lightest air, and they also abstain from everything hot and from salts, as these are causes of dull vision. So that they are never caught sleeping and an enemy attack may not escape their notice by night, these men, having propped up on their neck that piece of wood for sleeping, leaving their ear unhindered for hearing, dig a little trench and hear both voices and shouts from afar. I have heard that the robbers among the western Galatians do the same thing. This is an improvised hunt for hearing. If anyone in a large camp should wish to learn the plans of his own soldiers or the secrets of the enemy, [An art for foreknowing the future] having dug a deep well, let him lower down whom he wishes, having covered the opening with a random cloak; nothing will escape the notice of the one sitting inside, but he will relate to you the things said or the things that echoed as if divining. Let everyone believe my word, one who is sent down hunting for hearing from afar, and another to see on a moonless night some of the things hidden on the earth, naturally without fire. For the higher air is full of echo, and the simple earth strikes the sight with its density and with noise dulls the hearing. 1.17 Wakefulness-inducing The poets put Zeus to sleep, outmaneuvered by Hera and Sleep, so that either the Greeks might get a respite or Heracles might be harmed; and they often stop rivers too. But we ourselves have also perceived how the stream is quiet at night, so that one might say he found the water sleeping. And the blasts of the wind<s> are gentler at night; so perhaps these too are soothed by sleep. For it is superfluous to speak of heroes captured by the swoop of Sleep. He rules over all, of men, of birds, of plants, of waves, of winds, of gods, all-conquering and limb-relaxing and drawing souls away from their bodies. His brother is Death and his accomplice is weariness; pledging to each other the evil misfortunes of those about to sleep. The Trojan leader at any rate expected to capture the Achaean "worn down with toil and also with sleep," but the equal attentiveness in that man resisted. At what price would the Thracians have valued the wakefulness of Rhesus, a noble king betrayed by toil and sleep? No one was struck with awe at his beautiful panoply; no one feared his swift horses. The hope of how many successes did even one hour's sleep overturn? From this the stratagem has come down to more recent times; they leave behind much wine in the camp for the pursuing enemy with the appearance of flight, so that even if one is not tired, he may sleep at least after drinking; and they kill them, attacking from different directions at night, as they rise from their sleep. And panics often occur in camps from a terrified sleep. We pity the fortune of men; let us console the outrages from ill-timed slumbers with a daemonic suffering. The Phrygian king found Silenus sleeping and bound him; and another fortunate leader, a satyr. I do not deem myself unworthy of equal honor with them. They captured earthly and humble daemons as they were sleeping; I seek to capture the one who bound them; I want Sleep to become inferior to my experience, so that this lord and all-conquering one may dwell with me alone. Let him keep watch with me, both the king as he deliberates and the soldier on guard and the champion who is weary. I set myself in battle against you, O Sleep; as you against all, so shall I also command against you. There is a winged, membrane-winged creature, living in dark places, <of which alone> of the egg-laying winged creatures the offspring are fed with milk. The skeletonized head of this creature, sewn into a piece of leather, makes the one who wears it as an amulet wakeful as long as he wears it. Let someone, having removed the whole wing of a living one, use it like a ladle for drawing a drink, a few times for a short period, but many times and with both wings if one needs long periods of wakefulness; but if one should use this drink insatiably, he will remain completely sleepless. And if you should wish to play a trick somewhere, by casting someone into sleeplessness, having removed the head from a living one, sew it onto the pillow where it is his custom to sleep; and he will not sleep as if he were wearing the whole thing as an amulet; for it keeps him who wears it thus sleepless forever. You are a child of Night, O Sleep; a bird of night conquers you; even if
ἀέρα κουφότατον, ἔτι καὶ ἀπέχονται θερμοῦ τε παντὸς καὶ ἁλῶν, ὡς ὄντων τοῦ ἀμβλυώττειν αἰτίων. Ὡς δ' ἂν μή ποτε ἁλῶσιν καθεύδοντες καὶ ἔφοδος αὐτοὺς πολεμίων μὴ λάθῃ νύκτωρ, οἵδε ὑπερεισάμενοι τῷ αὐχένι τὸ εὐναστήριον ἐκείνοις ξύλον, ἀκώλυτον εἰς ἀκοὴν ἀφέντες τὸ οὖς, ὀλίγον ὑποσκάπτουσι βόθρον καὶ ἀμφοτέρων ἀκούουσι μακρόθεν καὶ φωνῆς καὶ ἀϋτῶν. Τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ δρᾶν καὶ τοὺς Γαλατῶν τῶν ἑσπερίων ἤκουσα λῃστάς. Αὐτοσχέδιος αὕτη θήρευσις ἀκοῆς. Ὡς ἂν δέ τις ἐν μεγάλῳ στρατοπέδῳ τὰ τῶν αὑτοῦ στρατιωτῶν βουλεύματα ἢ τὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἀπόρρητα ἐθελήσῃ μαθεῖν, [Τέχνη προγνωστικὴ τῶν μελλόντων] φρέαρ ὀρύξας βαθύ, ὃν βούλεται καθιέτω, ἐπικαλύψας τὸ στόμιον ἱματίῳ τυχόντι· οὐδὲν τὸν ἐγκαθήμενον λήσεται, ἀλλά σοι τὰ εἰρημένα ἢ τὰ ἠχήσαντα ὡς μαντευόμενος διηγήσεται. Πιστευέτω μου τῷ λόγῳ πᾶς, ὃ μὲν μακρὰν θηρώμενος ἀκοὴν συγκαθεσθείς, ὃ δὲ νυκτὸς ἀλαμποῦς τῶν τι κρυπτομένων ἰδεῖν ἐπὶ γῆς, ἄνευ πυρὸς εἰκότως. Ὁ γὰρ ὑψηλότερος ἀὴρ ἠχοῦς ἐστι μεστός, καὶ ἡ γῆ ἁπλῆ τὴν ὄψιν ἐκπλήττει τῇ παχύτητι τῷ τε θορύβῳ τὴν ἀκοὴν ἀμβλύνει. 1.17 Ἀγρυπνητικόν Κατακοιμίζουσι μὲν οἱ ποιηταὶ τὸν ∆ία ὑπὸ Ἥρας καὶ Ὕπνου καταστρατηγούμενον ἵνα ἢ ἀναπνεύσωσιν Ἕλληνες ἢ Ἡρακλῆς κακωθῇ· ἱστᾶσιν δὲ καὶ ποταμοὺς πολλάκις. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ κατειλήφαμεν πῶς ἡσυχάζει νύκτωρ ὁ ῥοῦς, ἵν' εἴπῃ τις τὸ ὕδωρ εὑρεῖν κοιμώμενον. Καὶ ἀνέ<μων> δὲ πραΰτερα τῆς νυκτός ἐστι τὰ πνεύματα· ὕπνῳ ἄρα τάχα καὶ ταῦτα πραΰνεται. Ἥρωας γὰρ περιττὸν λέγειν ἐπιπτήσει Ὕπνου ἑαλωκότας. Πάντων κραίνει, ἀνθρώπων, ὀρνέων, φυτῶν, κυμάτων, ἀνέμων, θεῶν, πανδαμάτωρ καὶ λυσιμελὴς καὶ ψυχὰς ἀπὸ τῶν σωμάτων κατασχολῶν. Ἀδελφὸς δὲ αὐτοῦ θάνατος καὶ συνεργὸς κάματος· ἀντιπροπινόντων ἑαυτοῖς τὰς τῶν κοιμησομένων κακὰς συμφοράς. Ὁ γοῦν Ἰλιεὺς ἡγεμὼν λήψεσθαι τὸν Ἀχαϊκὸν προσεδόκησεν «καμάτῳ ἀδηκότα ἠδὲ καὶ ὕπνῳ», ἀλλ' ἀντέστη μὲν τὸ παρ' ἐκείνῳ ἐπιμελὲς ἴσον. Πόσου δ' ἂν Θρᾷκες ἐτιμήσαντο τὴν Ῥήσου ἀγρυπνίαν βασιλέως εὐγενοῦς πόνῳ καὶ ὕπνῳ προδεδομένου; Οὐδεὶς αὐτοῦ τὴν πανοπλίαν κατεπλάγη τὴν καλήν· οὐ τοὺς ἵππους ἔδεισε τοὺς ταχεῖς. Πόσων δ' ἀνέτρεψεν ἐλπίδα κατορθωμάτων καὶ ὕπνος ὥρας μιᾶς; Καταβέβηκεν ἐντεῦθεν τὸ στρατήγημα ἐς τὰ νεώτερα· οἶνον καταλιμπάνουσι πολὺν ἐν στρατοπέδῳ πολεμίοις ἑπομένοις δόξῃ φυγῆς, ἵνα εἰ καὶ μὴ καμών τις ἀλλὰ κοιμηθῇ κἂν πιών· καὶ ἀναιροῦσιν, ἐπελθόντες ἄλλοι ἄλλοσε νύκτωρ, ἀνισταμένους καθεύδοντας. Καὶ πανικὰ δὲ πολλάκις ἐν στρατοπέδοις ὕπνῳ γίνεται φοβηθέντι. Τὴν ἀνθρώπων ἐλεοῦμεν τύχην· παραμυθησώμεθα τὰς ἐξ ὕπνων ἀκαίρων ἐπηρείας δαιμονίῳ πάθει. Σιληνὸν εὗρεν καθεύδοντα καὶ ἔδησεν βασιλεὺς ὁ Φρύξ· καὶ σάτυρον δὲ ἄλλος εὐτυχὴς ἡγεμών. Οὐκ ἀπαξιῶ δὲ ἐμαυτὸν τῆς πρὸς ἐκείνους ἰσοτιμίας. Περιγείους ἐκεῖνοι δαίμονας καὶ ταπεινοὺς εἷλον κεκοιμημένους· ἐγὼ λαβεῖν τὸν ἐκείνους δήσαντα ζητῶ· Ὕπνον γενέσθαι θέλω τῆς ἐμῆς ἐμπειρίας ἥττονα, ἵνα παρ' ἐμοὶ μόνῳ ἄναξ καὶ πανδαμάτωρ οὗτος οἰκῇ. Συναγρυπνείτω μοι καὶ βουλευόμενος βασιλεὺς καὶ στρατιώτης φρουρῶν καὶ ἀριστεὺς ὁ καμών. Ἀντιτάττομαί σοι Ὕπνε· ὡς σὺ κατὰ πάντων, οὕτως κἀγὼ κατὰ σοῦ στρατηγήσω. Ζῷον ἔστι πτηνὸν ὑμενόπτερον, ἐν ζοφεροῖς χωρίοις διαιτώμενον, <οὗ μόνου> τῶν ᾠοτοκούντων πτηνῶν τὰ ἔγγονα γάλακτι τρέφονται. Ταύτης ἐσκελετευμένη μὲν ἡ κεφαλὴ καὶ ἐρραφεῖσα σκυτίδι ποιεῖ τὸν περιαψάμενον ἄγρυπνον ἔστ' ἂν φορῇ. Πτέρυγα δέ τις ὅλην ζώσης αὐτῆς ἐξελὼν ἅτε λιστρίῳ ἐς ἄρυσιν ποτοῦ χρήσθω, ὀλιγάκις μὲν ἂν πρὸς ὀλίγον, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ἀμφοτέραις ἢν μακρὰς χρῄζῃ τις ἀγρυπνίας· ἂν δέ τις ἀπλήστως τούτῳ χρήσηται τῷ ποτῷ, ἄϋπνος ἐς τὸ πάμπαν μενεῖ. Εἰ δέ πῃ καὶ παῖξαι θέλοις ἐς ἀγρυπνίαν ἐμβαλών, ζώσης τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀφελὼν τῷ προσκεφαλαίῳ ἔνθα καθεύδειν αὐτῷ σύνηθες ἔρραψον· ὃ δὲ οὐ κοιμήσεται ὡς ὅλην αὐτὴν περιημμένος· καὶ γὰρ τὸν οὕτως αὐτὴν περικείμενον διὰ παντὸς ἄϋπνον τηρεῖ. Νυκτὸς εἶ τέκνον ὦ Ὕπνε· νυκτὸς ὄρνις σε νικᾷ· εἰ καὶ