I am feeling particularly combative and recalcitrant today. No one's fault, really, but the only topics that came into my head today are topics I will regret writing about afterwards, so I am just not going to write today. Trust me, it is best for all involved. I will leave you with a little ancient whimsy that fits my mood perfectly and boot up Mass Effect 3 to kick some Reaper ass. Hopefully, tomorrow I won't be feeling stabby anymore and regular broadcasting will resume.
What follows is the writing of Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς), who lived from 125 to 180 AD. He was a Hellenic rhetorian and satirist. It is from his 'Dialogues of the Gods', which contains some of my favorite passages written by an ancient Hellenic author ever. This version of the text was translated by Fowler, H W and F G. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1905. This is the dialogue of Hēphaistos and Apollon about young thieving Hermes. The text is copied--unedited--from Theoi.com.
HEPHAESTUS
Have you seen Maia's baby, Apollo? such a pretty little thing, with a smile for everybody; you can see it is going to be a treasure.
APOLLO
That baby a treasure? well, in mischief, Iapetus is young beside it.
HEPHAESTUS
Why, what harm can it do, only just born?
APOLLO
Ask Posidon; it stole his trident. Ask Ares; he was surprised to find his sword gone out of the scabbard. Not to mention myself, disarmed of bow and arrows.
HEPHAESTUS
Never! that infant? he has hardly found his legs yet; he is not out of his baby-linen.
APOLLO
Ah, you will find out, Hephaestus, if he gets within reach of you.
HEPHAESTUS
He has been.
APOLLO
Well? all your tools safe? none missing?
HEPHAESTUS
Of course not.
APOLLO
I advise you to make sure.
HEPHAESTUS
Zeus! where are my pincers?
APOLLO
Ah, you will find them among the baby-linen.
HEPHAESTUS
So light-fingered? one would swear he had practised petty larceny in the womb.
APOLLO
Ah, and you don't know what a glib young chatterbox he is; and, if he has his way, he is to be our errand-boy! Yesterday he challenged Eros—tripped up his heels somehow, and had him on his back in a twinkling; before the applause was over, he had taken the opportunity of a congratulatory hug from Aphrodite to steal her girdle; Zeus had not done laughing before—the sceptre was gone. If the thunderbolt had not been too heavy, and very hot, he would have made away with that too.
HEPHAESTUS
The child has some spirit in him, by your account.
APOLLO
Spirit, yes—and some music, moreover, young as he is.
HEPHAESTUS
How can you tell that?
APOLLO
He picked up a dead tortoise somewhere or other, and contrived an instrument with it. He fitted horns to it, with a cross-bar, stuck in pegs, inserted a bridge, and played a sweet tuneful thing that made an old harper like me quite envious. Even at night, Maia was saying, he does not stay in Heaven; he goes down poking his nose into Hades—on a thieves' errand, no doubt. Then he has a pair of wings, and he has made himself a magic wand, which he uses for marshalling souls—convoying the dead to their place.
HEPHAESTUS
Ah, I gave him that, for a toy.
APOLLO
And by way of payment he stole—
HEPHAESTUS
Well thought on; I must go and get them; you may be right about the baby-linen.
What follows is the writing of Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς), who lived from 125 to 180 AD. He was a Hellenic rhetorian and satirist. It is from his 'Dialogues of the Gods', which contains some of my favorite passages written by an ancient Hellenic author ever. This version of the text was translated by Fowler, H W and F G. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1905. This is the dialogue of Hēphaistos and Apollon about young thieving Hermes. The text is copied--unedited--from Theoi.com.
HEPHAESTUS
Have you seen Maia's baby, Apollo? such a pretty little thing, with a smile for everybody; you can see it is going to be a treasure.
APOLLO
That baby a treasure? well, in mischief, Iapetus is young beside it.
HEPHAESTUS
Why, what harm can it do, only just born?
APOLLO
Ask Posidon; it stole his trident. Ask Ares; he was surprised to find his sword gone out of the scabbard. Not to mention myself, disarmed of bow and arrows.
HEPHAESTUS
Never! that infant? he has hardly found his legs yet; he is not out of his baby-linen.
APOLLO
Ah, you will find out, Hephaestus, if he gets within reach of you.
HEPHAESTUS
He has been.
APOLLO
Well? all your tools safe? none missing?
HEPHAESTUS
Of course not.
APOLLO
I advise you to make sure.
HEPHAESTUS
Zeus! where are my pincers?
APOLLO
Ah, you will find them among the baby-linen.
HEPHAESTUS
So light-fingered? one would swear he had practised petty larceny in the womb.
APOLLO
Ah, and you don't know what a glib young chatterbox he is; and, if he has his way, he is to be our errand-boy! Yesterday he challenged Eros—tripped up his heels somehow, and had him on his back in a twinkling; before the applause was over, he had taken the opportunity of a congratulatory hug from Aphrodite to steal her girdle; Zeus had not done laughing before—the sceptre was gone. If the thunderbolt had not been too heavy, and very hot, he would have made away with that too.
HEPHAESTUS
The child has some spirit in him, by your account.
APOLLO
Spirit, yes—and some music, moreover, young as he is.
HEPHAESTUS
How can you tell that?
APOLLO
He picked up a dead tortoise somewhere or other, and contrived an instrument with it. He fitted horns to it, with a cross-bar, stuck in pegs, inserted a bridge, and played a sweet tuneful thing that made an old harper like me quite envious. Even at night, Maia was saying, he does not stay in Heaven; he goes down poking his nose into Hades—on a thieves' errand, no doubt. Then he has a pair of wings, and he has made himself a magic wand, which he uses for marshalling souls—convoying the dead to their place.
HEPHAESTUS
Ah, I gave him that, for a toy.
APOLLO
And by way of payment he stole—
HEPHAESTUS
Well thought on; I must go and get them; you may be right about the baby-linen.
No comments:
Post a Comment