§17Τυχιάδης
μόνος γὰρ Ἴων,
ἔφη ὁ Εὐκράτης,
τὰ τοιαῦτα εἶδεν, οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοὶ δαίμοσιν ἐντετυχήκασιν οἱ μὲν νύκτωρ, οἱ δὲ μεθʼ ἡμέραν;
Tychiades: "For did Ion alone," said Eucrates, "see such things, and have not many others also met with demons, some by night, and others by day?
ἐγὼ δὲ οὐχ ἅπαξ ἀλλὰ μυριάκις ἤδη σχέδον τὰ τοιαῦτα τεθέαμαι· καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐταραττόμην πρὸς αὐτά, νῦν δὲ δὴ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔθους οὐδέν τι παράλογον ὁρᾶν μοι δοκῶ, καὶ μάλιστα ἐξ οὗ μοι τὸν δακτύλιον ὁ Ἄραψ ἔδωκε σιδήρου τοῦ ἐκ τῶν σταυρῶν πεποιημένον καὶ τὴν ἐπῳδὴν ἐδίδαξεν τὴν πολυώνυμον, ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ κἀμοὶ ἀπιστήσεις, ὦ Τυχιάδη. καὶ πῶς ἄν,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
ἀπιστήσαιμι Εὐκράτει τῷ Δείνωνος, σοφῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ μάλιστα ἐλευθερίῳ, τὰ δοκοῦντά οἱ λέγοντι οἴκοι παρʼ αὑτῷ ἐπʼ ἐξουσίας; §18Τυχιάδης
τὸ γοῦν περὶ τοῦ ἀνδριάντος,
ἦ δʼ ὃς ὁ Εὐκράτης,
ἅπασι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας ὅσαι νύκτες φαινόμενον καὶ παισὶ καὶ νεανίαις καὶ γέρουσι, τοῦτο οὐ παρʼ ἐμοῦ μόνον ἀκούσειας ἂν ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἁπάντων. ποίου,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
ἀνδριάντος; οὐχ ἑώρακας,
ἔφη,
εἰσιὼν ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ ἀνεστηκότα πάγκαλον ἀνδριάντα, Δημητρίου ἔργον τοῦ ἀνθρωποποιοῦ; μῶν τὸν δισκεύοντα,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
φής, τὸν ἐπικεκυφότα κατὰ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς ἀφέσεως, ἀπεστραμμένον εἰς τὴν δισκοφόρον, ἠρέμα ὀκλάζοντα τῷ ἑτέρῳ, ἐοικότα συναναστησομένῳ μετὰ τῆς βολῆς; οὐκ ἐκεῖνον,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
ἐπεὶ τῶν Μύρωνος ἔργων ἓν καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὁ δισκοβόλος ὃν λέγεις· οὐδὲ τὸν παρʼ αὐτόν φημι, τὸν διαδούμενον τὴν κεφαλὴν τῇ ταινίᾳ, τὸν καλόν, Πολυκλείτου γὰρ τοῦτο ἔργον.
As for me, I have beheld such things not once but already nearly ten thousand times; and at first I was disturbed by them, but now indeed, through habit, I do not think I see anything extraordinary, especially since the Arabian gave me the ring made of iron from the crosses and taught me the spell with many names—unless indeed you will disbelieve me too, Tychiades." "And how," I said, "could I disbelieve Eucrates, the son of Deinon, a wise and especially noble man, when he speaks what seems true to him, at his own home with full freedom?" Tychiades: "At any rate, regarding the statue," said Eucrates, "which appears every night to everyone in the house, to children, youths, and old men, you could hear this not from me alone but also from all our people." "What statue," I said, "do you mean?" "Have you not seen," he said, "as you enter, standing in the courtyard, a very beautiful statue, the work of Demetrius the sculptor?" "Surely you do not mean," I said, "the discus-thrower, the one bending down in the posture of the throw, turning back toward the hand holding the discus, slightly bending one knee, looking as if he would rise up along with the cast?" "Not that one," he said, "since that discobolus you mention is one of Myron's works; nor do I mean the one next to it, the beautiful one binding his head with the ribbon, for this is the work of Polyclitus.
ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ εἰσιόντων ἄφες, ἐν οἷς καὶ τὰ Κριτίου καὶ Νησιώτου πλάσματα ἕστηκεν, οἱ τυραννοκτόνοι· σὺ δὲ εἴ τινα παρὰ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ἐπιρρέον εἶδες προγάστορα, φαλαντίαν, ἡμίγυμνον τὴν ἀναβολήν, ἠνεμωμένον τοῦ πώγωνος τὰς τρίχας ἐνίας, ἐπίσημον τὰς φλέβας, αὐτοανθρώπῳ ὅμοιον, ἐκεῖνον λέγω· Πέλλιχος ὁ Κορίνθιος στρατηγὸς εἶναι δοκεῖ. §19Τυχιάδης
νὴ Δίʼ,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
εἶδόν τινα ἐπὶ δεξιὰ τοῦ κρουνοῦ, ταινίας καὶ στεφάνους ξηροὺς ἔχοντα, κατακεχρυσωμένον πετάλοις τὸ στῆθος. ἐγὼ δέ,
ὁ Εὐκράτης ἔφη,
ἐκεῖνα ἐχρύσωσα, ὁπότε μʼ ἰάσατο διὰ τρίτης ὑπὸ τοῦ ἠπιάλου ἀπολλύμενον. ἦ γὰρ καὶ ἰατρός,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
ὁ βέλτιστος ἡμῖν Πέλλιχος οὗτός ἐστιν; μὴ σκῶπτε,
ἦ δʼ ὃς ὁ Εὐκράτης,
ἤ σε οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν μέτεισιν ὁ ἀνήρ· οἶδα ἐγὼ ὅσον δύναται οὗτος ὁ ὑπὸ σοῦ γελώμενος ἀνδριάς.
But leave aside those on the right as you enter, among which stand the figures of Critius and Nesiotes, the Tyrannicides; but if you saw a certain one by the running water, pot-bellied, bald, half-naked in his cloak, with some of the hairs of his beard fluttering in the wind, with prominent veins, just like a real man, that is the one I mean; he is thought to be Pellichus, the Corinthian general." Tychiades: "By Zeus," I said, "I did see one to the right of the spring, having ribbons and dry wreaths, with his breast gilded with gold leaf." "And I," said Eucrates, "gilded those parts, when he cured me when I was dying of the tertian fever." "Is he indeed also a physician," I said, "this excellent Pellichus of ours?" "Do not mock," said Eucrates, "or the man will pursue you before long; I know how much power this statue has, which is laughed at by you.
ἢ οὐ νομίζεις τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἶναι καὶ ἐπιπέμπειν ἠπιάλους οἷς ἂν ἐθέλῃ, εἴ γε καὶ ἀποπέμπειν δυνατὸν αὐτῷ; ἵλεως,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
ἔστω ὁ ἀνδριὰς καὶ ἤπιος οὕτως ἀνδρεῖος ὤν.
Or do you not think it belongs to the same power both to send fevers to whomsoever he wishes, since indeed it is possible for him to drive them away?" "May the statue be gracious," I said, "and gentle, being so brave.
τί δʼ οὖν καὶ ἄλλο ποιοῦντα ὁρᾶτε αὐτὸν ἅπαντες οἱ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ; ἐπειδὰν τάχιστα,
ἔφη,
νὺξ γένηται, ὁ δὲ καταβὰς ἀπὸ τῆς βάσεως ἐφʼ ᾗ ἕστηκε περίεισιν ἐν κύκλῳ τὴν οἰκίαν, καὶ πάντες ἐντυγχάνομεν αὐτῷ ἐνίοτε καὶ ᾄδοντι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅντινα ἠδίκησεν· ἐκτρέπεσθαι γὰρ χρὴ μόνον· ὁ δὲ παρέρχεται μηδὲν ἐνοχλήσας τοὺς ἰδόντας.
But what else indeed do all of you in the house see him doing?" "As soon as," he said, "night comes, he steps down from the pedestal on which he stands, walks around the house, and we all meet him, sometimes even singing, and there is no one whom he has harmed; for one has only to step aside, and he passes by without troubling those who see him.
καὶ μὴν καὶ λούεται τὰ πολλὰ καὶ παίζει διʼ ὅλης τῆς νυκτός, ὥστε ἀκούειν τοῦ ὕδατος ψοφοῦντος. ὅρα τοίνυν,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
μὴ οὐχὶ Πέλλιχος ὁ ἀνδριάς, ἀλλὰ Τάλως ὁ Κρὴς ὁ τοῦ Μίνωος ᾖ· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος χαλκοῦς τις ἦν τῆς Κρήτης περίπολος.
And indeed, he also bathes for the most part and plays throughout the whole night, so that we can hear the water splashing." "Take care then," I said, "lest the statue be not Pellichus, but Talos the Cretan, the son of Minos; for he too was a bronze guardian of Crete.
εἰ δὲ μὴ χαλκοῦ, ὦ Εὔκρατες, ἀλλὰ ξύλου πεποίητο, οὐδὲν αὐτὸν ἐκώλυεν οὐ Δημητρίου ἔργον εἶναι, ἀλλὰ τῶν Δαιδάλου τεχνημάτων· δραπετεύει γοῦν, ὡς φής, ἀπὸ τῆς βάσεως καὶ οὗτος.
And if he were made not of bronze, Eucrates, but of wood, nothing would prevent him from being not the work of Demetrius, but one of the automatons of Daedalus; at any rate, as you say, this one too runs away from his pedestal."