§38καὶ πρὸς μὲν τὰ ἐν τῇ Ἰταλίᾳ ταῦτα προεμηχανᾶτο· οἴκοι δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα.
And while he made these preparations beforehand against the events in Italy, at home he did things like this.
τελετήν τε γάρ τινα συνίσταται καὶ δᾳδουχίας καὶ ἱεροφαντίας, τριῶν ἑξῆς ἀεὶ τελουμένων ἡμερῶν.
For he established a certain festival, with torch-lightings and hierophantic ceremonies, celebrated always for three successive days.
καὶ ἐν μὲν τῇ πρώτῃ πρόρρησις ἦν ὥσπερ Ἀθήνησι τοιαύτη· εἴ τις ἄθεος ἢ Χριστιανὸς ἢ Ἐπικούρειος ἥκει κατάσκοπος τῶν ὀργίων, φευγέτω· οἱ δὲ πιστεύοντες τῷ θεῷ τελείσθωσαν τύχῃ τῇ ἀγαθῇ. εἶτʼ εὐθὺς ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐξέλασις ἐγίγνετο· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἡγεῖτο λέγων
ἔξω Χριστιανούς,
τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ἅπαν ἐπεφθέγγετο
ἔξω Ἐπικουρείους. εἶτα Λητοῦς ἐγίγνετο λοχεία καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος γοναὶ καὶ Κορωνίδος γάμος καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸς ἐτίκτετο.
And on the first day there was a proclamation like that at Athens, of this sort: "If any atheist or Christian or Epicurean has come as a spy on the rites, let him flee; but let those who believe in the god be initiated, with good fortune." Then, right at the beginning, an expulsion took place; and he led, saying "Out with the Christians!", and the whole multitude responded "Out with the Epicureans!" Then came the child-birth of Leto and the birth of Apollo, and the marriage of Coronis and Asclepius was born.
ἐν δὲ τῇ δευτέρᾳ Γλύκωνος ἐπιφάνεια καὶ γέννησις τοῦ θεοῦ.
On the second day, the manifestation of Glycon and the birth of the god.
§39τρίτῃ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ Ποδαλειρίου ἦν καὶ τῆς μητρὸς Ἀλεξάνδρου γάμος· Δᾳδὶς δὲ ἐκαλεῖτο καὶ δᾷδες δὲ ἐκαίοντο.
On the third day was the marriage of Podalirius and the mother of Alexander; and it was called Dadis, and torches were lit.
καὶ τελευταῖον Σελήνης καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἔρως καὶ τικτομένη τοῦ Ῥουτιλιανοῦ ἡ γυνή.
And finally, the love of Selene and Alexander, and the birth of the wife of Rutilianus.
ἐδᾳδούχει δὲ καὶ ἱεροφάντει ὁ Ἐνδυμίων Ἀλέξανδρος.
And Endymion-Alexander acted as torch-bearer and hierophant.
καὶ ὁ μὲν καθεύδων δῆθεν κατέκειτο ἐν τῷ μέσῳ, κατῄει δὲ ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ὀροφῆς ὡς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἀντὶ τῆς Σελήνης Ῥουτιλία τις ὡραιοτάτη, τῶν Καίσαρος οἰκονόμων τινὸς γυνή, ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐρῶσα τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ ἀντερωμένη ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ ὀλεθρίου ἐκείνου ἀνδρὸς φιλήματά τε ἐγίγνετο ἐν τῷ μέσῳ καὶ περιπλοκαί.
And he lay down in the middle, supposedly sleeping, and there came down to him from the roof as if from heaven, instead of Selene, a certain very beautiful Rutilia, the wife of one of Caesar's stewards, who was truly in love with Alexander and loved in return by him, and before the very eyes of that wretched husband of hers, kisses and embraces took place in the midst.
εἰ δὲ μὴ πολλαὶ ἦσαν αἱ δᾷδες, τάχα ἄν τι καὶ τῶν ὑπὸ κόλπου ἐπράττετο.
And if there had not been many torches, perhaps something of a clandestine nature would also have been done.
μετὰ μικρὸν δὲ εἰσῄει πάλιν ἱεροφαντικῶς ἐσκευασμένος ἐν πολλῇ τῇ σιωπῇ, καὶ αὐτὸς μὲν ἔλεγε μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ,
ἰὴ Γλύκων
ἐπεφθέγγοντο δὲ αὐτῷ ἐπακολουθοῦντες Εὐμολπίδαι δῆθεν καὶ Κήρυκές τινες Παφλαγόνες, καρβατίνας ὑποδεδεμένοι, πολλὴν τὴν σκοροδάλμην ἐρυγγάνοντες,
ἰὴ Ἀλέξανδρε. §40πολλάκις δὲ ἐν τῇ δᾳδουχίᾳ καὶ τοῖς μυστικοῖς σκιρτήμασιν γυμνωθεὶς ὁ μηρὸς αὐτοῦ ἐξεπίτηδες χρυσοῦς διεφάνη, δέρματος ὡς εἰκὸς ἐπιχρύσου περιτεθέντος καὶ πρὸς τὴν αὐγὴν τῶν λαμπάδων ἀποστίλβοντος.
And after a little while he entered again, dressed in hierophantic garb, in profound silence; and he himself cried out in a loud voice, "Hail, Glycon!", and following him, supposedly Eumolpidae and some Paphlagonian Heralds, wearing rough leather shoes and belching much garlic-breath, responded, "Hail, Alexander!" Often, too, during the torch-lightings and the mystic dances, his thigh, purposely bared, appeared to be of gold, gilded leather, as is likely, having been wrapped around it and gleaming in the light of the torches.
ὥστε καὶ γενομένης ποτὲ ζητήσεως δύο τισὶ τῶν μωροσόφων ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, εἴτε Πυθαγόρου τὴν ψυχὴν ἔχοι διὰ τὸν χρυσοῦν μηρὸν εἴτε ἄλλην ὁμοίαν αὐτῇ, καὶ τὴν ζήτησιν ταύτην αὐτῷ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ ἐπανενεγκόντων, ὁ βασιλεὺς Γλύκων χρησμῷ ἔλυσεν τὴν ἀπορίαν· "
Πυθαγόρου ψυχὴ ποτὲ μὲν φθίνει, ἄλλοτε δʼ αὔξει· ἡ δὲ προφητείη δίης φρενός ἐστιν ἀπορρώξ.
So that, when an inquiry once arose between two of the foolish-wise concerning him, whether he possessed the soul of Pythagoras because of the golden thigh, or some other soul similar to it, and when they referred this inquiry to Alexander himself, the King Glycon solved the difficulty with an oracle: "Pythagoras' soul at one time wanes, at another waxes; but the prophetic power is an offshoot of the divine mind.
καί μιν ἔπεμψε πατὴρ ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐπαρωγόν· καὶ πάλιν ἐς Διὸς εἶσι Διὸς βληθεῖσα κεραυνῷ. "
And the Father sent it as a helper of good men; and again it will go to Zeus, struck by Zeus' thunderbolt.
§41προλέγων δὲ πᾶσιν ἀπέχεσθαι παιδίου συνουσίας, ὡς ἀσεβὲς ὄν, αὐτὸς τοιόνδε τι ὁ γεννάδας ἐτεχνήσατο.
"And though he publicly warned all to abstain from intercourse with boys, as being unholy, the noble fellow himself devised something like this.
ταῖς γὰρ πόλεσι ταῖς Ποντικαῖς καὶ ταῖς Παφλαγονικαῖς ἐπήγγελλε θεηκόλους πέμπειν εἰς τριετίαν, ὑμνήσοντας παρʼ αὐτῷ τὸν θεόν, καὶ ἔδει δοκιμασθέντας καὶ προκριθέντας τοὺς εὐγενεστάτους καὶ ὡραιοτάτους καὶ κάλλει διαφέροντας πεμφθῆναι· οὓς ἐγκλεισάμενος ὥσπερ ἀργυρωνήτοις ἐχρῆτο, συγκαθεύδων καὶ πάντα τρόπον ἐμπαροινῶν.
For he ordered the cities of Pontus and Paphlagonia to send temple-singers for a three-year period, to sing hymns to the god in his presence, and it was required that those sent should be the most noble, the most beautiful in their youth, and outstanding in beauty, after being tested and selected; and shutting them up, he used them like purchased slaves, sleeping with them and abusing them in every outrageous way.
καὶ νόμον δὲ ἐπεποίητο, ὑπὲρ τὰ ὀκτωκαίδεκα ἔτη μηδένα τῷ αὐτοῦ στόματι δεξιοῦσθαι μηδὲ φιλήματι ἀσπάζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις προτείνων τὴν χεῖρα κύσαι μόνους τοὺς ὡραίους κατεφίλει, καὶ ἐκαλοῦντο οἱ ἐντὸς τοῦ φιλήματος. §42τοιαῦτα ἐντρυφῶν τοῖς ἀνοήτοις διετέλει, γυναῖκάς τε ἀνέδην διαφθείρων καὶ παισὶ συνών.
And he had made a rule that no one over eighteen years of age should be greeted by him with his mouth nor welcomed with a kiss, but offering his hand to the others to kiss, he kissed only the beautiful ones on the lips, and they were called "those within the kiss." In such ways he continued to play upon the foolish, seducing women without restraint and consorting with boys.
καὶ ἦν μέγα καὶ εὐκτὸν ἑκάστῳ, εἴ τινος γυναικὶ προσβλέψειεν· εἰ δὲ καὶ φιλήματος ἀξιώσειεν, ἀθρόαν τὴν ἀγαθὴν τύχην ᾤετο ἕκαστος εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτῷ εἰσρυήσεσθαι.
And it was a great thing and much prayed for by each man if he should look upon anyone's wife; and if he should even deem her worthy of a kiss, each husband thought that good fortune would pour into his house in a flood.
πολλαὶ δὲ καὶ ηὔχουν τετοκέναι παρʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες ἐπεμαρτύρουν ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγουσιν.
And many women even boasted that they had borne children by him, and their husbands bore witness that they were speaking the truth.