7

covering inhumanity and mocking our piety. For among us, childbirth is more humane than abortion. But know that Justice is angry with you and is not slow to exact the penalties for infanticide.

31 Hephaestion to Thales The Median bird, the peacock, has also inherited the arrogance of the Medes, thinking something great and extravagant of its beauty. Even the female of this species seems to be inferior. And so it raises its plumage like a head of hair and presents a most conspicuous beauty to those who see it, and it works it into a circular shape, and it represents the celestial cosmos, and with the eyes of its feathers it fashions the arrangement of the stars. And this is the beauty-loving character of Median birds; for they do not begrudge their own elegance, teaching painters. But you sit brooding over your writings and cover up your virtues and leave your labors un-displayed, overlooking us who are bereft of such great benefit. If, then, it is some envy that grieves us, the undertaking is unphilosophical and alien to your profession; but if it is sloth that is storing up the delay, you have suffered the same thing as a farmer who has loaned much sweat to the earth and at the height of summer does not reap the ears of corn.

32 Poas to Ampelius Come, old man, let us weep in concert. The river has leaped up and danced an evil leap for us; it has flooded the whole field and the dreadful thing has drowned the young vines. But the greater misfortune is that the vile thing does not want to depart from here; for it lingers in the little plot and has made our field its bed. And it is a sight worthy of tears to behold; for instead of vines, we wretches are farming fish. When the river wills it, we fish; when it wills it, we starve; and it seems to me to be lavishing some great gift. If only in the summer we had not beseeched the clouds at all to grant rain to us in our drought; for thus what we possessed would not have been taken away from us. For a river is burdensome by itself; but if it should also be enriched by rains, it is more uncontrollable than fire and does not restrain its raging with measures.

33 Galatea to Thetis I praise your wisdom, and I admire your great experience. For as if from some Pythian tripod you have narrated the future to me and more keenly than Lynceus you have observed the deeper and unseen aspects of matters. Callimachus has left us; he has flown away, soaring on the swiftest wing of satiety; the all-defiled one has run away from us, and for him satiety has become stronger than desire. But you advised me much: "Do not be persuaded by oaths, Galatea; for lovers, nothing is easier than oaths." For the young, drunk on erotic pleasures, are deprived of the ability to deliberate well, and they do and say whatever the Loves legislate; for they do not have a self-moved impulse for things. Distrust seems safer than trust, and for deception, an oath is a sufficient sophist.

34 Themistocles to Chrysippus Since moderation has been honored even in myth, come then, Chrysippus, I will recount to you a myth that is not unseemly. Once the birds came to Zeus and sent an embassy to the Olympian to appoint a leader for them; for anarchy was what grieved the birds, and they were bereft of a very great good, leadership, and because of this they possessed great disorder. So Zeus consented, and his will became deed, and he bestows a wonderful gift on the supplicants; for the dignity of a king was what was given. He then ordered the birds to go to lakes and springs and wash off their own filth, and he entrusted the test for leadership to the waters; for elegance was what was honored by Zeus. So the birds washed, then they immediately returned to Zeus, and each one displayed his own elegance. But the jackdaw, fearing his own ugliness, falsified the workmanship of nature, beautifying his own elegance with another's adornment. But

7

ἀπανθρωπίαν καλύπτουσα καὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν εὐσέβειαν διαπαίζουσα. φιλανθρωπότερον γὰρ παρ' ἡμῖν ὁ τοκετὸς τῆς ἀμβλώσεως. ἴσθι δὲ καὶ τὴν ∆ίκην ἐπὶ σοὶ χαλεπαίνουσαν καὶ παιδοκτονίας ποινὰς οὐ ῥᾳθυμοῦσαν εἰσπράττεσθαι.

31 Ἡφαιστίων Θάλητι Τὸ Μηδικὸν ὄρνεον, ὁ ταώς, καὶ τῶν Μήδων τὴν ὑπεροψίαν κεκλήρωται μέγα τι καὶ ὑπέρογκον ἐπὶ τῷ κάλλει φρονῶν. τούτου καὶ τὴν θήλειαν ἡττᾶσθαι δοκεῖ. τὸ πτερὸν τοιγαροῦν οἷα δὴ κόμην ἀνίστησι καὶ περιφανέστατόν τι τοῖς ὁρῶσι κάλλος παρέχεται, καὶ κυκλικὸν ἀπεργάζεται σχῆμα, καὶ τὸν οὐράνιον εἰκονίζεται κόσμον, καὶ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ πτεροῦ τὴν τῶν ἄστρων διακόσμησιν ἀναπλάττεται. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν Μηδικῶν ὀρνέων ἦθος φιλόκαλον· οὐ γὰρ βασκαίνουσι τὴν ἑαυτῶν εὐκοσμίαν ζωγράφους διδάσκοντες. σὺ δὲ τοῖς σοῖς ἐπῳάζεις συγγράμμασι καὶ τὰς σὰς ἀρετὰς ἐγκαλύπτεις καὶ τοὺς πόνους ἀνεπιδείκτους ἐᾷς, τηλικαύτης ὠφελείας ἡμᾶς χηρεύοντας παρορῶν. εἰ μὲν οὖν βασκανία τίς ἐστιν ἡμᾶς τὸ λυποῦν, ἀφιλόσοφον τὸ ἐγχείρημα καὶ τῆς σῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἀλλότριον· εἰ δὲ ὄκνος τὴν ἀναβολὴν ταμιεύεται, ταὐτόν τι πέπονθας ἀνδρὶ γεωργῷ πολλοὺς τοὺς ἱδρῶτας δεδανεικότι τῇ γῇ καὶ θέρους ἀκμῇ μὴ δρεπομένῳ τοὺς στάχυας.

32 Πόας Ἀμπελίῳ ∆εῦρο ξυναυλίαν, γερόντιον, κλαύσωμεν. ὁ ποταμὸς ἀνεσκίρτησε καὶ κακὸν ἡμῖν ὠρχήσατο σκίρτημα· ὅλον τὸν ἀγρὸν ἐπεκλύσατο καὶ τὰ νεόγονα τῶν ἀμπέλων ὁ φοβερὸς ἐπεβύθισε. τὸ δὲ μεῖζον δυστύχημα, οὐκ ἐθέλει ὁ μιαρὸς τῶν ἐντεῦθεν ἀπαίρειν· ἐμφιλοχωρεῖ γὰρ τῷ γηδίῳ καὶ κοίτην τὸν ἀγρὸν πεποίηται τὸν ἡμέτερον. καὶ δακρύων ἄξιόν ἐστιν ἰδεῖν· ἀντὶ γὰρ ἀμπέλων τοὺς ἰχθύας γεωργοῦμεν οἱ τάλανες. ὅταν ὁ ποταμὸς ἐθέλῃ, ἀγρεύομεν· ὅταν ἐθέλῃ, λιμώττομεν· καὶ μέγα τί μοι δῶρον φιλοτιμεῖσθαι δοκεῖ. εἴθε τῷ θέρει τὰς νεφέλας μηδαμῶς ἱκετεύομεν ὄμβρον ἡμῖν αὐχμῶσι χαρίζεσθαι· οὕτω γὰρ ἅπερ ἐκεκτήμεθα οὐκ ἂν ἀφῃρήμεθα. ποταμὸς γὰρ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἐπαχθής· εἰ δὲ καὶ ὄμβροις πλουτήσειε, τοῦ πυρός ἐστιν ἀκρατέστερος καὶ μέτροις οὐ χαλινοῖ τὰ φρυάγματα.

33 Γαλάτεια Θέτιδι Ἐπαινῶ σου τὴν φρόνησιν, καὶ τὸ λίαν ἐμπειρότατον ἄγαμαι. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκ τρίποδός τινος Πυθικοῦ τὰ μέλλοντα διηγήσω μοι καὶ τοῦ Λυγκέως ὀξύτερον τὰ βαθύτερά τε καὶ ἀφανῆ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐσκόπησας. ὁ Καλλίμαχος ἡμᾶς καταλέλοιπεν· ἀπέπτη μετεωριζόμενος ὀξυτάτῳ τῷ τοῦ κόρου πτερῷ· ἐδραπέτευσεν ἡμᾶς ὁ παμμίαρος καὶ γέγονεν ὁ κόρος αὐτῷ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας πρεσβύτερος. σὺ δέ μοι παρῄνεις πολλά· "3ὅρκοις μὴ πείθου, Γαλάτεια· ὅρκων τοῖς ἐρῶσιν οὐδέν ἐστιν εὐχερέστερον."3 ἐρωτικῶν γὰρ οἱ νέοι μεθύοντες ἡδονῶν καὶ τὸ καλῶς ἀφαιροῦνται βουλεύεσθαι, καὶ πράττουσι καὶ φθέγγονται ὅσα νομοθετοῦσιν οἱ Ἔρωτες· οὐ γὰρ αὐτοκίνητον ἔχουσι τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν ἔφεσιν. ἀπιστία πίστεως ἔοικεν ἀσφαλέστερον, καὶ πρὸς ἀπάτην ὅρκος σοφιστής ἐστιν ἀξιόχρεως. 34 Θεμιστοκλῆς Χρυσίππῳ Ἐπειδὴ σωφροσύνη καὶ παρὰ τῷ μύθῳ τετίμηται, ἄγε δῆτα, Χρύσιππε, διαμυθολογήσομαί σοι μῦθον οὐκ ἄσεμνον. Ἀφίκοντό ποτε πρὸς τὸν ∆ία τὰ ὄρνεα καὶ τὸν Ὀλύμπιον ἐπρεσβεύοντο ἡγεμόνα σφίσιν ἐγχειρίσαι· ἦν γὰρ ἀναρχία τοὺς ὄρνιθας τὸ λυποῦν, καὶ μεγίστου τινὸς ἀγαθοῦ, ἡγεμονίας, ἐχήρευον καὶ πολλὴν διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἀκοσμίαν ἐκέκτηντο. ἐπένευσε τοίνυν ὁ Ζεύς, καὶ γέγονεν ἔργον τὸ βούλημα, καὶ δωρεῖται δῶρον τοῖς ἱκετεύουσι θαυμαστόν· βασιλέως γὰρ ἦν ἀξίωμα τὸ διδόμενον. προσέταττε δῆτα τοῖς ὄρνισιν ἐπὶ λίμνας καὶ πηγὰς ἀφικέσθαι καὶ τὸν ἑαυτῶν ἀποσμήξασθαι ῥύπον, καὶ τοῖς ὕδασι τὴν βάσανον τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἐπίστευσεν· ἦν γὰρ εὐπρέπεια παρὰ τῷ ∆ιὶ τὸ τιμώμενον, ἐλούσαντο δῆτα οἱ ὄρνιθες, εἶτα πρὸς τὸν ∆ία παλινδρομοῦσιν εὐθύς, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἕκαστος εὐπρέπειαν ἐπεδείκνυτο. ὁ δὲ κολοιὸς τὴν οἰκείαν δεδιὼς ἀμορφίαν τὴν τῆς φύσεως δημιουργίαν ἐνόθευσεν, ἀλλοτρίῳ κόσμῳ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ καλλωπίζων εὐπρέπειαν. ἀλλ'