§16Μένιππος
τοιγάρτοι ἐκεῖνα ὁρῶντί μοι ἐδόκει ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίος πομπῇ τινι μακρᾷ προσεοικέναι, χορηγεῖν δὲ καὶ διατάττειν ἕκαστα ἡ Τύχη, διάφορα καὶ ποικίλα τοῖς πομπευταῖς τὰ σχήματα προσάπτουσα· τὸν μὲν γὰρ λαβοῦσα, εἰ τύχοι, βασιλικῶς διεσκεύασεν, τιάραν τε ἐπιθεῖσα καὶ δορυφόρους παραδοῦσα καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν στέψασα τῷ διαδήματι, τῷ δὲ οἰκέτου σχῆμα περιέθηκεν· τὸν δέ τινα καλὸν εἶναι ἐκόσμησεν, τὸν δὲ ἄμορφον καὶ γελοῖον παρεσκεύασεν· παντοδαπὴν γάρ, οἶμαι, δεῖ γενέσθαι τὴν θέαν.
Menippus Therefore, as I looked at those things, it seemed to me that the life of human beings resembled a certain long procession, and that Fortune equipped and arranged each detail, attaching different and varied costumes to the procession-participants; for, taking one, if it so happened, she equipped him royally, putting a tiara upon him, handing over bodyguards, and crowning his head with a diadem, but on another she placed the costume of a servant; and another she adorned to be beautiful, and another she made ugly and ridiculous; for, I suppose, the spectacle must be of all kinds.
πολλάκις δὲ καὶ διὰ μέσης τῆς πομπῆς μετέβαλε τὰ ἐνίων σχήματα οὐκ ἐῶσα εἰς τέλος διαπομπεῦσαι ὡς ἐτάχθησαν, ἀλλὰ μεταμφιέσασα τὸν μὲν Κροῖσον ἠνάγκασε τὴν τοῦ οἰκέτου καὶ αἰχμαλώτου σκευὴν ἀναλαβεῖν, τὸν δὲ Μαιάνδριον τέως ἐν τοῖς οἰκέταις πομπεύοντα τὴν τοῦ Πολυκράτους τυραννίδα μετενέδυσε.
And often, even in the middle of the procession, she changed the costumes of some, not allowing them to march in procession to the end as they were arranged, but changing their garments, she compelled Croesus to assume the attire of a servant and a captive, and Maiandrios, who up to that time was marching in procession among the servants, she clothed in the tyranny of Polycrates.
καὶ μέχρι μέν τινος εἴασε χρῆσθαι τῷ σχήματι· ἐπειδὰν δὲ ὁ τῆς πομπῆς καιρὸς παρέλθῃ, τηνικαῦτα ἕκαστος ἀποδοὺς τὴν σκευὴν καὶ ἀποδυσάμενος τὸ σχῆμα μετὰ τοῦ σώματος ἐγένετο οἷόσπερ ἦν πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι, μηδὲν τοῦ πλησίον διαφέρων.
And for a certain time she permitted them to use the costume; but when the time of the procession has passed, then each, having given back the equipment and stripped off the costume along with the body, became just as he was before his birth, differing in nothing from his neighbor.
ἔνιοι δὲ ὑπʼ ἀγνωμοσύνης, ἐπειδὰν ἀπαιτῇ τὸν κόσμον ἐπιστᾶσα ἡ Τύχη, ἄχθονταί τε καὶ ἀγανακτοῦσιν ὥσπερ οἰκείων τινῶν στερισκόμενοι καὶ οὐχ ἃ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐχρήσαντο ἀποδιδόντες.
But some, out of thoughtlessness, when Fortune, standing by, demands back the ornament, are grieved and indignant, as if they were being deprived of some of their own possessions, and not giving back what they had borrowed for a short time.
οἶμαι δέ σε καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς πολλάκις ἑωρακέναι τοὺς τραγικοὺς ὑποκριτὰς τούτους πρὸς τὰς χρείας τῶν δραμάτων ἄρτι μὲν Κρέοντας, ἐνίοτε δὲ Πριάμους γιγνομένους ἢ Ἀγαμέμνονας, καὶ ὁ αὐτός, εἰ τύχοι, μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν μάλα σεμνῶς τὸ τοῦ Κέκροπος ἢ Ἐρεχθέως σχῆμα μιμησάμενος μετʼ ὀλίγον οἰκέτης προῆλθεν ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ κεκελευσμένος.
And I think you have also often seen these tragic actors upon the stage, according to the needs of the plays, becoming at one moment Creons, and at times Priams or Agamemnons; and the same person, if it so happened, having a little before very solemnly imitated the costume of Cecrops or Erechtheus, after a little while came forward as a servant, being commanded by the poet.
ἤδη δὲ πέρας ἔχοντος τοῦ δράματος ἀποδυσάμενος ἕκαστος αὐτῶν τὴν χρυσόπαστον ἐκείνην ἐσθῆτα καὶ τὸ προσωπεῖον ἀποθέμενος καὶ καταβὰς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐμβατῶν πένης καὶ ταπεινὸς περίεισιν, οὐκέτʼ Ἀγαμέμνων ὁ Ἀτρέως οὐδὲ Κρέων ὁ Μενοικέως, ἀλλὰ Πῶλος Χαρικλέους Σουνιεὺς ὀνομαζόμενος ἢ Σάτυρος Θεογείτονος Μαραθώνιος.
And when the play already has its end, each of them, having stripped off that gold-spangled garment, and laid aside the mask, and stepped down from the buskins, walks about poor and humble, no longer Agamemnon son of Atreus, nor Creon son of Menoikeus, but called Polus son of Charicles of Sounion, or Satyros son of Theogeiton of Marathon.
τοιαῦτα καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πράγματά ἐστιν, ὡς τότε μοι ὁρῶντι ἔδοξεν.
Such also are the affairs of human beings, as it seemed to me then as I looked.
§17Φίλος
εἰπέ μοι, ὦ Μένιππε, οἱ δὲ τοὺς πολυτελεῖς τούτους καὶ ὑψηλοὺς τάφους ἔχοντες ὑπὲρ γῆς καὶ στήλας καὶ εἰκόνας καὶ ἐπιγράμματα οὐδὲν τιμιώτεροι παρʼ αὐτοῖς εἰσι τῶν ἰδιωτῶν νεκρῶν;
Friend Tell me, Menippus, are those who have these costly and high tombs above the earth, and steles, and statues, and inscriptions, not at all more honored among them than the ordinary dead?
Μένιππος
ληρεῖς, ὦ οὗτος·
Menippus You are talking nonsense, my good man!
εἰ γοῦν ἐθεάσω τὸν Μαύσωλον αὐτόν, — λέγω δὲ τὸν Κᾶρα, τὸν ἐκ τοῦ τάφου περιβόητον — εὖ οἶδα ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἐπαύσω γελῶν, οὕτω ταπεινὸς ἔρριπτο ἐν παραβύστῳ που λανθάνων ἐν τῷ λοιπῷ δήμῳ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, τοσοῦτον ἀπολαύων τοῦ μνήματος, παρʼ ὅσον ἐβαρύνετο τηλικοῦτον ἄχθος ἐπικείμενος· ἐπειδὰν γάρ, ὦ ἑταῖρε, ὁ Αἰακὸς ἀπομετρήσῃ ἑκάστῳ τὸν τόπον, — δίδωσι δὲ τὸ μέγιστον οὐ πλέον ποδός — ἀνάγκη ἀγαπῶντα κατακεῖσθαι πρὸς τὸ μέτρον συνεσταλμένον.
If at least you had seen Mausolus himself—I mean the Carian, the one famous for his tomb—I know well that you would not have stopped laughing, so humbly was he cast aside, hidden somewhere in a corner among the rest of the common crowd of the dead, as it seemed to me, deriving only so much benefit from his monument, insofar as he was weighed down by having such a great burden lying upon him; for when, my companion, Aiacus measures out the space for each—and he gives at most not more than a foot—it is necessary to lie down, well content, shrunk to that measure.
πολλῷ δʼ ἂν οἶμαι μᾶλλον ἐγέλασας, εἰ ἐθεάσω τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῖν βασιλέας καὶ σατράπας πτωχεύοντας παρʼ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἤτοι ταριχοπωλοῦντας ὑπʼ ἀπορίας ἢ τὰ πρῶτα διδάσκοντας γράμματα καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ τυχόντος ὑβριζομένους καὶ κατὰ κόρρης παιομένους ὥσπερ τῶν ἀνδραπόδων τὰ ἀτιμότατα.
And I think you would have laughed much more if you had seen our kings and satraps begging among them, and either selling salted fish from poverty, or teaching the first letters of spelling, and being insulted by any chance passerby and beaten on the cheek like the most worthless of slaves.
Φίλιππον γοῦν τὸν Μακεδόνα ἐγὼ θεασάμενος οὐδὲ κρατεῖν ἐμαυτοῦ δυνατὸς ἦν· ἐδείχθη δέ μοι ἐν γωνίᾳ τινὶ μισθοῦ ἀκούμενος τὰ σαθρὰ τῶν ὑποδημάτων.
At any rate, when I saw Philip of Macedon, I was not even able to control myself; and he was pointed out to me in a certain corner, patching rotten shoes for pay.
πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ ἄλλους ἦν ἰδεῖν ἐν ταῖς τριόδοις μεταιτοῦντας, Ξέρξας λέγω καὶ Δαρείους καὶ Πολυκράτας.
And it was possible to see many others also begging at the crossroads, I mean Xerxeses and Dariuses and Polycrateses.