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the slaughter of strangers which the divine Gregory speaks of. But later Orestes, being terrified by the Furies, and having gone to the Taurians, and having been arrested as a stranger for execution, and having been brought as a victim to the priestess Iphigenia, was recognized by his ivory shoulder and was released from the sacrifice. Thus, then, Orestes, taking his own sister, I mean Iphigenia, brings her to Greece. 4.8 The eighth story is the sacrifice of the royal maiden at Troy. It is the one concerning Polyxena. Polyxena is the daughter of Priam, whom Achilles, wishing to marry, entered Troy, and in a certain ambush is shot with an arrow by Paris in the temple of Apollo, and dies. Therefore, at a later time, it appeared in a dream to his son Pyrrhus, when he had grown up, that Polyxena, on whose account he had perished, must be sacrificed to him. And Pyrrhus, being in Troy, and taking her after the victory, slays her upon the tomb of Achilles, his own father. 4.9 The ninth story is the one concerning Menoeceus. Menoeceus is the son of Creon, king of Thebes. Therefore, when his own fatherland of Thebes was being warred against by the seven generals, Teiresias, being a seer, gave an oracle that the war would immediately cease and they would have victory, if one of the royal race of the autochthons, who were born from the dragon's teeth, would give himself for destruction. Learning this, Menoeceus, and wanting to free the city from the siege, gave himself for destruction without the consent of his father Creon. 4.10 The tenth story is the one about the daughters of Scedasus. It is this. The Lacedaemonians, in the Peloponnesian War, after decisively defeating the Athenians, wished to make war also on their own allies. And having set out against the Thebans, before approaching the city, arriving at Leuctra (this is a city of Thebes) they joined battle and were unfortunate, as Epaminondas, general of the Thebans, was successful. But the disaster for the Lacedaemonians at Leuctra happened for such a reason. Scedasus, being from Leuctra, had three daughters. And some of the Lacedaemonians who had long ago been received as guests by them, violated the maidens by intercourse. Therefore the Lacedaemonians, fearing that they might make public the outrage to their own father, kill them. And Scedasus, having returned to his own city of Leuctra, and having learned what had happened, cursed all Lacedaemonians to be unfortunate at the very tomb of his daughters. For this reason also misfortune befell the Lacedaemonians at Leuctra. 4.11 The eleventh story is the one concerning the Laconian youths. It is this. The Lacedaemonians, wanting their own citizens and children to be enduring and brave, trained them with scourgings, and to the one who endured the most a prize was given. 4.12 The twelfth story is the blood on the altar. It is the one concerning Artemis. This goddess, being a virgin and chaste, rejoiced to be honored with the blood of the slaughter of strangers. 4.13 The thirteenth story is the one about the hemlock of Socrates. It is this. Socrates was by birth an Athenian, but a philosopher by training. Anytus and Meletus accused him of introducing new divinities to the state. Therefore he was condemned, as corrupting the youth, to die by drinking hemlock; and having drunk it, he died. 4.14 The fourteenth story is the one concerning the leg of Epictetus. Epictetus was a philosopher. He was bound in the leg by a tyrant †Macedonus. But later the tyrant wished to release him. Therefore he asked him thus: Do you wish, O Epictetus, that I release you? But he answered, Why, am I bound? as if his soul, forsooth, were not bound. It is said, therefore, that man is not the body but the soul. 4.15 The fifteenth story is the one concerning Anaxarchus. It is this. Anaxarchus was a philosopher. He, having been seized by Archelaus the tyrant and thrown into a mortar, was pounded with a wooden pestle. And to be pounded is to be beaten in the manner of barley-groats, whence also "ptisane" (barley-groats) comes from "ptissesthai" (to be pounded). And while being pounded he said this: Pound, pound the sack of Anaxarchus, for you do not pound Anaxarchus, hinting, as a philosopher forsooth, that he made no account of the body. 4.16 The sixteenth is

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ξενοκτονία ἣν λέγει ὁ θεῖος Γρηγόριος. Ὕστερον δὲ ὁ Ὀρέστης δειματούμενος ὑπὸ τῶν Ἐρινύων, καὶ ἐλθὼν παρὰ τοῖς Ταύροις, καὶ συλληφθεὶς ὡς ξένος ἐπ' ἀναιρέσει, καὶ προσενεχθεὶς ὡς ἱερείᾳ τῇ Ἰφιγενείᾳ, ἐπεγνώσθη διὰ τοῦ ἐλεφαντίνου ὤμου καὶ ἀφέθη τῆς θυσίας. οὕτω λοιπὸν λαβὼν ὁ Ὀρέστης τὴν ἰδίαν ἀδελφήν, λέγω δὴ τὴν Ἰφιγένειαν, κομίζει εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα. 4.8 Ὀγδόη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ ἐπὶ Τροίαν θυσία τῆς βασιλικῆς κόρης. ἔστι δὲ ἡ κατὰ Πολυξένην. Πολυξένη ἐστὶ θυγάτηρ Πριάμου, ἣν ὁ Ἀχιλλεὺς βουληθεὶς γῆμαι, εἰσῆλθεν ἐν τῇ Τροίᾳ, καὶ κατὰ λόχον τινὰ τοξεύεται ὑπὸ Πάριδος ἐν τῷ ναῷ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, καὶ θνήσκει. ἐν ὑστέρῳ οὖν χρόνῳ ἀνδρωθέντι Πύρρῳ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ ἐφάνη κατ' ὄναρ δεῖν αὐτῷ τυθῆναι τὴν Πολυξένην, δι' ἣν ἀπώλετο. καὶ ὁ Πύρρος, ὢν ἐν Τροίᾳ, καὶ ταύτην μετὰ τὴν νίκην λαβών, σφάττει ἐπὶ τῷ ταφῷ τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως, τοῦ οἰκείου πατρός. 4.9 Ἐνάτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὸν Μενοικέα. Μενοικεὺς Κρέοντός ἐστιν υἱός, βασιλέως Θηβῶν. πολεμουμένης οὖν τῆς ἰδίας πατρίδος τῶν Θηβῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἕπτα στρατηγῶν, ἐχρησμῴδησε Τειρεσίας, μάντις ὤν, παραυτὰ παύσειν τὸν πόλεμον καὶ ἔσεσθαι αὐτοῖς νίκην, εἰ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ γένους τῶν αὐτοχθόνων, τῶν ἀναδοθέντων ἐκ τῶν ὀδόντων τοῦ δράκοντος, τὶς ἑαυτὸν δῷ πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν. μαθὼν τοῦτο ὁ Μενοικεύς, καὶ θέλων ἐλευθερῶσαι τῆς πολιορκίας τὴν πόλιν, δέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν δίχα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ Κρέοντος. 4.10 ∆εκάτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ περὶ τῶν Σκεδάσου θυγατέρων. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐν τῷ Πελοποννησιακῷ πολέμῳ μετὰ τὸ κατὰ κράτος νικῆσαι τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἠβουλήθησαν καὶ τοὺς ἰδίους συμμάχους πολεμῆσαι. καὶ ὁρμήσαντες κατὰ Θηβαίων, πρὶν προσεγγίσαι τῇ πόλει, γενόμενοι ἐν Λεύκτροις (πόλις δὲ αὕτη Θηβῶν) συμβαλόντες ἠτύχησαν, Ἐπαμινώνδου στρατηγοῦ Θηβαίων εὐδοκιμήσαντος. Τὸ δὲ πάθος τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις γέγονεν ἐν Λεύκτροις ἐξ αἰτίας τοιαύτης. Σκέδασος, Λευκτραῖος ὤν, εἶχε τρεῖς θυγατέρας. τινὲς δὲ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων πάλαι παρ' αὐταῖς ἐπιξενωθέντες, μίξει τὰς κόρας ἐνύβρισαν. φοβηθέντες οὖν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι μήπως δημοσιεύσωσι τῷ ἰδίῳ πατρὶ τὴν ἀσέλγειαν, ἀναιροῦσιν αὐτάς. ἐπανελθὼν δὲ ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ πόλει τοῖς Λεύκτροις ὁ Σκέδασος, καὶ μαθὼν τὸ γεγονός, κατηράσατο πᾶσι Λακεδαιμονίοις παρ' αὐτὸν τὸν τάφον τῶν θυγατέρων αὐτοῦ ἀτυχῆσαι. διὸ καὶ ἡ ἀτυχία ἔφθασεν ἐν τοῖς Λεύκτροις τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους. 4.11 Ἑνδεκάτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τοὺς Λακωνικοὺς ἐφήβους. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι βουλόμενοι καρτερικοὺς καὶ ἀνδρείους εἶναι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν πολίτας καὶ παῖδας, ἐγύμναζον ταῖς διαμαστιγώσεσι, καὶ τῷ ἐπὶ πλέον καρτεροῦντι ἆθλον ἐδίδοτο. 4.12 ∆ωδεκάτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία τὸ ἐπιβώμιον αἷμα. ἔστι δὲ ἡ κατὰ τὴν Ἄρτεμιν. Αὕτη παρθένος οὖσα καὶ σώφρων ἡ θεός, ἔχαιρε τοῖς αἵμασι τῆς ξενοκτονίας τιμᾶσθαι. 4.13 Τρισκαιδεκάτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ περὶ τοῦ κωνείου τοῦ Σωκράτους. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Σωκράτης τὸ μὲν γένος ἦν Ἀθηναῖος, φιλόσοφος δὲ τὴν παίδευσιν. τοῦτον ὡς δαιμόνια καινὰ παρεισφέροντα τῇ πολιτείᾳ ᾐτιάσαντο Ἄνυτος καὶ Μέλητος. κατεκρίθη οὖν, ὡς διαφθείρων τοὺς νέους, ἀποθανεῖν πιὼν τὸ κώνειον· καὶ πιὼν ἀπέθανεν. 4.14 Τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὸ Ἐπικτήτου σκέλος. Ἐπίκτητος φιλόσοφος ἦν. οὗτος ἐδέθη ὑπὸ τυράννου †Μακεδόνος τὸ σκέλος. ὕστερον δὲ ἠβουλήθη λῦσαι αὐτὸν ὁ τύραννος. ἤρετο οὖν αὐτὸν οὕτως· Θέλεις, ὦ Ἐπίκτητε, λύσω σε; ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο, Τί γάρ, δέδεμαι; ὡς τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, δῆθεν, μὴ δεδεμένης. λέγεται οὖν μὴ τὸ σῶμα εἶναι ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀλλ' ἡ ψυχή. 4.15 Πεντεκαιδεκάτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ Ἀνάξαρχον. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Ἀνάξαρχος φιλόσοφος ἦν. οὗτος συσχεθεὶς ὑπὸ Ἀρχελάου τοῦ τυράννου καὶ βληθεὶς ἐν ὅλμῳ, ἐπτίσσετο μοχλῷ ξυλίνῳ. πτίσσεσθαι δέ ἐστι τὸ δίκην πτισάνης τύπτεσθαι, ἔνθεν καὶ πτισάνη παρὰ τὸ πτίσσεσθαι. πτισσόμενος δὲ τοῦτο ἔφη· Πτίσσε, πτίσσε τὸν Ἀναξάρχου θύλακον, οὐ γὰρ πτίσσεις Ἀνάξαρχον, αἰνιττόμενος οἷα φιλόσοφος δῆθεν τοῦ σώματος μηδένα λόγον ποιεῖσθαι. 4.16 Ἑξκαιδεκάτη ἐστὶν