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will again guide this one who is entering toward the exit. And she has a certain loving look and voice, having reserved her marriage for the return of Theseus, waiting to receive as her bride-price from his valor the death of the Minotaur. 7 How terrible for the Athenians is the tribute, children downcast and weeping, given to the Minotaur for manifest destruction; Ariadne, seeing them and Theseus counted among them, falls in love, she weeps and suffers and contrives a release from the terrors. 8 Such, then, are the embellishments thrown in by the painter from his abundance. And in the midst of a grove the palace has been made, and the trees rise up together with it and extend further, and the foliage of the wood hangs suspended on high. And from the roof a peacock flies down; and you might say that, proud of his abundant plumage, he has turned towards it, delighted, and with his beak is setting right something that was disarranged; or perhaps he is also warding off something that is biting him, reaching for it with his neck. And the peacock's feathers are many and dense, one upon another, and certain circles in them flash with the varied light of colors. For nature gives them these for beauty, crowning the peacock with spontaneous loveliness. Whence at times, exulting in his plumage, he raises these feathers high and hollows the middle into a sort of deep fold and with their shape imitates a portico. 9 By Zeus, my friend, let us not run past the birds at the other end, which poetry has called doves, but they are creatures of Aphrodite, feeding in pairs. For these are female and male, delighting in each other with love. Of these, the one looks about for something and turns her head toward it; the other looks at her, possessed by a stronger passion, as it seems. 10 Such are the marvels that the painter lavishly adds to the palace from his art. And in the very midst is Theseus, not fighting with the Minotaur, not having thrown Cercyon, not stopping Sinis from his insolence. But these things you might see in another painting; but in the present one, exhausted by the length of the day, he has turned to a couch and rests his body, dispelling the stifling heat of midday with sleep. And he was talking with the woman who was present, not one lying down with him; for the bed is for the night for temperate people; but she is seated beside him on a kind of folding stool. And Theseus, while speaking, was, as is likely, overcome by sleep and let his unfinished words trail off because of his state. 11 Hence, to show the swift stealthiness of Sleep and how he steals the mind and drags down the eyelids, the painter has depicted him as shadowy and winged. And binding his head with a white fillet, he has signified his victory over all. And leaning his forehead on the tips of his hands placed one on the other, he now sleeps sweetly, which is what he is experiencing, showing his nature by his action as well as his form. But he hides his face; for no one foresees sleep coming. Therefore, not from the front, but from an unseen place he stands beside the couch, leaning on his hands, and if Homer were present, the poet would have said: “he stood then over his head and spoke a word to him.” 12 And Theseus, his limbs relaxed by sleep and by the vehemence of the hour, wears on his head [a diadem,] and his transparent tunic is made delicate at the edges with both golden material and the art of embroidery; it seems ... for stealing with his art, conveying the color of Theseus' garment, when he concealed what was proper to the transparent ... whatever part of the body is left bare, he shows its whiteness in a clear view; [for sun-burnt is the complexion of a youth] and of a man who perseveres in his labors in the open air and receives the sun with his whole body ..., which indeed perhaps Phaedra also loathes, having failed to perceive the beauty of his soul. touching ... of skins with a hand that runs upward and with bent fingers, he places it on his neck, holding before him the ... from his head. And his right arm is raised; for from the tip of the elbow taking hold of the forearm it rests, cooling his armpit with his hair; and his left foot is drawn up with the shin straight, holding the knee high; for such shapes are formed automatically and without awareness by those who sleep. 13 A servant saw
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εἰσιόντι χειραγωγήσει τούτῳ τὴν ἔξοδον αὖθις. ἐρωτικὸν δέ τι καὶ βλέπει καὶ φθέγγεται, τῇ τοῦ Θησέως ἐπανόδῳ τὸν γάμον τηρήσασα, ἕδνα λαχεῖν ἐξ ἀρετῆς περιμένουσα τοῦ Μινωταύρου τὸν φόνον. 7 Ὡς δεινὸς τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ὁ φόρος, παῖδες κατηφεῖς καὶ δακρύοντες, ἐς προῦπτον ὄλεθρον τῷ Μινωταύρῳ δοθέντες· οὓς Ἀριάδνη θεασαμένη καὶ τὸν Θησέα τούτοις συναριθμούμενον ἐρᾷ, δακρύει καὶ πέπονθε καὶ τῶν δεινῶν τὴν λύσιν σοφίζεται. 8 Τοιαῦτα μὲν ἐκ περιουσίας παρέρριπται τῷ ζωγράφῳ ποικίλματα. ἐν ἄλσει δὲ μέσῳ πεποίηται τὰ βασίλεια, καὶ συνυψοῦται τὰ δένδρα καὶ περαιτέρω προέρχεται, καὶ τῆς ὕλης ἡ κόμη μετέωρος ἀπῃώρηται. τοῦ δὲ τέγους ὁ ταὼς καθίπταται· εἴποις δ' ἂν αὐτὸν πολλῇ κομῶντα τῇ πτερώσει ἀπεστράφθαι πρὸς ταύτην ἡδόμενον καί τι παρημελημένον διορθοῦσθαι τῷ στόματι· τάχα δέ τι καὶ δάκνον ἀμύνεται τῇ δέρρει πρὸς αὐτὸ διικνούμενος. τῷ δὲ ταῲ τὰ πτερὰ πολλὰ καὶ πυκνὰ καὶ ἄλλα ἐπ' ἄλλοις, καὶ κύκλοι τινὲς ἐν τούτοις διαφόρῳ φωτὶ καταστράπτουσι χρωμάτων. ταῦτα γὰρ δίδωσιν αὐτοῖς πρὸς εὐμορφίαν ἡ φύσις, αὐτομάτῳ κάλλει τὸν ταὼν στεφανώσασα. ὅθεν ἔσθ' ὅτε τῇ πτερώσει γαννύμενος. ἀνορθοῖ ταῦτα μετέωρα καὶ πρὸς βαθύν τινα κόλπον κοιλαίνει τὸ μέσον καὶ παστάδα μιμεῖται τῷ σχήματι. 9 Πρὸς ∆ιός, ὦ φιλότης, μηδὲ τὰς πρὸς θάτερον ἄκρον παραδράμωμεν ὄρνιθας, ἃς πελειάδας μὲν εἶπεν ἡ ποίησις, Ἀφροδίτης δὲ τὸ χρῆμα κατὰ δυάδα νεμόμενον. θῆλυ γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ ἄρρεν ἐπ' ἀλλήλοις ἡδόμενα ἔρωτι. τούτων ἡ μέν τι περισκοπεῖ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸ τῇ κεφαλῇ μεταφέρεται· τὸ δὲ πρὸς ταύτην ἀφορᾷ πλείονι φίλτρῳ κρατούμενον, ὡς ἔοικε. 10 Τοιαῦτα μὲν ὁ ζωγράφος φιλοτιμεῖται τοῖς βασιλείοις ἐκ τῆς τέχνης τὰ θαύματα. μέσος δὲ ἐν μέσοις Θησεύς, οὐ Μινωταύρῳ μαχόμενος, οὐ Κερκυόνα βαλών, οὐ Σίνιν παύων τῆς ὕβρεως. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἂν ἴδοις ἐν ἑτέρᾳ γραφῇ· τὸ δὲ παρὸν πρὸς τὸ τῆς ἡμέρας μῆκος ἀποκαμὼν ἐπὶ κλίνην ἐτράπη καὶ διαναπαύει τὸ σῶμα, τῆς μεσημβρίας τὸ πνῖγος ἀποπεμπόμενος ὕπνῳ. καὶ τῇ παρούσῃ γυναικὶ διελέγετο οὐ σὺν αὐτῷ κατακειμένῃ· νυκτὸς γὰρ ἡ κοίτη τοῖς σώφροσιν· ἐπὶ δίφρου δέ τινος ὀκλαδίου παρακαθέζεται. καὶ Θησεὺς μὲν μεταξύ τε λέγων πρὸς ὕπνον, ὡς εἰκὸς, συνηρπάζετο καὶ ἡμιτελῆ τὸν λόγον ὑποχαυνώσας τῷ πάθει. 11 ὅθεν δὴ τοῦ Ὕπνου τὸ ταχὺ λανθάνον καὶ ὡς κλέπτει τὸν νοῦν καὶ κατασύρει τὰ βλέφαρα δηλῶν ὁ ζωγράφος σκιοειδῆ τινα καὶ πτερωτὸν ἀπειργάσατο. στροφίῳ δὲ λευκῷ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀναδούμενος τὴν κατὰ πάντων νίκην ἐδήλωσεν. ἄκραις δὲ χερσὶν ἐπ' ἀλλήλαις κειμέναις ἐπικλίνας τὸ μέτωπον καθεύδει νῦν ἡδέως ὅπερ ἔστι παθών, δηλῶν τὴν φύσιν ἔργῳ τε ἅμα καὶ σχήματι. ἀποκρύπτει δὲ τὴν θέαν· οὐ γὰρ προορᾷ τις ἐρχόμενον ὕπνον. τοιγαροῦν οὐ πρόσθεν, ἐξ ἀφανοῦς δὲ παρέστηκε τῇ κλίνῃ ταῖς χερσὶν ἐρειδόμενος, καὶ εἰ παρῆν Ὅμηρος, εἶπεν ἂν ὁ ποιητής· στῆ δ' ἄρ' ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς καί μιν πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν. 12 Ὁ δὲ Θησεὺς ὕπνῳ τε καὶ τῷ σφοδρῷ τῆς ὥρας παρειμένος τοῖς μέλεσιν ἀνέχεται μὲν ἐπικείμενον [διάδημα κεφαλῇ,] διαφανὴς δὲ ὁ χιτὼν ὕλῃ τε χρυσῇ καὶ ποικιλτοῦ τέχνῃ πρὸς τοῖς ἄκροις ἁβρύνεται· δοκεῖ δὲ [····················κ]λέπτων γὰρ τῇ τέχνῃ τοῦ Θησέως διαπορθμεύων τὸ χρῶμα ἐσθής, ὅτε τὸ οἰκεῖον ἀπέκρυψε τοῦ διαφαν[οῦς ·····················] ὅσον ἀφεῖται τοῦ σώματος μέρος, ἐν καθαρᾷ τῇ θέᾳ τὸ λευκὸν ὑποδείκνυσι· [ἡλιοκαὲς γάρ ἐστι νεανίου τὸ] χρῶμα καὶ ἀνδρὸς ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ προσκαρτεροῦντος τοῖς ἄθλοις καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ὅλῳ δεχομένου τῷ σώματι [························]ει, τῷ δὴ τάχα καὶ Φαίδρα βδελύττεται, τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ κάλλος κατανοεῖν ἀγνοήσασα. ἀσκῶ[ν ·················] ἐφαπτόμενος ἀναδραμούσῃ μὲν χειρί, ἐπικαμφθεῖσι δὲ δακτύλοις τὸν τράχηλον ἐπιτίθησι, τῆς ἐκ κεφ[αλῆς ···]τω[·········· π]ροιστάμενος. ἡ δεξιὰ δὲ μετέωρος· ἐξ ἄκρου γὰρ ἀγκῶνος καταλαβοῦσα τὸν πῆχυν ἀνα παύει τῇ κόμῃ τὴν μασχάλην αὐτῷ καταψύχουσα· ποῦς δὲ λαιὸς ὀρθῇ τῇ κνήμῃ συνέσταλται τὸ γόνυ φέρων μετέωρον· τοιαῦτα γὰρ τοῖς καθεύδουσιν ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ αὐτοματίζεται σχήματα. 13 Εἶδεν οἰκέτης