Letter CXLVII.748    Placed in 373.

To Aburgius.749    To commend Maximus, late prefect of Cappadocia and in great distress.

Up to this time I used to think Homer a fable, when I read the second part of his poem, in which he narrates the adventures of Ulysses.  But the calamity which has befallen the most excellent Maximus has led me to look on what I used to think fabulous and incredible, as exceedingly probable.  Maximus was governor of no insignificant people, just as Ulysses was chief of the Cephallenians.  Ulysses had great wealth, and returned stripped of everything.  To such straits has calamity reduced Maximus, that he may have to present himself at home in borrowed rags.  And perhaps he has suffered all this because he has irritated some Læstrygones against him, and has fallen in with some Scylla, hiding a dog’s fierceness and fury under a woman’s form.  Since then he has barely been able to swim out of this inextricable whirlpool.  He supplicates you by my means for humanity’s sake to grieve for his undeserved misfortunes and not be silent about his needs, but make them known to the authorities.  He hopes thus that he may find some aid against the slanders which have been got up against him:  and if not, that at all events the intention of the enemy who has shewn such an intoxication of hostility against him may be made public.  When a man has been wronged it is a considerable comfort to him if the wickedness of his enemies can be made plain.

ΑΒΟΥΡΓΙῼ

[1] Μῦθον ἐνόμιζον τέως τὰ τοῦ Ὁμήρου, ὅτε ἐπῄειν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἕτερον μέρος τῆς ποιήσεως, ἐν ᾧ τὰ Ὀδυσσέως πάθη μεταδιδάσκει. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνα τὰ μυθικὰ τέως καὶ ἄπιστα πάνυ ἡμᾶς πιθανὰ νομίζειν ἐδίδαξεν ἡ περὶ τὸν πάντα ἄριστον Μάξιμον περιπέτεια. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ οὗτος ἄρχων ἐγένετο ἔθνους οὐ φαυλοτάτου, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος ὁ στρατηγὸς τῶν Κεφαλλήνων. Καὶ πολλὰ χρήματα ἄγων ἐκεῖνος γυμνὸς ἐπανῆλθε, καὶ τοῦτον οὕτως ἡ συμφορὰ διέθηκεν ὡς κινδυνεῦσαι ἐν ἀλλοτρίοις ῥάκεσιν ὀφθῆναι τοῖς οἰκείοις. Καὶ ταῦτα πέπονθε Λαιστρυγόνας τάχα που ἐφ' ἑαυτὸν παροξύνας καὶ Σκύλλῃ περιπεσὼν ἐν γυναικείᾳ μορφῇ κυνείαν ἐχούσῃ ἀπανθρωπίαν καὶ ἀγριότητα. Ἐπεὶ οὖν μόλις αὐτῷ ὑπῆρξε τὸν ἄφυκτον τοῦτον διανήξασθαι κλύδωνα, σὲ δι' ἡμῶν ἱκετεύει ἀξιῶν αἰδεσθῆναι τὴν κοινὴν φύσιν καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς παρ' ἀξίαν αὐτοῦ συμφοραῖς ἀλγήσαντα μὴ σιωπῇ κρύψαι τὰ κατ' αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ διαγγεῖλαι τοῖς ἐν δυνάμει, ὥστε μάλιστα μὲν καὶ γενέσθαι τινὰ αὐτῷ βοήθειαν πρὸς τὴν σκευωρηθεῖσαν ἐπήρειαν, εἰ δὲ μή, δημοσιευθῆναι γοῦν τὴν προαίρεσιν τοῦ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐμπαροινήσαντος. Ἀρκοῦσα γὰρ τῷ ἠδικημένῳ παραμυθία ἡ τῶν ἐπιβουλευσάντων αὐτῷ τῆς πονηρίας φανέρωσις.