§46Σίμων
τί οὖν, ὦ Τυχιάδη, οὐχὶ καὶ Πάτροκλος τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως παράσιτος ἦν, καὶ ταῦτα οὐδενὸς τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων φαυλότερος οὔτε τὴν ψυχὴν οὔτε τὸ σῶμα νεανίας ὤν;
Simon: What then, Tychiades? Was not Patroclus also a parasite of Achilles, and that too though he was a youth inferior to none of the other Greeks, either in soul or in body?
ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐδʼ αὐτοῦ μοι δοκῶ τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως τεκμαίρεσθαι τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ χείρω εἶναι· τόν τε γὰρ Ἕκτορα ῥήξαντα τὰς πύλας καὶ παρὰ ταῖς ναυσὶν εἴσω μαχόμενον οὗτος ἐξέωσεν καὶ τὴν Πρωτεσιλάου ναῦν ἤδη καιομένην ἔσβεσεν, καίτοι ἐπεβάτευον αὐτῆς οὐχ οἱ φαυλότατοι, ἀλλʼ οἱ τοῦ Τελαμῶνος Αἴας τε καὶ Τεῦκρος,ὁ μὲν ὁπλίτης ἀγαθός,ὁ δὲ τοξότης.
For I do not even think, judging by his deeds, that he was inferior to Achilles himself; for he drove back Hector who had broken the gates and was fighting inside by the ships, and extinguished the ship of Protesilaus which was already burning, even though those on board her were not the meanest, but the sons of Telamon, Ajax and Teucer, the one a good heavy-armed soldier, the other an archer.
καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν ἀπέκτεινε τῶν βαρβάρων, ἐν δὲ δὴ τούτοις καὶ Σαρπηδόνα τὸν παῖδα τοῦ Διός, ὁ παράσιτος τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως.
And he killed many of the barbarians, and among these indeed even Sarpedon, the son of Zeus—he, the parasite of Achilles.
καὶ ἀπέθανεν δὲ οὐχὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως, ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν Ἕκτορα Ἀχιλλεὺς ἀπέκτεινεν, εἷς ἕνα, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Ἀχιλλέα Πάρις, τὸν δὲ παράσιτον θεὸς καὶ δύο ἄνθρωποι.
And he died not like the others, but while Achilles killed Hector, one to one, and Paris killed Achilles himself, a god and two men killed the parasite.
καὶ τελευτῶν δὲ φωνὰς ἀφῆκεν οὐχ οἵαςὁ γενναιότατος Ἕκτωρ καὶ προσπίπτων τὸν Ἀχιλλέα καὶ ἱκετεύων ὅπωςὁ νεκρὸς αὐτοῦ τοῖς οἰκείοις ἀποδοθῇ, ἀλλʼ οἵας εἰκὸς ἀφεῖναι παράσιτον.
And in dying he uttered words not like those of the most noble Hector, who fell before Achilles and begged that his corpse might be restored to his kinsmen, but such as it is natural for a parasite to utter.
τίνας δὴ ταύτας;
What were these, then?
τοιοῦτοι δʼ εἴπερ μοι ἐείκοσιν ἀντεβόλησαν, πάντες κʼ αὐτόθʼ ὄλοντο ἐμῷ ὑπὸ δουρὶ δαμέντες. §47Τυχιάδης
ταῦτα μὲν ἱκανῶς· ὅτι δὲ μὴ φίλος ἀλλὰ παράσιτος ἦν ὁ Πάτροκλος τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως πειρῶ λέγειν.
"And if twenty such as you had met me, all would have perished here, subdued under my spear." Tychiades: This is enough; but try to explain that Patroclus was a parasite, not a friend, of Achilles.
Σίμων
αὐτόν, ὦ Τυχιάδη, τὸν Πάτροκλον ὅτι παράσιτος ἦν λέγοντά σοι παρέξομαι.
Simon: I will present Patroclus himself to you, Tychiades, saying that he was a parasite.
Τυχιάδης
θαυμαστὰ λέγεις.
Tychiades: You say wonderful things.
Σίμων
ἄκουε τοίνυν αὐτῶν τῶν ἐπῶν· "
μὴ ἐμὰ σῶν ἀπάνευθε τιθήμεναι ὀστέʼ, Ἀχιλλεῦ,
ἀλλʼ ὁμοῦ, ὡς ἐτράφην περ ἐν ὑμετέροισι δόμοισι. "
καὶ πάλιν ὑποβάς,
καὶ νῦν με δεξάμενος,
φησίν,
ὁ Πηλεὺς
"ἔτρεφεν ἐνδυκέως καὶ σὸν θεράποντʼ ὀνόμηνε. "
τουτέστι παράσιτον εἶχεν.
Simon: Listen then to the verses themselves: "Do not lay my bones apart from yours, Achilles, but together, just as I was brought up in your house." And again, going a bit further down, he says: "And Peleus having received me then..." "reared me kindly and named me your attendant (therapon)." That is, he had him as a parasite.
εἰ μὲν τοίνυν φίλον ἐβούλετο τὸν Πάτροκλον λέγειν, οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸν ὠνόμαζεν θεράποντα· θεράποντα· ἐλεύθερος γὰρ ἦν ὁ Πάτροκλος.
If, therefore, he wished to call Patroclus a friend, he would not have named him an attendant-attendant; for Patroclus was a free man.
τίνας τοίνυν λέγει τοὺς θεράποντα· θεράποντα· εἰ μήτε τοὺς δούλους μήτε τοὺς φίλους;
Whom, then, does he call attendants-attendants, if they are neither slaves nor friends?
τοὺς παρασίτους δῆλον ὅτι· ᾗ καὶ τὸν Μηριόνην τοῦ Ἰδομενέως καὶ αὐτὸν θεράποντα ὀνομάζει.
Clearly the parasites; in which way he also names Meriones, the attendant of Idomeneus, as such himself.
Σκόπει δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸν μὲν Ἰδομενέα Διὸς ὄντα υἱὸν οὐκ ἀξιοῖ λέγειν
ἀτάλαντον Ἄρηϊ,
Μηριόνην δὲ τὸν παράσιτον αὐτοῦ.
And observe that here too, he does not deem Idomeneus, who was a son of Zeus, worthy of being called "equal to Ares," but Meriones, his parasite.
§48Σίμων
τί δέ;
Simon: What then?
οὐχὶ καὶ Ἀριστογείτων, δημοτικὸς ὢν καὶ πένης, ὥσπερ Θουκυδίδης φησί, παράσιτος ἦν Ἁρμοδίου;
Was not Aristogeiton also, being a man of the people and poor, as Thucydides says, a parasite of Harmodius?
τί δέ;
What then?
οὐχὶ καὶ ἐραστής;
Was he not also his lover?
ἐπιεικῶς γὰρ οἱ παράσιτοι καὶ ἐρασταὶ τῶν τρεφόντων εἰσίν.
For parasites are generally also lovers of those who support them.
οὗτος τοίνυν πάλιν ὁ παράσιτος τὴν Ἀθηναίων πόλιν τυραννουμένην εἰς ἐλευθερίαν ἀφείλετο, καὶ νῦν ἕστηκε χαλκοῦς ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ μετὰ τῶν παιδικῶν.
This parasite, then, in turn rescued the city of Athens from tyranny into freedom, and now stands in bronze in the agora with his beloved.
οὗτοι μὲν δή, τοιοίδε ὄντες, μάλα ἀγαθοὶ παράσιτοι ἦσαν.
These indeed, being such, were very good parasites.
§49Σίμων
σὺ δὲ δὴ ποῖόν τινα εἰκάζεις ἐν πολέμῳ τὸν παράσιτον;
Simon: And what kind of person do you imagine the parasite to be in war?
οὐχὶ πρῶτον μὲν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἀριστοποιησάμενος ἔξεισιν ἐπὶ τὴν παράταξιν, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ Ὀδυσσεὺς ἀξιοῖ;
Will not such a man, first of all, go out to the battle line after having taken a hearty breakfast, just as Odysseus also deems necessary?
οὐ γὰρ ἄλλως ἐν πολέμῳ μάχεσθαι, φησίν, ἔστιν, εἰ καὶ εὐθὺς ἅμα ἕῳ μάχεσθαι δέοι.
For he says it is not possible to fight in war otherwise, even if it is necessary to fight immediately at dawn.
καὶ ὃν ἄλλοι στρατιῶται χρόνον ὑπὸ δέους ὁ μέν τις ἀκριβῶς ἁρμόζει τὸ κράνος, ὁ δὲ θωράκιον ἐνδύεται, ὁ δὲ αὐτὸ τὸ δεινὸν ὑποπτεύων τοῦ πολέμου τρέμει, οὗτος δὲ ἐσθίει τότε μάλα φαιδρῷ τῷ προσώπῳ καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἔξοδον εὐθὺς ἐν πρώτοις διαγωνίζεται·
And while other soldiers, out of fear, one fits his helmet precisely, another puts on his breastplate, and another trembles, suspecting the very danger of war, this man at that time eats with a very cheerful face and, immediately after going out, contends among the very first.
ὁ δὲ τρέφων αὐτὸν ὄπισθεν ὑποτέτακται τῷ παρασίτῳ, κἀκεῖνος αὐτὸν ὥσπερ ὁ Αἴας τὸν Τεῦκρον ὑπὸ τῷ σάκει καλύπτει, καὶ τῶν βελῶν ἀφιεμένων γυμνώσας ἑαυτὸν τοῦτον σκέπει· βούλεται γὰρ ἐκεῖνον μᾶλλον σώζειν ἢ ἑαυτόν.
And he who supports him is stationed behind the parasite, and the latter covers him under his shield just as Ajax did Teucer, and when missiles are flying, he exposes himself to protect him; for he wishes to save him rather than himself.