§273δοκῶ μοι κατὰ τὴν Ἑλένην τὴν Ὁμήρου τὸν λόγον ποιήσεσθαι.
I think I shall make my speech after the fashion of Homer's Helen.
καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνη πάντας μὲν οὐκ ἄν φησιν εἰπεῖν
"ὅσσοι Ὀδυσσῆος ταλασίφρονός εἰσιν ἄεθλοι. " §274πρᾶξιν δέ τινα αὐτοῦ μίαν ἀπολαβοῦσα, οἶμαι, διηγεῖται πρὸς τὸν Τηλέμαχον καὶ Μενέλεων· κἀγὼ πάντα μὲν οὐκ ἂν εἴποιμι τὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἀγωνίσματα, ὅσων ἀπέλαυσα εἰς τήνδε τὴν ἡμέραν.
For she too says that she cannot tell all, "as many as are the trials of stout-hearted Odysseus." Having selected one single deed of his, I believe, she relates it to Telemachus and Menelaus; and I too could not tell all the struggles of the Savior, of as many as I have enjoyed up to this day.
καὶ οὐκέτʼ ἐνταῦθα τὸ τοῦ Ὁμήρου προσθήσω,
"οὐδʼ εἴ μοι δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι, δέκα δὲ στόματʼ εἶεν· "
μικρὸν γὰρ τοῦτό γε.
And I will no longer add here that line of Homer, "not even if I had ten tongues and ten mouths;" for this is a small thing.
ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἂν εἰ πᾶσαν ὑπερβαλοίμην τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις δύναμίν τε καὶ φωνὴν καὶ γνώμην, οὐκ ἄν ποτε οὐδʼ ἐγγὺς αὐτῶν ἀφικοίμην.
Nay, even if I were to surpass all the power, voice, and intellect among men, I would never come even near them.
ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσοι πώποτε τῶν φίλων ἐδεήθησαν ἢ προὔτρεψαν εἰπεῖν καὶ συγγράψαι περὶ αὐτῶν, οὐδενὶ πώποτε ἐπείσθην, φεύγων τὸ ἀδύνατον.
But however many of my friends have ever requested or urged me to speak and write about them, I have never complied with anyone, fleeing from the impossible.
ἐδόκει γάρ μοι παραπλήσιον εἶναι ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ πελάγους ὕφαλος διεξελθὼν εἶτʼ ἠναγκαζόμην ἀποδιδόναι λόγον πόσοις τισὶ τοῖς πᾶσι ῥοθίοις ἐνέτυχον καὶ ποίας τινὸς τῆς θαλάττης παρʼ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἐπειρώμην καὶ τί τὸ σῶζον ἦν.
For it seemed to me to be very much as if, after passing through the whole sea underwater, I were then forced to give an account of how many waves in all I encountered, and what kind of sea I experienced at each of them, and what it was that saved me.
ἑκάστη γὰρ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἡμερῶν, ὡσαύτως δὲ νυκτῶν, ἔχει συγγραφὴν, εἴ τις παρὼν, ἢ τὰ συμπίπτοντα ἀπογράφειν ἐβούλετο, ἢ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ πρόνοιαν διηγεῖσθαι, ὧν τὰ μὲν ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ παρὼν, τὰ δὲ τῇ πομπῇ τῶν ἐνυπνίων ἐνεδείκνυτο, ὅσα γε δὴ καὶ ὕπνου λαχεῖν ἐξῆν· σπάνιον δʼ ἦν ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸ σῶμα τρικυμιῶν.
For each of our days, and likewise our nights, has its own history, if anyone present wished either to write down the occurrences or to relate the providence of the god, of which some he showed openly by being present, and others by the sending of dreams, at least as much as it was possible to obtain sleep; but this was rare because of the tempests around my body.
ταῦτʼ οὖν ἐνθυμούμενος ἐγνώκειν παρέχειν ὡς ἀληθῶς ὥσπερ ἰατρῷ τῷ θεῷ σιγῇ ποιεῖν ὅ τι βούλεται.
Thinking on these things, therefore, I had resolved to allow the god, truly as a physician, to do in silence whatever he wished.
νῦν δὲ ὡς ἔσχε τὸ τοῦ ἤτρου δηλῶσαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς βούλομαι.
But now I wish to declare to you how it was with my abdomen.
λογιοῦμαι δὲ ἕκαστα πρὸς ἡμέραν.
I shall reckon each matter day by day.
ἦν μὲν γὰρ Ποσειδεὼν μὴν, ἴστε οἵου χειμῶνος· ἔκαμνε δὲ ὁ στόμαχος τὰς νύκτας καὶ ἀγρυπνίαι ἦσαν ὑπερφυεῖς, ὥστε οὐδὲ τὰ βραχύτατα πέττειν ἦν.
For it was the month of Poseideon, and you know what kind of winter it was; and my stomach suffered during the nights and the sleeplessness was extraordinary, so that it was not possible to digest even the lightest things.
αἰτία δʼ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἡ συνέχεια τῶν χειμώνων, ἣν οὐδὲ κέραμος οὐδεὶς ἐνέγκαι ἐλέγετο· ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ ἱδρὼς ἔστη πάντα τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, πλὴν ὅσα λουμένῳ.
The cause was not least the continuity of the storms, which not even any roof-tile was said to bear; since even my sweat stopped during all this time, except for what occurred when bathing.
δωδεκάτῃ δὲ τοῦ μηνὸς ἀλουσίαν προστάττει ὁ θεὸς καὶ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ τῇ μετʼ ἐκείνην.
On the twelfth of the month, the god orders me to abstain from bathing, and on the next day this same thing, and on the day after that.
ταύτας τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἑξῆς διήγαγον παντελῶς ἀνιδρωτὶ νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν, ὥστε μηδὲ χιτωνίσκου δεῆσαι μεταλαβεῖν, καὶ οὔπω
These three consecutive days I passed completely without sweating, night and day, so that there was no need even to change my tunic, and not yet...