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he came bringing your whole letter, and if he had brought me the talents of Croesus, I would not have looked upon him with such kindly eyes. For different people pride themselves on different things, the Lydian in gold, the Spartan in his spear, Arion in strings and melodies, but for me, my boast is the sight of you and your writings and whatever it is permitted to enjoy of you; so that we justly owe a reward to the young man, which if we did not pay, we would rightly be ashamed. And the reward, by Zeus, is not gold nor any Indian stones—for I am not rich in these things, nor has the young man come hunting for them—but neither is it beauty of words—for I am not fertile in the Muses, nor do I preen myself on things from Attica, for these things are the good fortune of the children of the fortunate—but if you wish to consider what my gift is, it is goodwill and eagerness; for of these I am master, as Demosthenes says, but of the others, fortune and the Muses dispense the gift according to their own judgment. 166 Megethius to Procopius When you first brought the funeral oration into our midst, I was so delighted by your Attic bees, that I even thought the Muse-leader himself had worked with you on the speech, along with the Graces. At each of the phrases, therefore, I and as many of the audience as there were then filled the theater with applause, each shouting with the voice of Stentor. But when we were in the city, from then on the wonder for you increased even more, and your golden offspring were in the mouths of all, judging them against one another, finding nothing comparable, and being at a loss as to which ought to be crowned for its beauty more than the others. For equal Graces assailed them. Since, therefore, it has happened that some have not heard the speech because of their business, they were begging to have a taste through me of your Attic bee, send the speech, knowing well that after crowning it again with countless praises we will send it back with speed.

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ὅλον ἧκεν ἄγων τὴν ὑμετέραν ἐπιστο λήν, καὶ εἴγε μοι τὰ Κροίσου κεκόμικε τάλαντα, οὐκ ἂν οὕτως εὐμενέσιν εἶδον αὐτὸν ὀφθαλμοῖς. ἄλλοις μὲν γὰρ ἄλλος μέγα φρονεῖ, ὁ Λυδὸς χρυσῷ ὁ Σπαρτιάτης τῷ δόρατι, χορδαῖς Ἀρίων καὶ κρούσμασιν, ἐμοὶ δὲ σεμνολό γημα σή τε θέα καὶ γράμματα σὰ καὶ πᾶν ὅ τι ἂν ὑμῶν ἀπολαύειν ἐξῇ· ὥστε τῷ νέῳ καὶ μισθὸν ἡμεῖς ἐκ τῶν δικαίων ὀφείλομεν, ὃν οὐκ ἀποδιδόντες εἰκότως ἂν αἰσχυνοίμεθα. ὁ δὲ μισθὸς οὐ μὰ ∆ία χρυσὸς οὐδὲ λίθοι τινὲς Ἰνδικαίοὔτε γὰρ τούτων πλουτῶ, οὔτε τούτων θηρεύσων ὁ νέος ἀφῖκται ἀλλ' οὐδὲ λόγων κάλλοςοὐ γὰρ Μουσῶν εὔφορος ἐγώ, οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐξ Ἀττικῆς ἐναβρύνομαι, ταῦτα γὰρ εὐδαιμόνων εὐτύχησαν παῖδεςἀλλ' εἰ τὴν ἐμὴν δόσιν ἥτις ἐστὶν ἐθέλεις σκοπεῖν, εὔνοιά τε καὶ προθυμία· τούτων γὰρ κύριος ἐγώ, ∆ημοσθένης φησίν, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων τύχη καὶ Μοῦσαι πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν αὐταῖς τὴν δωρεὰν πρυτανεύουσαι. 166 Μεγέθιος Προκοπίωι Ὅτε πρῶτον εἰς μέσους ἡμᾶς τὸν ἐπιτάφιον λόγον παρῆγες, τοσοῦτον ἥσθην ταῖς Ἀττικαῖς σου μελίτταις, ὥστε καὶ ἡγούμην τὸν Μουσηγέτην αὐτὸν συνεργάσασθαί σοι μετὰ τῶν Χαρίτων τὸν λόγον. ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ μὲν οὖν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐγώ τε καὶ ὅσοι τῶν ἀκροωμένων ἐνέπλησα τότε κροτῶν τὸ θέατρον βοῶντες ἕκαστοι τὸ Στεντόρειον. ὡς δὲ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν γεγόνα μεν, ἐντεῦθεν μᾶλλον ἐπετείνετό σοι τὸ θαῦμα, καὶ ἦν ἐν τοῖς ἁπάντων στόμασι τὰ χρυσᾶ σου γεννήματα, κρινόντων μὲν ταῦτα πρὸς ἄλληλα, τῷ μή τι παραπλήσιον εἶναι, ἀπορουμένων δὲ ποῖα δεῖ μᾶλλον τῶν ἄλλων στεφανῶσαι τοῦ κάλλους. ἴσαι γὰρ προσέβαλλον Χάριτες. ἐπεὶ οὖν ὅσοις δι' ἀσχο λίαν ἀνηκόοις γενέσθαι τοῦ λόγου συμβέβηκεν, ἱκέτευον ἀπογεύσασθαι δι' ἐμοῦ τῆς Ἀττικῆς σου μελίττης, πέμπε τὸν λόγον, εὖ εἰδὼς ὡς μυρίοις αὖθις αὐτὸν καταστέψαντες τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις εἰς τάχος ἀποστελοῦμεν.