Lucian of Samosata, Timon, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 41

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[41]

TIMON

Come, pick, be strong for me now and don’t flag in the task of calling Treasure out of the depths to the light of day. O Zeus, god of miracles! O gracious Corybants! O Hermes, god of gain! Where did all this gold come from? « Is this a dream? I am afraid I may wake up and find nothing but ashes. No, verily it is coined gold, red and heavy and mighty good to look upon.

O gold, thou fairest gift that comes to man!

Euripides, Danae, fr. 326 Nauck. In very truth you stand out like blazing fire, not only by night but by day.¹ Come to me, my precious, my pretty! Now I am convinced that Zeus once turned into gold, for what maid would not open her bosom and receive so beautiful a lover coming down through the roof in a shower?

Timon. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Timon, or the Misanthrope (English) (Lucian, Vol. 2. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1915.)

Editions (1)

Τίμων Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 2. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1915.) — 41 focus

Τίμων

ἄγε, ὦ δίκελλα, νῦν μοι ἐπίρρωσον σεαυτὴν καὶ μὴ κάμῃς ἐκ τοῦ βάθους τὸν Θησαυρὸν ἐς τοὐμφανὲς προκαλουμένη. ὦ Ζεῦ τεράστιε καὶ φίλοι Κορύβαντες καὶ Ἑρμῆ κερδῷε, πόθεν τοσοῦτον χρυσίον; ἦ που ὄναρ ταῦτά ἐστι; δέδια γοῦν μὴ ἄνθρακας εὕρω ἀνεγρόμενος· ἀλλὰ μὴν χρυσίον ἐστὶν ἐπίσημον, ὑπέρυθρον, βαρὺ καὶ τὴν πρόσοψιν ὑπερήδιστον.
ὦ χρυσέ, δεξίωμα κάλλιστον βροτοῖς·
αἰθόμενον γὰρ πῦρ ἅτε διαπρέπεις καὶ νύκτωρ καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν. ἐλθέ, ὦ φίλτατε καὶ ἐρασμιώτατε. νῦν πείθομαί γε καὶ Δία ποτὲ γενέσθαι χρυσόν· τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν παρθένος ἀναπεπταμένοις τοῖς κόλποις ὑπεδέξατο οὕτω καλὸν ἐραστὴν διὰ τοῦ τέγους καταρρέοντα;

Translations (1)

Timon the Misanthrope Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 1. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 41 focus

Timon

Come, spade, show your mettle; stick to it; invite Thesaurus to step up from his retreat.... O God of Wonders! O mystic priests! O lucky Hermes! whence this flood of gold? Sure, ’tis all a dream; methinks ’twill be ashes when I wake. And yet—coined gold, ruddy and heavy, a feast of delight!

O gold, the fairest gift to mortal eyes!

be it night, or be it day,

Thou dost outshine all else like living fire.

Come to me, my own, my beloved. I doubt the tale no longer; well might Zeus take the shape of gold; where is the maid that would not open her bosom to receive so fair a lover gliding through the roof?

Notes on the current edition

Timon, or the Misanthrope

1. The allusion is to Pindar, Olymp. i. 1 ff.

Lucian of Samosata Timon 41

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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