§23Τυχιάδης
οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἴωνα καὶ τὸν Δεινόμαχον καὶ τὸν Κλεόδημον κεχηνότες ἀτενὲς προσεῖχον αὐτῷ, γέροντες ἄνδρες ἑλκόμενοι τῆς ῥινός, ἠρέμα προσκυνοῦντες οὕτως ἀπίθανον κολοσσόν, ἡμισταδιαίαν γυναῖκα, γιγάντειόν τι μορμολύκειον.
Thus Ion, Deinomachus, Cleodemus, and their companions, with open mouths, were staring intently at him—old men being led by the nose, quietly worshiping such an incredible colossus, a woman half a stade high, a giant-like monster.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἐνενόουν μεταξὺ οἷοι ὄντες αὐτοὶ νέοις τε ὁμιλοῦσιν ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ ὑπὸ πολλῶν θαυμάζονται, μόνῃ τῇ πολιᾷ καὶ τῷ πώγωνι διαφέροντες τῶν βρεφῶν, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα καὶ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων εὐαγωγότεροι πρὸς τὸ ψεῦδος.
Meanwhile, I was reflecting what kind of men they were who, while associating with the young on the ground of wisdom and being admired by many, differed from infants only by their grey hair and beard, but in other respects were even more easily led than those infants toward falsehood.
§24Τυχιάδης
ὁ γοῦν Δεινόμαχος,
εἰπέ μοι,
ἔφη,
ὦ Εὔκρατες, οἱ κύνες δὲ τῆς θεοῦ πηλίκοι τὸ μέγεθος ἦσαν; ἐλεφάντων,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
ὑψηλότεροι τῶν Ἰνδικῶν, μέλανες καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ λάσιοι πιναρᾷ καὶ αὐχμώσῃ τῇ λάχνῃ. — ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ἰδὼν ἔστην ἀναστρέψας ἅμα τὴν σφραγῖδα ἥν μοι ὁ Ἄραψ ἔδωκεν εἰς τὸ εἴσω τοῦ δακτύλου·
Deinomachus, at any rate, said, "Tell me, Eucrates, how large in size were the dogs of the goddess?" "Higher than Indian elephants," he said, "and they themselves were black and shaggy with filthy, dry hair. — I, therefore, having seen them, stood still, turning at the same time the seal-ring which the Arabian gave me to the inside of my finger.
ἡ Ἑκάτη δὲ πατάξασα τῷ δρακοντείῳ ποδὶ τοὔδαφος ἐποίησεν χάσμα παμμέγεθες, ἡλίκον Ταρτάρειον τὸ βάθος·
And Hecate, having struck the ground with her snake-like foot, made a huge chasm, as deep as Tartarus.
εἶτα ᾤχετο μετʼ ὀλίγον ἁλλομένη εἰς αὐτό.
Then, after a little while, she went away, leaping into it.
ἐγὼ δὲ θαρρήσας ἐπέκυψα λαβόμενος δένδρου τινὸς πλησίον πεφυκότος, ὡς μὴ σκοτοδινιάσας ἐμπέσοιμι ἐπὶ κεφαλήν·
But I, taking courage, bent over, holding onto a certain tree growing nearby, so that I would not fall in headlong from dizziness.
εἶτα ἑώρων τὰ ἐν Ἅιδου ἅπαντα, τὸν Πυριφλεγέθοντα, τὴν λίμνην, τὸν Κέρβερον, τοὺς νεκρούς, ὥστε γνωρίζειν ἐνίους αὐτῶν· τὸν γοῦν πατέρα εἶδον ἀκριβῶς αὐτὰ ἐκεῖνα ἔτι ἀμπεχόμενον ἐν οἷς αὐτὸν κατεθάψαμεν. τί δὲ ἔπραττον,
ὁ Ἴων ἔφη,
ὦ Εὔκρατες, αἱ ψυχαί; τί δʼ ἄλλο,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
ἢ κατὰ φῦλα καὶ φρήτρας μετὰ τῶν φίλων καὶ συγγενῶν διατρίβουσιν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀσφοδέλου κατακείμενοι. ἀντιλεγέτωσαν νῦν ἔτι,
ἦ δʼ ὃς ὁ Ἴων,
οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἐπίκουρον τῷ ἱερῷ Πλάτωνι καὶ τῷ περὶ τῶν ψυχῶν λόγῳ.
Then I saw everything in Hades: Pyriphlegethon, the lake, Cerberus, and the dead, so that I recognized some of them; at any rate, I saw my father clearly, still wearing those very clothes in which we buried him." "And what were they doing," said Ion, "Eucrates, the souls?" "What else," he said, "than spending their time according to tribes and clans with their friends and relatives, lying down upon the asphodel." "Let those around Epicurus now still contradict," said Ion, "the holy Plato and his discourse concerning the souls.
σὺ δὲ μὴ καὶ τὸν Σωκράτην αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν Πλάτωνα εἶδες ἐν τοῖς νεκροῖς; τὸν Σωκράτην ἔγωγε,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
οὐδὲ τοῦτον σαφῶς, ἀλλὰ εἰκάζων ὅτι φαλακρὸς καὶ προγάστωρ ἦν·
But did you not also see Socrates himself and Plato among the dead?" "Socrates indeed I saw," he said, "though not even him clearly, but guessing because he was bald and pot-bellied.
τὸν Πλάτωνα δὲ οὐκ ἐγνώρισα· χρὴ γάρ, οἶμαι, πρὸς φίλους ἄνδρας τἀληθῆ λέγειν.
But Plato I did not recognize; for one must, I think, speak the truth to friends.
ἅμα δʼ οὖν ἐγώ τε ἅπαντα ἱκανῶς ἑωράκειν, καὶ τὸ χάσμα συνῄει καὶ συνέμυε· καί τινες τῶν οἰκετῶν ἀναζητοῦντές με, καὶ Πυρρίας οὗτος ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἐπέστησαν οὔπω τέλεον μεμυκότος τοῦ χάσματος.
And at the same time, I had seen everything sufficiently, and the chasm began to come together and close up; and some of the servants seeking me, and this Pyrrias among them, arrived when the chasm was not yet completely closed.
εἰπέ, Πυρρία, εἰ ἀληθῆ λέγω. νὴ Δίʼ,
ἔφη ὁ Πυρρίας,
καὶ ὑλακῆς δὲ ἤκουσα διὰ τοῦ χάσματος καὶ πῦρ τι ὑπέλαμπεν, ἀπὸ τῆς δᾳδός μοι δοκεῖν. κἀγὼ ἐγέλασα ἐπιμετρήσαντος τοῦ μάρτυρος τὴν ὑλακὴν καὶ τὸ πῦρ.
Tell us, Pyrrias, if I speak the truth." "By Zeus," said Pyrrias, "I indeed heard barking through the chasm, and a certain fire shone from beneath, from the torch, it seems to me." And I laughed when the witness added the barking and the fire to the measure.
§25Τυχιάδης
ὁ Κλεόδημος δέ,
οὐ καινά,
εἶπεν,
οὐδὲ ἄλλοις ἀόρατα ταῦτα εἶδες, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ νοσήσας τοιόνδε τι ἐθεασάμην·
Then Cleodemus said, "It was nothing new, nor invisible to others, that you saw; for I myself, having fallen ill not long ago, witnessed something of this kind.
ἐπεσκόπει δέ με καὶ ἐθεράπευεν Ἀντίγονος οὗτος.
And this Antigonus here was attending and treating me.
ἑβδόμη μὲν ἦν ἡμέρα, ὁ δὲ πυρετὸς οἷος καῦσος σφοδρότατος.
It was the seventh day, and the fever was like a most violent burning heat.
ἅπαντες δέ με ἀπολιπόντες ἐπʼ ἐρημίας ἐπικλεισάμενοι τὰς θύρας ἔξω περιέμενον· οὕτω γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐκέλευσας, ὦ Ἀντίγονε, εἴ πως δυνηθείην εἰς ὕπνον τραπέσθαι.
Everyone had left me in isolation, closing the doors and waiting outside; for you yourself had so ordered, Antigonus, in case I might somehow be able to turn to sleep.
τότε οὖν ἐφίσταταί μοι νεανίας ἐγρηγορότι πάγκαλος λευκὸν ἱμάτιον περιβεβλημένος, εἶτα ἀναστήσας ἄγει διά τινος χάσματος εἰς τὸν Ἅιδην, ὡς αὐτίκα ἐγνώρισα Τάνταλον ἰδὼν καὶ Τιτυὸν καὶ Σίσυφον.
At that moment, then, a very beautiful young man stands over me while I was awake, dressed in a white cloak, and then, raising me up, leads me through a certain chasm into Hades, which I immediately recognized upon seeing Tantalus, Tityus, and Sisyphus.
καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα τί ἂν ὑμῖν λέγοιμι;
And as for the rest, why should I speak of them to you?
ἐπεὶ δὲ κατὰ τὸ δικαστήριον ἐγενόμην — παρῆν δὲ καὶ ὁ Αἰακὸς καὶ ὁ Χάρων καὶ αἱ Μοῖραι καὶ αἱ Ἐρινύες — ὁ μέν τις ὥσπερ βασιλεὺς (ὁ Πλούτων, μοι δοκεῖ) καθῆστο ἐπιλεγόμενος τῶν τεθνηξομένων τὰ ὀνόματα, οὓς ἤδη ὑπερημέρους τῆς ζωῆς συνέβαινεν εἶναι.
But when I came to the court—and Aeacus was present, and Charon, and the Fates, and the Furies—a certain person, like a king (Pluto, it seems to me), sat reading off the names of those who were about to die, who happened to have already overstepped the term of their life.
ὁ δὲ νεανίσκος ἐμὲ φέρων παρέστησεν αὐτῷ· ὁ δὲ Πλούτων ἠγανάκτησέν τε καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἀγαγόντα με,
οὔπω πεπλήρωται,
φησίν,
τὸ νῆμα αὐτῷ, ὥστε ἀπίτω.
And the young man, bringing me, stood me before him; but Pluto was angry and said to the one who brought me, 'His thread is not yet fulfilled, so let him depart.
σὺ δὲ δὴ τὸν χαλκέα Δημύλον ἄγε· ὑπὲρ γὰρ τὸν ἄτρακτον βιοῖ. κἀγὼ ἄσμενος ἀναδραμὼν αὐτὸς μὲν ἤδη ἀπύρετος ἦν, ἀπήγγελλον δὲ ἅπασιν ὡς τεθνήξεται Δημύλος· ἐν γειτόνων δὲ ἡμῖν ᾤκει νοσῶν τι καὶ αὐτός, ὡς ἀπηγγέλλετο.
But you, go and bring Demylus the smith; for he is living beyond his spindle.' And I gladly ran back, and indeed my fever was already gone, and I announced to everyone that Demylus would die; and he lived near us, being also somewhat ill himself, as it was reported.
καὶ μετὰ μικρὸν ἠκούομεν οἰμωγῆς ὀδυρομένων ἐπʼ αὐτῷ.
And shortly after, we heard the wailing of those mourning over him."