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the proofs of the swans, which he ridiculously relates attended his mother as midwives when she bore him, but neither do I think it right to produce the witness for the mythology about the scepter, 381 for indeed Damis, as I said, will not come to us as a co-historian of these events, having joined the man much later in Ninus of Assyria. I, therefore, being very readily persuaded by what is plausible and adheres to the truth, even if some greater things might be said by way of hyperbole in praise of a good man, think them credible and acceptable to me, provided they are not only monstrous and full of nonsense. I would not, then, be jealous if the author says that the man was of ancient lineage and connected to the founders and was, if it so happened, richer than all the locals and that as a young man he chanced upon not only the aforementioned teachers, but also, if you please, that he himself became their teacher and guide. And let him in addition to these things be sharp in public affairs, so that he freed from illness through his excellent judgment the man who had come for the therapies of Asclepius, for to one suffering from the disease of dropsy he prescribed a suitable diet of abstinence for the patient and by this made him healthy; and for this the young man was approved for his prudence, and how he restrained the one prepared to offer a lavish sacrifice, as he was likely notorious for his wickedness, for indeed he represents him as the wealthiest and most illustrious of all the locals. And there is no jealousy in writing him among the temperate, that he railed against the lover who was testing his youthful beauty and that he kept himself pure from intercourse with women to the end, as the story says. And let the things about his five-year silence according to Pythagoras also be credible, and the ways in which he completed it, worthy of praise. These things, then, and whatever is of such a human nature and truly not far from philosophy and truth, I would accept, holding in high regard 382 good judgment and love of truth, but to suggest that his nature is superior to that of a man and to contradict oneself at every turn and to be forgetful of the given premise, I believe would bring blame and slander both upon the writer himself and much more upon the one being written about. And this is from the first book. Let us proceed also to the things from the second. The narrative takes him up and leads him on the journey from Persia to the Indians. Then he says that, having experienced something tasteless, as if it were some strange thing, upon seeing some demonic being on the road, which he calls an empousa, he drove it away with insults along with those around him, and that when animals were brought to them for food, he said to Damis that he would allow him and his companions to eat of the meats, for he saw that abstaining from them would be of no benefit to them, but for himself it was in accord with what he had professed toward philosophy from childhood. And yet who would not be puzzled that he did not restrain even him, whom alone he seemed to have as an admirer of his way of life and was urging toward philosophy, as a dearest friend, from the food of living creatures, as being unholy according to Pythagoras, but he, by some reasoning I know not, acknowledged that while it would not be beneficial for himself, he saw nothing gained for them by abstinence? In addition to this, Philostratus, who was attested by Philalethes to honor the truth, see what sort of proofs of truth he presents: he says that Apollonius, having arrived among the Indians, produced an interpreter and through him conversed with Phraotes, this being the name of the king of the Indians, and he who shortly before, according to the same author, understood all languages, now again according to the same author needs an interpreter. And again, he who knew the thoughts 383 of men and, almost like the god among them, understood the deaf and heard the one not speaking, asks through an interpreter, what sort of lifestyle the king had, and he asks that someone become his guide for the journey to the Brahmans. And in the meantime the king of the Indians, though a barbarian by nature, sending the interpreter out of the way, uses Greek in his conversation with him, displaying his education and great learning, but he, not even so, that indeed he himself was not ignorant of their

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κύκνων τὰς ἀποδείξεις, οὓς γελοίως τὴν μητέρα τίκτουσαν αὐτὸν μαιοῦσθαι ἱστορεῖ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῆς περὶ τοῦ σκηπτοῦ μυθολογίας τὸν μάρτυρα 381 παρέχειν ἀξιῶ, οὐ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τούτων, ὡς εφην, ∆άμις ἡμῖν συνίστωρ ἀφίξεται, μακρῷ ὕστερον ἐν Νίνῳ τῆςἈσσυρίας τἀνδρὶ συνάψας. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν εὖ μάλα προθύμως τοῖς εἰκόσι τε καὶ ἀληθείας ἐχομένοις πειθόμενος, εἰ καὶ μείζονά τινα καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ἐς ἔπαινον ἀνδρὸς ἀγαθοῦ λέγοιτ' ἄν, πιστὰ καὶ παραδεκτέα εἶναί μοι δοκῶ, ὅτι μὴ μόνα τὰ τερατώδη καὶ λήρου πλέα. οὔκουν φθονοίην, εἴ φησιν ὁ συγγραφεὺς γένος τε ἀρχαῖον καὶ τῶν οἰκιστῶν ἀνημμένον τῷ ἀνδρὶ γεγονέναι καὶ πλουτῶν εἰ ουτως ετυχεν ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἐγχωρίους απαντας διδασκάλων τε νέον οντα οὐ μόνον τῶν δεδηλωμένων τυχεῖν, ἀλλ', εἰ δοκεῖ, καὶ τούτων αὐτὸν διδάσκαλον καὶ καθηγητὴν γεγονέναι. εστω δ' ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐντρεχὴς καὶ τὰ κοινά, ὡς τὸν εἰςἈσκληπιοῦ θεραπείας χάριν ἀφιγμένον διὰ γνώμης ἀρίστης ἀπαλλάξαι τῆς ἀρρωστίας, νοσοῦντι γὰρ δὴ ὑδέρου πάθει κατάλληλον ἐγκρατείας ὑποθέσθαι δίαιταν τῷ κάμνοντι καὶ ταύτῃ αὐτὸν ὑγιᾶ καταστῆσαι καὶ τούτῳ γε τῆς φρονήσεως ἀποδεκτὸν τὸ μειράκιον, καὶ ὡς τὸν πολυτελῶς θύειν παρεσκευασμένον εἶρξεν οἷα εἰκὸς ἐπὶ κακίᾳ διαβεβοημένον, καὶ γὰρ δὴ τῶν ἐγχωρίων ἁπάντων πλουσιώτατόν τε καὶ περιφανέστατον αὐτὸν ὑποτίθεται. καὶ ἐν σώφροσι δ' αὐτὸν φθόνος οὐδεὶς ἐγγράφειν, οτι τε πρὸς τὸν ἐραστὴν πειρώμενον αὐτοῦ τῆς ωρας διελοιδορήσατο καὶ γυναικείας οτι καθαρὸν ἑαυτὸν μίξεως διὰ τέλους, ὡς ὁ λόγος φησίν, ηγαγε. πιστὰ δ' ἔστω καὶ τὰ τῆς πενταετοῦς κατὰ Πυθαγόραν σιωπῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τά, ὅπως ταύτην διήνυσεν, ἐπαίνου αξια. ταῦτα δὴ καὶ οσα τοιαῦτα ἀνθρώπινα καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς φιλοσοφίας καὶ ἀληθείας οὐ πόρρω δεχοίμην αν περὶ πολλοῦ τὸ 382 ευγνωμόν τε καὶ φιλάληθες τιμώμενος, τὸ γέ τοι κρεῖττον ἀνθρώπου τὴν φύσιν ὑποτίθεσθαι καὶ παρὰ πόδας ἐναντιολογεῖν τῆς τε δοθείσης ἀμνημονεῖν ὑποθέσεως, ἔχειν ψόγον ἂν καὶ διαβολὴν αὐτῷ τε τῷ γράφοντι καὶ πολὺ πρότερον τῷ γραφομένῳ περιάψειν ἡγοῦμαι. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου συγγράμματος. ἐπίωμεν δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ δευτέρου. τὴν ἀπὸ Περσίδος ἐπ'Ἰνδοὺς πορείαν αγει παραλαβὼν αὐτὸν ὁ λόγος. εἶτά τι πεπονθὼς ἀπειρόκαλον, ωσπερ τι παράδοξον, δαιμόνιόν τι, ὃ καὶ εμπουσαν ὀνομάζει, κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἰδόντα λοιδορίαις αμα τοῖς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν ἀπελάσαι φησί, καὶ ζῴων δὲ εἰς τροφὴν αὐτοῖς προσαχθέντων εἰρηκέναι αὐτὸν τῷ ∆άμιδι, ὡς αρα συγχωροίη αὐτῷ τε καὶ τοῖς ἑταίροις σιτεῖσθαι τῶν κρεῶν, τὸ γὰρ ἀπέχεσθαι αὐτῶν αὐτοῖς μὲν εἰς οὐδὲν ὁρᾶν προβαῖνον, ἑαυτῷ δὲ εἰς ἃ ὡμολόγηται πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν ἐκ παιδός. καίτοι τίς οὐκ ἂν ἀπορήσειεν, ὅτι μηδ' αὐτόν, ὃν μόνον ἐδόκει τοῦ βίου ζηλωτὴν κεκτῆσθαι καὶ προυτρεπεν ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν, εἶργεν οἷα φίλτατον τῆς τῶν ἐμψύχων, ὡς αν οὐχ ὁσίας κατὰ Πυθαγόραν τροφῆς, ὁ δ' οὐκ οἶδ' ὁποίῳ λόγῳ λέγων μὲν οὐ συνοίσειν ἑαυτῷ, κείνοις δ' οὐδὲν ὁρᾶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀποχῆς προβαῖνον ὡμολόγει; ἐπὶ τούτοις ὁ Φιλόστρατος ὁ τἀληθὲς τιμᾶν πρὸς τοῦ Φιλαλήθους μεμαρτυρημένος, ορα τῆς ἀληθείας ὁποῖα δείγματα παρίστησι· γενόμενον παρ'Ἰνδοῖς τὸνἈπολλώνιον παραστήσασθαί φησιν ἑρμηνέα καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ προσδιαλέγεσθαι Φραώτῃ, τοῦτο δ' ειναι τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶνἸνδῶν ονομα, καὶ ὁ μικρῷ πρόσθεν κατ' αὐτὸν πασῶν γλωσσῶν συνεὶς νῦν αὖ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν ἑρμηνέως δεῖται. καὶ πάλιν ὁτὰ κατὰ διάνοιαν 383 ἀνθρώπων εἰδὼς καὶ μόνον οὐχὶ κατὰ τὸν παρ' αὐτοῖς θεὸν κωφοῦ τε ξυνιεὶς καὶ οὐ λαλέοντος ἀκούων δι' ἑρμηνέως ἀνερωτᾷ, ὁποία τις εἴη τῷ βασιλεῖ δίαιτα, ἡγεμόνα τε ἀξιοῖ τῆς ἐς Βραχμᾶνας πορείας γενέσθαι τινὰ αὐτῷ. καὶ μεταξὺ ὁ μὲν τῶνἸνδῶν βασιλεὺς καὶ ταῦτα βάρβαρος ὢν τὴν φύσιν τὸν ἑρμηνέα ἐκποδὼν μεταστησάμενοςἙλλάδι χρῆται πρὸς αὐτὸν τῇ ὁμιλίᾳ παιδείαν καὶ πολυμάθειαν ἐνδεικνύμενος, ὁ δὲ οὐδ' ως, οτι δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς τῆς παρ' αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἀμαθῶς εχοι