§331Ἀπόλλω τε καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸν ἐποιήθη κατὰ τὰς τῶν ὀνειράτων ἐπιπνοίας, καὶ τούτων τὰ πολλὰ σχεδὸν ἀπὸ μνήμης οὑτωσὶ, ὁπότε αἰωροίμην ἐπὶ τοῦ ζεύγους ἢ καὶ βαδίζοιμι.
In honor of Apollo and Asclepius, compositions were made according to the inspirations of dreams, and most of these were produced almost directly from memory, whenever I was riding in my carriage or walking.
καὶ δὴ καὶ Μακεδόνι ἀνδρὶ ἑνὶ τῶν συμφοιτητῶν ὄναρ γίγνεται, ὡς ἀπήγγελλεν ἐμοὶ Θεόδοτος, οὐ γὰρ αὐτὸς εἶχε συνήθως ἐμοὶ, ἄντικρυς φέρον εἰς ἐμέ.
And indeed, a dream came to a certain Macedonian, one of our fellow students, as Theodotus reported to me (for he himself was not in close association with me), directly referring to me.
ἐδόκει γὰρ ᾁδειν ἐμὸν παιᾶνα ἐν ᾧ ταύτην τὴν πρόσρησιν εἶναι, Ἰὴ παιὰν Ἥρακλες Ἀσκληπιέ. καὶ οὕτω δὴ τὸν παιᾶνα ἀπέδωκα ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς θεοῖς κοινόν.
For he seemed to sing my paean in which this invocation was present: 'Ie Paean, Heracles, Asclepius!' And so indeed I dedicated the paean as common to both gods.
καὶ τοίνυν καὶ χοροὺς ἔστησα δημοσίᾳ δέκα τοὺς σύμπαντας, τοὺς μὲν παίδων, τοὺς δὲ ἀνδρῶν.
And furthermore, I organized ten choruses in public altogether, some of boys, others of men.
καὶ συνέβη τι τοιοῦτον. ἡνίκα τὸν πρῶτον ἤμελλον ἀνάξειν χορὸν, ἦν ἐν τῷ νεῷ Ῥουφῖνος, οὗ μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἐμνήσθην.
And something like this happened: when I was about to lead up the first chorus, Rufinus, whom I mentioned a little earlier, was in the temple.
ἰδὼν οὖν αὐτὸν, εἰς καλὸν ἥκεις, ἔφην, εἰ ἄρα καὶ σχολή σοι· μέλλω γὰρ στήσειν χορὸν τῷ θεῷ, καὶ δῆλον δὴ ὅτι ἀκροάσει ἡμετέραν χάριν. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν, ἔφη, δεῖ καλεῖσθαί με ὑπὸ σοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ προκέκλημαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ·
Seeing him, therefore, I said, 'You have come at a good moment, if indeed you have leisure; for I am about to set up a chorus for the god, and it is clear that you will listen for our sake.' But he said, 'There is no need for me to be invited by you, but I have also been invited beforehand by the god.
τεκμαίρου δὲ, ἔφη, καὶ τὴν ὥραν, οὐ γάρ πω πρότερον τηνικάδε ἀπήντησα, ἀλλὰ πολὺ ὕστερον εἰώθειν φοιτᾶν.
Judge also,' he said, 'by the hour, for I have never before met here at this time, but was accustomed to visit much later.
ἀλλὰ κέκλημαί γε, ἔφη, καὶ τούτων ἕνεκα καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀγαθὴν τύχην, καί σοι συμπαρεστήξομεν ἡμεῖς, αὑτὸν δὴ λέγων καὶ τὸν Σηδᾶτον, ὃς ἦν ἡμῖν συμφοιτητὴς ἐν τῷ τότε.
But I have been called,' he said, 'both for these reasons and for good fortune, and we shall stand by you,' meaning himself and Sedatus, who was our fellow student at that time.
καὶ τοῦτο μὲν περὶ τὴν πρώτην προσαγωγὴν τοῦ χοροῦ συνέβη.
And this indeed happened regarding the first presentation of the chorus.
πάλιν δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ δεκάτῳ τελεσθέντι ἐγὼ μὲν ἕν τι τῶν ᾀσμάτων ἔτυχον παρεικὼς, διὰ τὸ παντελῶς αὐτοσχεδίως τε καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ῥᾴστου πεποιῆσθαι καὶ ὅσον αὐτό φασιν, ἔπειθʼ ἧκεν ὄναρ ἀπαιτοῦν καὶ τοῦτο, καὶ ἀπέδομεν.
But on the completion of the tenth, I happened to have omitted one of the songs, because it was composed entirely offhand and with the greatest ease, and was, as they say, just what it was; but afterwards a dream came demanding this too, and we paid it.
περανθέντων δὲ τούτων ἐδόκει χρῆναι ἀναθεῖναι τρίποδα ἀργυροῦν, ἅμα μὲν τῷ θεῷ χαριστήριον, ἅμα δὲ μνημεῖον τῶν χορῶν οὓς ἐστήσαμεν.
And when these things were finished, it seemed necessary to dedicate a silver tripod, both as a thank-offering to the god and as a memorial of the choruses which we set up.
καὶ ἐμοὶ μὲν παρεσκεύαστο ἐλεγεῖον τοιονδὶ
ποιητὴς ἀέθλων τε βραβεὺς αὐτός τε χορηγὸς,
"σοὶ τόδʼ ἔθηκεν ἄναξ μνῆμα χοροστασίης. "
ἔπειτα δύο τινὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἕτερʼ ἦν ἔπη, ὧν τὸ μὲν τοὔνομα εἶχε τοὐμὸν, τὸ δʼ ὅτι προστασίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ ταῦτα ἐγίγνετο.
And for me, an elegiac couplet had been prepared as follows: 'The poet, the judge of the contests, and himself the choragus, dedicated this to you, O king, as a memorial of the chorus-establishment.' Then there were two other verses after these, one of which contained my name, and the other that these things were done under the protection of the god.
ἐνίκησε δὲ ὁ θεός.
But the god prevailed.
ᾗ γὰρ ἡμέρᾳ ἔδει γίγνεσθαι τὴν ἀνάθεσιν, ταύτῃ μοι δοκεῖν ἢ μικρόν τι πρὸ αὐτῆς §332περὶ τὴν ἕω ἢ καὶ ἔτι θᾶττον ἀφικνεῖται θεῖον ἐπίγραμμα ἔχον οὑτωσὶ
οὐκ ἀφανὴς Ἕλλησιν Ἀριστείδης ἀνέθηκε
"μύθων ἀενάων κύδιμος ἡνίοχος. "
τοῦτό τε ἐπιγράφειν ἐδόκουν καὶ τὸ ἀνάθημα ἀναθήσειν ὡς δὴ Διί.
For on the day when the dedication was to take place, or slightly before it, about dawn or even earlier, there arrived a divine epigram, having this content: 'Aristides, not obscure among the Greeks, dedicated this, the glorious charioteer of everlasting words.' I seemed to write this inscription and to dedicate the offering as if indeed to Zeus.
εὐθὺς οὖν εἰχόμην ἀπρὶξ τοῦ ἐπιγράμματος ἔν τε τῷ ὕπνῳ γανύμενος καὶ ἔτι ἀφυπνιζόμενος, ἐκμελετῶν καὶ στρέφων μὴ λάθῃ με διαφυγόν·
Immediately, therefore, I held fast to the epigram, rejoicing in my sleep and still as I awoke, studying it and turning it over so that it might not escape me; and so indeed I secured it.
καὶ οὕτω δὴ κατεδησάμην. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα βουλευομένοις ἡμῖν κοινῇ περὶ τοῦ ἀναθήματος συνεδόκει καὶ τῷ ἱερεῖ καὶ τοῖς νεωκόροις ἀναθεῖναι ἐν Διὸς Ἀσκληπιοῦ, ταύτης γὰρ οὐκ εἶναι χώραν καλλίω· καὶ οὕτω δὴ τοῦ ὀνείρατος ἡ φήμη ἐξέβη.
After this, when we deliberated in common about the offering, it seemed good both to the priest and to the temple-wardens to dedicate it in the temple of Zeus Asclepius, for there was no more beautiful place than this; and so indeed the utterance of the dream turned out.
καὶ ἔστιν ὁ τρίπους ὑπὸ τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰκόνας χρυσᾶς ἔχων τρεῖς, μίαν καθʼ ἕκαστον τὸν πόδα, Ἀσκληπιοῦ, τὴν δὲ Ὑγιείας, τὴν δὲ Τελεσφόρου.
And the tripod is under the right hand of the god, having three golden images, one on each foot, of Asclepius, of Hygieia, and of Telesphorus.
καὶ τὸ ἐπίγραμμα ἐπιγέγραπται καὶ ὅτι ἐξ ὀνείρατος προσπαραγέγραπται.
And the epigram is inscribed upon it, and that it was added because of a dream is also written next to it.
ἀνέθηκα δὲ καὶ τῷ Διὶ τῷ Ὀλυμπίῳ τὸ ἐπίγραμμα καὶ ἀνάθημα ἕτερον, ὡς πανταχῆ τελέως ἔχειν τὰ χρησθέντα.
I also dedicated the epigram and another offering to Olympian Zeus, so that the things commanded might be completely fulfilled in every way.
γενομένου δὲ τοῦ ἐπιγράμματος πολὺ δὴ μείζων προθυμία μοι ἐγγίγνεται καὶ ἐδόκει παντὶ τρόπῳ χρῆναι ἀντέχεσθαι τῶν λόγων, ὡς κἀν τοῖς ὕστερον ἀνθρώποις ὄνομα ἡμῶν ἐσόμενον, ἐπειδή γε ἀενάους τοὺς λόγους ὁ θεὸς ἔτυχε προσειρηκώς. καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ τοὺς χοροὺς οὕτως εἶχε.
And when the epigram was made, a much greater zeal came upon me, and it seemed necessary by all means to cling to studies, on the ground that our name would be preserved among future generations, since indeed the god happened to have called our words 'everlasting.' And such were the matters concerning the choruses.
χρόνῳ δʼ ὕστερον οὐκ οἶδʼ ὁπόσῳ τινὶ φαντάζομαι τοιάδε. ἐδόκουν εἶναι περὶ τὴν ἑστίαν τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου καὶ πατρῴου, συλλόγου δὲ γιγνομένου δημοτελοῦς περὶ πλήθουσαν ἀγορὰν ἑστῶτα τὸν κήρυκα τὸν ἱερὸν παρʼ αὐτὴν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν κρηπῖδα ἀνειπεῖν τοὐμὸν ὄνομα σὺν ἅπασι τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸ, ὡς δὴ δημοσίᾳ στεφανουμένου, ὥσπερ ὅταν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ στεφανώμεθα, προσθεῖναι δὲ ὅτι λόγων ἕνεκα· βεβαιώσασθαι δʼ αὐτὸ ἑτέρᾳ προσθήκῃ ἐπειπόντα, καὶ γάρ ἐστιν ἀήττητος περὶ λόγους· κεκηρυγμένου δὲ τούτου διαβῆναι εἰς Ἀσκληπιοῦ κῆπον, ὃς ἔστι μοι πρόσθεν τῆς οἰκίας τῆς πατρῴας.
But some time later, I know not how long, I envisioned the following: I seemed to be around the altar of Olympian and Ancestral Zeus, and while a public assembly was taking place during the busy market hour, the sacred herald, standing by the very base of the god, proclaimed my name with all that concerned it, as if I were being crowned publicly, just as when we are crowned with a golden crown in the assemblies, and added that it was 'on account of words'; and he confirmed it by adding another supplement, saying: 'for he is indeed undefeated in eloquence.' And when this had been proclaimed, he passed over into the garden of Asclepius, which is in front of my ancestral house.
κἀνταῦθα
And there...