figure, too, is the famous Kroesus! And as for Sardanapalus, Eakus, just permit me to give him a cuff on the ear. Eakus. By no means, for you would shiver his skull in pieces, it is so like a woman's. Menippus. Well, then, I will, at least, certainly spit upon him for a woman-man. Eakus. Would you like me to show you the philosophers, too? Menippus. In heaven's name, yes. Eakus. First of all, this is your celebrated Pythagoras. Menippus. Good-day to you, Euphorbus, or Apollo,' or whatever you like to be. Pythagoras. The same to you, with all my heart, Menippus. Menippus. Have you no longer a golden thigh? Pythagoras. Why, no; but come, let me see if your wallet contains anything eatable. Menippus. Beans, my dear sir-so that's not in your way of eating. Pythagoras. Only give them to me. Other opinions hold among the dead; for I have learned that beans and one's parents' heads are not all on an equality here. Eakus. This is Solon, the son of Exekestides, and that 1 Euphorbus, a Trojan hero, slain by Menelaus, who hung up his enemy's shield, as a trophy, in a temple at Mykenæ. Pythagoras, who, according to the fable, asserted himself to have been, in one of the various stages of the metempsychosis, Euphorbus, proved his identity by selecting his shield by the faculty of reminiscence, Compare Lucian's Πρᾶσις Βίων, and Όνειρος ἤ ̓Αλεκτρυών, 16 ; Diog. Laert. Περὶ Βίων K. T. λ. (IIv@ay.); Ov. Metam. xv., which book contains, as Dryden justly observes, the finest passage in that charming poem-the Pythagorean precepts in regard to humane living. As for the absurd legend of the "golden thigh," repeated unquestioningly by so many writers, old and modern, see "Ovɛpoç, 'Aλɛ§. 40; Diog. Laert. viii. &c. For the more historical prohibition of beans (to the highest class of his initiated followers) see Porphyry's Bios IIv@ay.; Plut. Σvμπ.; Diog. Laert. ; and the commentaries of Hemsterhuis and Lehmann. In a well-known passage, Horace refers to the prohibited bean : "O quando faba Pythagoræ cognata, simulque Cf. Juv. Sat. xv. 170-174. Thales, and by their side Pittakos and the rest;1 and there are seven in all, as you observe. Menippus. These, Æakus, are the only ones of all of them without grief and cheerful. But the one covered with cinders, for all the world like a loaf baked in the ashes, who blossoms all over with blisters, who is he? Eakus. Empedokles, Menippus, come from Ætna, halfboiled. Menippus. Fine Sir of the brazen foot, what possessed you that you threw yourself into the craters of Etna ?? Empedokles. A sort of melancholy madness, Menippus. Menippus. Not so, by heaven! but vain-glory and puffedup pride, and much drivelling-these things burned you to 1 The four other "Sages," to whom allusion is here made, are Bias, Periander, Cheilon, and Kleobulus. By far the most distinguished of these 66 seven wise men," as they were called кar' ¿žóny, are Thales, the celebrated savant of Miletus, the originator of the theory of the Aqueous origin of the Universe, and Solon, the Attic legislator. Of the remaining five, their titles to supreme wisdom are not altogether unquestionable. Periander, tyrant of Korinth, in the sixth century B.C. (if justice or humanity enter into the idea of "wisdom "), had the least indefeasible claim of all. In fact, by some authorities he was excluded from the magic number. 2 As in the case of Pythagoras, Lucian chooses to adopt the absurd popular legend, or hostile calumny, which represents this distinguished philosopher as throwing himself into the crater of Ætna, that his miraculous disappearance might acquire for him the honours of divinity. Cf. Ιστ. ̓Αληθ. ii. 289 ; Περὶ τῆς Περεγρίνου Τελεύτης, i. ; Diog. Laert. ; Strabo, vi.; Ælian, Пou. 'IoT. xii. 32; Horace, Ars Poet. 464. Diogenes informs us that the Pythagorean philosophers were in the habit of wearing sandals or slippers of brass; but Lucian's epithet, xaλkóπOV, as Wieland points out, may be derived from 'IX. xiii. 23, and from the "HλEKTрa of Sophokles, 492. In spite of alleged eccentricities, Empedokles has deserved to be regarded as one of the most distinguished savants and geniuses of old Hellas. The greatest of Latin poets speaks of him in terms of the highest and most enthusiastic praise. Celebrating the glories of Sicily, Lucretius adds : "Nil tamen hoc habuisse viro præclarius in se De Rer. Nat. i. 729. Of his principal poem, IIɛpì Þúσews, considerable fragments remain. ashes, slippers and all, not unworthy of your fate. But the clever trick did you no good; for you clearly were proved to have died.- Sokrates, however, wherever in the world is he, pray? Eakus. He is generally talking nonsense, with Nestor and Palamedes. Menippus. None the less I would wish to have a look at him, if he is anywhere here. Eakus. Do you see the bald-headed man ? Menippus. All of them are bald-headed together. So that would be the distinguishing mark of all. Eakus. I mean the snub-nosed one. 1 Menippus. That, too, is all one; for they are the whole lot of them all snub-nosed. Sokrates. Is it me you are inquiring for, Menippus ? Sokrates. How go things in Athens ? Menippus. Many of the young men say they are engaged in philosophy. And if one were to regard their ways of dressing and walking alone, they are tip-top philosophers. Sokrates. I have seen very many of them. Menippus. But you have observed, I suppose, in what style Aristippus 2 came to you, and Plato himself; the one reeking of perfume, and the other after having thoroughly learned the art of courting Sicilian despots.3 Sokrates. But about me what opinions do they entertain ? Menippus. You are a lucky fellow, Sokrates, as to that sort of thing, at all events. All, in fact, consider you to have been an admirable man, and to have known every 1 'Opolov, the French tout égal, of the use of which idiom a highly entertaining illustration may be seen in Tristram Shandy, vii. 34. 2 A disciple of Sokrates, and founder of the Cyrenaic School, as it is called. For his selfish and sensual principles of life, see Diog. Laert.; and compare the Biov IIpάois, Athenæus, xiii. Horace expresses his admiration for him in well-known verses, Ep. i. 1, 17, 23, 24, and Ep. i. 1, 18. 3 The two Dionysii, uncle and nephew, the celebrated tyrants of Sicily. According to some of the biographers or historians, Plato suffered for his plain-speaking to the despots. See, in particular, Plutarch. Dion. thing; and that, too-for one must, I suppose, tell the truth-when you knew nothing.1 Sokrates. And I myself kept telling them that, but they would imagine the thing was pretended ignorance on my part.2 Menippus. And who are these about you? Socrates. Charmides, and Phædrus, and the son of Kleinias.3 Menippus. Well done, Sokrates; for even here you pursue your peculiar profession, and don't altogether despise the handsome fellows.* Sokrates. Why, what else could I engage in more pleasantly? However, do you, please, recline close by us. Menippus. No, faith, for I shall go off to join Kræsus and Sardanapalus, to take up my abode in their neighbourhood. I think, in fact, that I shall laugh not a little in listening to their doleful lamentations. Eakus. I, too, will now be off, for fear that some one or other of the dead may get clear away without my perceiving him. As for the remaining sights you shall see them at another time, Menippus. Menippus. Take yourself off at once; indeed, these sights here are quite sufficient, Eakus. 1 The Delphic Oracle had pronounced the philosopher "the wisest man," we are assured, because for himself he constantly professed that he knew nothing. How far this exaggeration of a truth was carried by his disciples in the "New Academy" is well known. Of the scepticism of Pyrrho, who probably was considerably influenced by Sokratism as well as by Demokritus, an entertaining parody is given in the IIpãois Βίων. 2 Eipwveíav, the special character of the Sokratic Dialogue, whence the English irony. See 'AX. 'Iσr. ii. 232. 3 Charmides, the uncle of Plato, and Phædrus have given their names to two of the Dialogues of Plato. The son of Kleinias was Alkibiades, who occupies a conspicuous place in the Evμñóσiov, and gives his name to two Platonic Dialogues. 4 See 'Anons 'Ioropía (ii. 225), which gives an highly entertaining account of the manner of life of some of the celebrities met by the enterprising travellers in the Island of the Blessed. XXI. MENIPPUS INQUIRES OF KERBERUS, THE CANINE GUARDIAN OF THE ENTRANCE TO HADES, AS TO THE DEMEANOUR OF SOKRATES UPON HIS FIRST ARRIVAL THERE. Menippus. My friend Kerberus-for I am your kinsman, being myself a dog, too,1-tell me, in the name of the Styx, what was Sokrates like when he was coming down to us: it is to be expected that you, as you are divine, not only bark but also utter human sounds whenever you have a mind to do so. Kerberus. At a distance, Menippus, he appeared, in every way, to be approaching with undisturbed countenance, seeming to fear death in no great degree, and desirous to make this evident to those who stood outside the entrance. But when he stooped down and peered within the yawning cavern, and saw the darkness, and when I gave him a bite as he was long dallying with the hemlock, and dragged him down by the foot, he began to squall like an infant, and to bewail his little children, and to take all possible forms in his terror.3 Menippus. Was then the fellow a mere sophist? and did he not, in fact, have contempt for the event of death? Kerberus. No, he had not; but when, in fact, he saw 1 See N. Δ. i. ; Περὶ Πένθούς, 4; Μενίππος ἢ Νεκυομ. 10; Aristoph. Βατρ. Kerberus, like most of the monsters of Hellenic fancy or Mediæval superstition, was, chimæra-like, a compound of dog and serpent-the reptile part of the monster adorning its back and forming its tail. See Apollod. ii. 5, 12. The Dog, it has been observed, has been deified (in the two principal religions of the ancient western world), in Heaven, on Earth, and in Hades, as Seirius, Anubis, and Kerberus. 2 Διαμέλλοντα αὐτὸν δακὼν τῷ κωνείῳ, κ. τ. λ. There is some ambiguity in the connection of 7 Kwveiq. Fritzsche connects them with dakov. The order of the text is that adopted by Jacobitz. Cf. Aristoph. Βατρ. 124. 3 Παντοῖος ἐγένετο. Nahm alle möglichen Gestalten an, d. i. war ganz ausser sich, wuste nicht, was er machen sollte. Cf. Nypivos, 4, e. A. xxi. 2.-Jacobitz. This account of Kerberus differs altogether from that given by Plato in his Φαίδων:—“ οὐδὲν τρέσας, οὐδὲ διαφθείρας οὔτε του χρώματος οὔτε τοῦ προσώπου, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ εἰώθει, ταυρηδὸν ὑποβλέψας.” Cf. Xenophon, οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸν θάνατον ἐμαλακίσατο, ἀλλ ̓ ἱλαρῶς, k. 7. λ. (’Añoλoyía)` Ælian. II. I. ix. 7 ; Cicero, Tusc. Disp. iii. 31. L |