§8θέλω γοῦν σοι διηγήσασθαί τι Πυθοῖ γενόμενον.
any rate, I want to tell you something that happened at Pytho.
Ταραντῖνος Εὐάγγελος τοὔνομα τῶν οὐκ ἀφανῶν ἐν τῷ Τάραντι ἐπεθύμησεν νικῆσαι Πύθια.
A Tarentine named Evangelus, one of the notable men in Tarentum, desired to win the Pythian games.
τὰ μὲν οὖν τῆς γυμνῆς ἀγωνίας αὐτίκα ἐδόκει αὐτῷ ἀδύνατον εἶναι μήτε πρὸς ἰσχὺν μήτε πρὸς ὠκύτητα εὖ πεφυκότι, κιθάρᾳ δὲ καὶ ᾠδῇ ῥᾳδίως κρατήσειν ἐπείσθη ὑπὸ καταράτων ἀνθρώπων οὓς εἶχε περὶ αὑτὸν ἐπαινούντων καὶ βοώντων ὁπότε καὶ τὸ σμικρότατον ἐκεῖνος ἀνακρούσαιτο.
Now, as for the athletic contests, it seemed to him at once to be impossible, since he was naturally gifted neither in strength nor in speed; but he was persuaded that he would easily win in cithara-playing and singing by the accursed men he had around him, who praised him and shouted whenever he struck even the shortest note.
ἧκεν οὖν εἰς τοὺς Δελφοὺς τοῖς τε ἄλλοις λαμπρὸς καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐσθῆτα χρυσόπαστον ποιησάμενος καὶ στέφανον δάφνης χρυσῆς κάλλιστον, ὡς ἀντὶ καρποῦ τῆς δάφνης σμαράγδους εἶναι ἰσομεγέθεις τῷ καρπῷ· τὴν μέν γε κιθάραν αὐτήν, ὑπερφυές τι χρῆμα εἰς κάλλος καὶ πολυτέλειαν, χρυσοῦ μὲν τοῦ ἀκηράτου πᾶσαν, σφραγῖσι δὲ καὶ λίθοις ποικίλοις κατακεκοσμημένην, Μουσῶν μεταξὺ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ὀρφέως ἐντετορνευμένων, θαῦμα μέγα τοῖς ὁρῶσιν.
So he came to Delphi, splendid in other respects, and especially having had a gold-spangled robe made, and a most beautiful crown of golden laurel, so that instead of the laurel's berries there were emeralds equal in size to the fruit; and as for the cithara itself, a thing extraordinary in beauty and costliness, it was entirely of pure gold, and adorned with seals and various stones, with the Muses, Apollo, and Orpheus carved in relief between them, a great marvel to the onlookers.
§9ἐπεὶ δʼ οὖν ποτε καὶ ἧκεν ἡ τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἡμέρα, τρεῖς μὲν ἦσαν, ἔλαχεν δὲ μέσος αὐτῶν ὁ Εὐάγγελος ᾄδειν· καὶ μετὰ Θέσπιν τὸν Θηβαῖον οὐ φαύλως ἀγωνισάμενον εἰσέρχεται ὅλος περιλαμπόμενος τῷ χρυσῷ καὶ τοῖς σμαράγδοις καὶ βηρύλλοις καὶ ὑακίνθοις· καὶ ἡ πορφύρα δὲ ἐνέπρεπε τῆς ἐσθῆτος, ἣ μεταξὺ τοῦ χρυσοῦ διεφαίνετο.
, therefore, the day of the contest finally came, there were three of them, and Evangelus drew the lot to sing second among them; and after Thespis the Theban, who had competed not poorly, he entered, entirely glittering with the gold, the emeralds, beryls, and jacincts; and the purple of his robe, which showed through between the gold, was outstanding.
τούτοις ἅπασι προεκπλήξας τὸ θέατρον καὶ θαυμαστῆς ἐλπίδος ἐμπλήσας τοὺς θεατάς, ἐπειδή ποτε καὶ ᾆσαι καὶ κιθαρίσαι πάντως ἔδει, ἀνακρούεται μὲν ἀνάρμοστόν τι καὶ ἀσύντακτον, ἀπορρήγνυσι δὲ τρεῖς ἅμα χορδὰς σφοδρότερον τοῦ δέοντος ἐμπεσὼν τῇ κιθάρᾳ, ᾄδειν δὲ ἄρχεται ἀπόμουσόν τι καὶ λεπτόν, ὥστε γέλωτα μὲν παρὰ πάντων γενέσθαι τῶν θεατῶν, τοὺς ἀθλοθέτας δὲ ἀγανακτήσαντας ἐπὶ τῇ τόλμῃ μαστιγώσαντας αὐτὸν ἐκβαλεῖν τοῦ θεάτρου·
Having beforehand astounded the theatre with all these things and filled the spectators with wonderful expectation, when at last it was absolutely necessary for him both to sing and play, he struck up something discordant and disjointed, and broke three strings at once, falling upon the cithara more violently than was proper, and he began to sing something tuneless and thin, so that laughter arose from all the spectators, and the judges, indignant at his audacity, scourged him and cast him out of the theatre.
ὅτεπερ καὶ γελοιότατος ὤφθη δακρύων ὁ χρυσοῦς Εὐάγγελος καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν μαστιγοφόρων συρόμενος διὰ μέσης τῆς σκηνῆς καὶ τὰ σκέλη καθῃματωμένος ἐκ τῶν μαστίγων καὶ συλλέγων χαμάθεν τῆς κιθάρας τὰς σφραγῖδας· ἐξεπεπτώκεσαν γὰρ κἀκείνης συμμαστιγουμένης αὐτῷ.
Just then the golden Evangelus was seen at his most ridiculous, weeping and being dragged by the lash-bearers through the middle of the stage, his legs bloodied by the whips, and collecting from the ground the seals of his cithara; for they had fallen out of it as it too was scourged along with him.
§10μικρὸν δὲ ἐπισχὼν μετʼ αὐτὸν Εὔμηλός τις Ἠλεῖος εἰσέρχεται, κιθάραν μὲν παλαιὰν ἔχων, ξυλίνους δὲ κόλλοπας ἐπικειμένην, ἐσθῆτα δὲ μόγις σὺν τῷ στεφάνῳ δέκα δραχμῶν ἀξίαν· ἀλλʼ οὗτός γε ᾄσας δεξιῶς καὶ κιθαρίσας κατὰ τὸν νόμον τῆς τέχνης ἐκράτει καὶ ἀνεκηρύττετο καὶ τοῦ Εὐαγγέλου κατεγέλα μάτην ἐμπομπεύσαντος τῇ κιθάρᾳ καὶ ταῖς σφραγῖσιν ἐκείναις.
back a little while, after him entered a certain Eumelus of Elis, having an old cithara, with wooden tuning-pegs on it, and wearing a robe which, together with his crown, was scarcely worth ten drachmae; but he, singing skillfully and playing according to the rules of the art, won and was proclaimed victor, and laughed at Evangelus who had paraded in vain with his cithara and those seals.
καὶ εἰπεῖν γε λέγεται πρὸς αὐτόν· ὦ Εὐάγγελε, σὺ μὲν χρυσῆν δάφνην περίκεισαι, πλουτεῖς γάρ, ἐγὼ δὲ ὁ πένης τὴν Δελφικήν.
And he is said to have said to him: "Evangelus, you wear a golden laurel, for you are rich, but I, a poor man, wear the Delphic one.
πλὴν τοῦτό γε μόνον ὤνησο τῆς σκευῆς, ὅτι μηδὲ ἐλεούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ ἥττῃ ἀπέρχῃ, ἀλλὰ μισούμενος προσέτι διὰ τὴν ἄτεχνόν σου ταύτην τρυφήν. περὶ πόδα δή σοι καὶ Εὐάγγελος οὗτος, παρʼ ὅσον σοί γε οὐδʼ ὀλίγον μέλει τοῦ γέλωτος τῶν θεατῶν.
However, you have gained only this from your equipment, that you depart not even pitied for your defeat, but moreover hated because of this artless luxury of yours." This Evangelus is at your very heels, except that you do not care even a little about the laughter of the spectators.
§11οὐκ ἄκαιρον δʼ ἂν γένοιτο καὶ Λέσβιον μῦθόν τινα διηγήσασθαί σοι πάλαι γενόμενον.
it would not be out of season to tell you also a certain Lesbian myth that happened of old.
ὅτε τὸν Ὀρφέα διεσπάσαντο αἱ Θρᾷτται, φασὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ σὺν τῇ λύρᾳ εἰς τὸν Ἕβρον ἐμπεσοῦσαν ἐκβληθῆναι εἰς τὸν μέλανα κόλπον, καὶ ἐπιπλεῖν γε τὴν κεφαλὴν τῇ λύρᾳ, τὴν μὲν ᾄδουσαν θρῆνόν τινα ἐπὶ τῷ Ὀρφεῖ, ὡς λόγος, τὴν λύραν δὲ αὐτὴν ὑπηχεῖν τῶν ἀνέμων ἐμπιπτόντων ταῖς χορδαῖς, καὶ οὕτω μετʼ ᾠδῆς προσενεχθῆναι τῇ Λέσβῳ, κἀκείνους ἀνελομένους τὴν μὲν κεφαλὴν καταθάψαι ἵναπερ νῦν τὸ Βακχεῖον αὐτοῖς ἐστι, τὴν λύραν δὲ ἀναθεῖναι εἰς τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τὸ ἱερόν, καὶ ἐπὶ πολύ γε σώζεσθαι αὐτήν.
When the Thracian women tore Orpheus to pieces, they say that his head, falling into the Hebrus together with his lyre, was cast out into the Black Gulf, and that the head floated upon the lyre, the head singing a certain dirge for Orpheus, as the story goes, while the lyre itself resounded as the winds fell upon its strings, and thus with song they were carried to Lesbos, and the inhabitants, taking them up, buried the head where their temple of Bacchus now is, and dedicated the lyre in the temple of Apollo, and it was preserved for a long time.