§7Πολύστρατος
ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἔλεγεν, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἐπαινοῦσα τοῦ συγγράμματος, ἓν δὲ τοῦτο οὐ φέρουσα, ὅτι θεαῖς αὐτήν, Ἥρᾳ καὶ Ἀφροδίτῃ, εἴκασας· ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ γάρ,
φησίν,
μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπὲρ ἅπασαν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν τὰ τοιαῦτα.
Polystratus She spoke these and similar words, praising the other parts of the writing indeed, but not enduring this one thing, that you compared her to goddesses, Hera and Aphrodite. “For such things,” she says, “are beyond me, or rather beyond all human nature.
ἐγὼ δέ σε οὐδʼ ἐκεῖνα ἠξίουν, ταῖς ἡρωΐναις παραθεωρεῖν με Πηνελόπῃ καὶ Ἀρήτῃ καὶ Θεανοῖ, οὐχ ὅπως θεῶν ταῖς ἀρίσταις.
And I did not even deem it fit for you to compare me to those heroines, Penelope, Arete, and Theano, let alone to the greatest of the goddesses.
καὶ γὰρ αὖ καὶ τόδε, πάνυ,
ἔφη,
τὰ πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς δεισιδαιμόνως καὶ ψοφοδεῶς ἔχω.
For moreover, in this respect too, I am,” she said, “very superstitious and fearful regarding the gods.
δέδια τοίνυν μὴ κατὰ τὴν Κασσιέπειαν εἶναι δόξω τὸν τοιοῦτον ἔπαινον προσιεμένη· καίτοι Νηρηΐσιν ἐκείνη ἀντεξητάζετο, Ἥραν δὲ καὶ Ἀφροδίτην ἔσεβεν. §8Πολύστρατος
ὥστε, ὦ Λυκῖνε, μεταγράψαι σε τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐκέλευσεν, ἢ αὐτὴ μὲν μαρτύρεσθαι τὰς θεὰς ὡς ἀκούσης αὐτῆς γέγραφας, σὲ δὲ εἰδέναι ὅτι ἀνιάσει αὐτὴν τὸ βιβλίον οὕτω περινοστοῦν ὥσπερ νῦν σοι διάκειται, οὐ μάλα εὐσεβῶς οὐδὲ ὁσίως τὰ πρὸς τοὺς θεούς.
I fear, therefore, lest I seem to be like Cassiopeia in accepting such praise; and yet she compared herself to the Nereids, but revered Hera and Aphrodite.” Polystratus So, Lycinus, she ordered you to rewrite such things, or else she testifies to the goddesses that you wrote this against her will, and you should know that the book will cause her pain if it goes around composed as it is now for you, not very piously nor holily regarding the gods.
ἐδόκει τε ἀσέβημα ἑαυτῆς καὶ πλημμέλημα τοῦτο δόξειν, εἰ ὑπομένοι τῇ ἐν Κνίδῳ καὶ τῇ ἐν κήποις ὁμοία λέγεσθαι·
And she thought this would seem to be an impiety and an offense of her own, if she should submit to being called similar to the goddess in Cnidus and the one in the Gardens.
καί σε ὑπεμίμνησκε τῶν τελευταίων ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ περὶ αὐτῆς εἰρημένων, ὅτι μετρίαν καὶ ἄτυφον ἔφης αὐτὴν οὐκ ἀνατεινομένην ὑπὲρ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον μέτρον, ἀλλὰ πρόσγειον τὴν πτῆσιν ποιουμένην, ὁ δὲ ταῦτα εἰπὼν ὑπὲρ αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναβιβάζεις τὴν γυναῖκα, ὡς καὶ θεαῖς ἀπεικάζειν.
And she reminded you of what was said about her at the end of the book, that you said she was moderate and free from vanity, not raising herself above the human measure, but making her flight close to the ground, yet you, having said these things, raise the woman above heaven itself, so as to compare her even to goddesses.
§9Πολύστρατος
ἠξίου δέ σε μηδὲ ἀξυνετωτέραν αὐτὴν ἡγεῖσθαι τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου, ὃς τοῦ ἀρχιτέκτονος ὑπισχνουμένου τὸν Ἄθω ὅλον μετασχηματίσειν καὶ μορφώσειν πρὸς αὐτόν, ὡς τὸ ὄρος ἅπαν εἰκόνα γενέσθαι τοῦ βασιλέως, ἔχοντα δύο πόλεις ἐν ταῖν χεροῖν, οὐ προσήκατο τὴν τερατείαν τῆς ὑποσχέσεως, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ αὐτὸν ἡγησάμενος τὸ τόλμημα ἔπαυσεν τὸν ἄνθρωπον οὐ πιθανῶς κολοσσοὺς ἀναπλάττοντα καὶ τὸν Ἄθω κατὰ χώραν ἐᾶν ἐκέλευσεν μηδὲ κατασμικρύνειν ὄρος οὕτω μέγα πρὸς μικροῦ σώματος ὁμοιότητα.
Polystratus And she deemed it fit that you should not consider her more foolish than Alexander, who, when the architect promised to reshape and remodel the whole of Mount Athos in his likeness, so that the entire mountain would become an image of the king, holding two cities in his hands, did not accept the monstrous nature of the promise, but, thinking the bold attempt to be beyond him, stopped the man who was implausibly molding colossi, and ordered him to leave Mount Athos in its place, and not to diminish a mountain so great to the likeness of a small body.
ἐπῄνει δὲ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον τῆς μεγαλοψυχίας καὶ ἀνδριάντα μείζω τοῦτον τοῦ Ἄθω ἔλεγεν αὐτοῦ ἀνεστάναι ἐν ταῖς τῶν ἀεὶ μεμνησομένων διανοίαις· οὐ γὰρ μικρᾶς εἶναι γνώμης ὑπεριδεῖν οὕτω παραδόξου τιμῆς.
And she praised Alexander for his greatness of soul, and said that this statue of his, greater than Mount Athos, was erected in the minds of those who would always remember him; for it was not the mark of a small mind to look down upon such an extraordinary honor.
§10Πολύστρατος
καὶ ἑαυτὴν οὖν τὸ μὲν πλάσμα σου ἐπαινεῖν καὶ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν τῶν εἰκόνων, μὴ γνωρίζειν δὲ τὴν ὁμοιότητα· μὴ γὰρ εἶναι τῶν τηλικούτων ἀξίαν, μηδὲ ἐγγύς, ὅτι μηδὲ ἄλλην τινά, γυναῖκά γε οὖσαν· ὥστε ἀφίησί σοι ταύτην τὴν τιμὴν καὶ προσκυνεῖ σου τὰ ἀρχέτυπα καὶ παραδείγματα.
Polystratus And she herself, therefore, praises your creation indeed, and the conception of the images, but does not recognize the likeness; for she is not worthy of such great things, nor even close, seeing that she is a woman and no one else; so she yields this honor to you and worships your archetypes and models.
σὺ δὲ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ταῦτα ἐπαίνει αὐτήν, μηδὲ ὑπὲρ τὸν πόδα ἔστω τὸ ὑπόδημα,
μὴ καὶ ἐπιστομίσῃ με,
φησίν,
ἐμπεριπατοῦσαν αὐτῷ. §11Πολύστρατος
κἀκεῖνο δὲ εἰπεῖν σοι ἐνετείλατο. ἀκούω,
ἔφη,
πολλῶν λεγόντων — εἰ δὲ ἀληθές, ὑμεῖς οἱ ἄνδρες ἴστε — μηδʼ Ὀλυμπίασιν ἐξεῖναι τοῖς νικῶσι μείζους τῶν σωμάτων ἀνεστάναι τοὺς ἀνδριάντας, ἀλλὰ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τοὺς Ἑλλανοδίκας ὅπως μηδὲ εἷς ὑπερβάληται τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ τὴν ἐξέτασιν τῶν ἀνδριάντων ἀκριβεστέραν γίγνεσθαι τῆς τῶν ἀθλητῶν ἐγκρίσεως.
But do you praise her for these human things, and let the shoe not be larger than the foot, “lest it also trip me up,” she says, “as I walk in it.” Polystratus And she also commanded me to tell you this. “I hear,” she says, “many saying—whether it is true, you men know—that not even at Olympia is it permitted for the victors to erect statues larger than their bodies, but the Hellanodikai take care that not a single one surpasses the truth, and the scrutiny of the statues becomes more accurate than the qualification of the athletes.
ὥστε ὅρα,
ἔφη,
μὴ αἰτίαν λάβωμεν ψεύδεσθαι ἐν τῷ μέτρῳ, κᾆτα ἡμῶν ἀνατρέψωσιν οἱ Ἑλλανοδίκαι τὴν εἰκόνα. §12Πολύστρατος
ταῦτα μὲν ἔλεγεν ἐκείνη.
So see to it,” she said, “lest we incur the charge of lying in the measure, and then the Hellanodikai overturn our image.” Polystratus These things indeed she said.
σὺ δὲ σκόπει, ὦ Λυκῖνε, ὅπως μετακοσμήσεις τὸ βιβλίον καὶ ἀφαιρήσεις τὰ τοιαῦτα, μηδὲ σφαλῇς πρὸς τὸ θεῖον· ὡς ἐκείνη πάνυ γε αὐτὰ ἐδυσχέραινεν καὶ ὑπέφριττεν μεταξὺ ἀναγιγνωσκομένων καὶ παρῃτεῖτο τὰς θεὰς ἵλεως εἶναι αὐτῇ.
But do you consider, Lycinus, how you will remodel the book and remove such things, and not offend against the divine; since she was indeed very displeased with them and shuddered as they were being read, and prayed to the goddesses to be propitious to her.
καὶ συγγνώμη, εἰ γυναικεῖόν τι ἔπαθεν.
And forgive her, if she experienced something typical of a woman.
καίτοι εἰ χρὴ τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, καὶ αὐτῷ ἐμοὶ τοιοῦτόν τι ἔδοξε.
And yet, if the truth must be told, even to me myself it seemed to be something of the sort.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον ἀκούων οὐδὲν πλημμέλημα ἐνεώρων τοῖς γεγραμμένοις, ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκείνη ἐπεσημήνατο, καὶ αὐτὸς ἄρχομαι τὰ ὅμοια γιγνώσκειν περὶ αὐτῶν, καὶ παραπλήσιόν τι ἔπαθον οἷς ἐπὶ τῶν ὁρωμένων πάσχομεν· ἢν μὲν πάνυ ἐγγύθεν σκοπῶμέν τι καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν, οὐδὲν ἀκριβὲς διαγιγνώσκομεν, ἢν δὲ ἀποστάντες ἐκ τοῦ συμμέτρου διαστήματος ἴδωμεν, ἅπαντα σαφῶς καταφαίνεται, τὰ εὖ καὶ τὰ μὴ οὕτως ἔχοντα.
For at first, when listening, I saw no offense in the writings, but since she pointed it out, I myself also begin to recognize the same things about them, and I experienced something similar to what we experience in the case of things seen; if indeed we examine something very close and right under our eyes, we discern nothing accurately, but if we look at it standing back at a symmetrical distance, all things appear clearly, both the good and the not so good.