλλαττώμεθα, ἐγὼ μὲν καθʼ ἃ ἐστάλην, σὺ δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ πορθμεῖον· ἥξω δέ σοι καὶ αὐτὸς μετʼ ὀλίγον νεκροστολῶν.
But let us now, having gone down and having arranged the mountains back in their place, depart: I indeed to what I was sent for, and you to your ferryboat; and I myself will come to you in a little while bringing the dead.
Χάρων
εὖ γε ἐποίησας, ὦ Ἑρμῆ·
Charon You have done well, Hermes.
εὐεργέτης εἰς ἀεὶ ἀναγεγράψῃ, ὠνάμην γάρ τι διὰ σὲ τῆς ἀποδημίας. — οἷά ἐστι τὰ τῶν κακοδαιμόνων ἀνθρώπων πράγματα — βασιλεῖς, πλίνθοι χρυσαῖ, ἐπιτύμβια, μάχαι·
You shall be inscribed forever as a benefactor, for I have gained something from this journey because of you. — What kind of things are the affairs of ill-fated humans! Kings, gold ingots, tombs, battles.
Χάρωνος δὲ οὐδεὶς λόγος.
But of Charon there is no account.