Lucian of Samosata, Contemplantes, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 16

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HERMES

If you look close, you will also see the Fatés up above, drawing off each man’s thread from the spindle to which, as it happens, one and all are attached by slender threads. Do you see cobwebs, if I may call them so, coming down to each man from the spindles?

CHARON

I see that each man has a very slender thread, and it is entangled in most cases, this one with that and that with another.

HERMES

With good reason, ferryman; it is fated for that man to be killed by this man and this man by another, and for this man to be heir to that one, whose thread is shorter, and that man in turn to this one. That is what the entanglement means. You see, however, that they all hang by slender threads. Furthermore, this man has been drawn up on high and hangs in mid-air, and after a little while, when the filament, no longer strong enough to hold his weight, breaks and he falls to earth, he will make a great noise; but this other, who is lifted but little above the ground, will come down, if at all, so noiselessly that even his neighbours will hardly hear his fall.

CHARON

All this is very funny, Hermes.

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Χάρων ἢ Ἐπισκοποῦντες Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 2. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1915.) — 16 focus

Ἑρμῆς

ἢν δὲ ἀτενίσῃς, κατόψει καὶ τὰς Μοίρας ἄνω ἐπικλωθούσας ἑκάστῳ τὸν ἄτρακτον, ἀφʼ οὗ ἠρτῆσθαι συμβέβηκεν ἅπαντας ἐκ λεπτῶν νημάτων. ὁρᾷς καθάπερ ἀράχνιά τινα καταβαίνοντα ἐφʼ ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν ἀτράκτων;

Χάρων

ὁρῶ πάνυ λεπτὸν ἑκάστῳ νῆμα, ἐπιπεπλεγμένον γε τὰ πολλά, τοῦτο μὲν ἐκείνῳ, ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἄλλῳ.

Ἑρμῆς

εἰκότως, ὦ πορθμεῦ· εἵμαρται γὰρ ἐκείνῳ μὲν ὑπὸ τούτου φονευθῆναι, τούτῳ δὲ ὑπʼ ἄλλου, καὶ κληρονομῆσαί γε τοῦτον μὲν ἐκείνου, ὅτου ἂν ᾖ μικρότερον τὸ νῆμα, ἐκεῖνον δὲ αὖ τούτου· τοιόνδε γάρ τι ἡ ἐπιπλοκὴ δηλοῖ. ὁρᾷς δʼ οὖν ἀπὸ λεπτοῦ κρεμαμένους ἅπαντας· καὶ οὗτος μὲν ἀνασπασθεὶς ἄνω μετέωρός ἐστι καὶ μετὰ μικρὸν καταπεσών, ἀπορραγέντος τοῦ λίνου ἐπειδὰν μηκέτι ἀντέχῃ πρὸς τὸ βάρος, μέγαν τὸν ψόφον ἐργάσεται, οὗτος δὲ ὀλίγον ἀπὸ γῆς αἰωρούμενος, ἢν καὶ πέσῃ, ἀψοφητὶ κείσεται,¹ μόλις καὶ τοῖς γείτοσιν ἐξακουσθέντος τοῦ πτώματος.

Χάρων

παγγέλοια ταῦτα, ὦ Ἑρμῆ.

Translations (1)

Charon Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 1. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 16 focus

Hermes

Now look closely, and you will make out the Fates up aloft, spinning each man his spindle-full; from that spindle a man hangs by a narrow thread. Do you see what looks like a cobweb, coming down to each man from the spindles?

Charon

I see each has a very slight thread. They are mostly entangled, one with another, and that other with a third.

Hermes

Of course they are. Because the first man has got to be murdered by the second, and he by the third; or again, B is to be A’s heir (A’s thread being the shorter), and C is to be B’s, That is what the entangling means. But you see what thin threads they all have to depend on. Now here is one drawn high up into the air; presently his thread will snap, when the weight becomes too much for it, and down he will come with a bang: whereas yonder fellow hangs so low that when he does fall it makes no noise; his next-door neighbours will scarcely hear him drop.

Lucian of Samosata Contemplantes 16

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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HERMES

If you look close, you will also see the Fatés up above, drawing off each man’s thread from the spindle to which, as it happens, one and all are attached by slender threads. Do you see cobwebs, if I may call them so, coming down to each man from the spindles?

CHARON

I see that each man has a very slender thread, and it is entangled in most cases, this one with that and that with another.

CHARON

All this is very funny, Hermes.

Current edition Perseus

Χάρων

ὁρῶ πάνυ λεπτὸν ἑκάστῳ νῆμα, ἐπιπεπλεγμένον γε τὰ πολλά, τοῦτο μὲν ἐκείνῳ, ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἄλλῳ.

Χάρων

παγγέλοια ταῦτα, ὦ Ἑρμῆ.

Hermes

Now look closely, and you will make out the Fates up aloft, spinning each man his spindle-full; from that spindle a man hangs by a narrow thread. Do you see what looks like a cobweb, coming down to each man from the spindles?

Charon

I see each has a very slight thread. They are mostly entangled, one with another, and that other with a third.

Charon

How absurd it all is!

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

HERMES If you look close, you will also see the Fatés up above, drawing off each man’s thread from the spindle to which, as it happens, one and all are attached by slender threads. Do you see cobwebs, if I may call them so, coming down to each man from the spindles?

CHARON I see that each man has a very slender thread, and it is entangled in most cases, this one with that and that with another.

CHARON All this is very funny, Hermes.

Current edition Perseus

Χάρων ὁρῶ πάνυ λεπτὸν ἑκάστῳ νῆμα, ἐπιπεπλεγμένον γε τὰ πολλά, τοῦτο μὲν ἐκείνῳ, ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἄλλῳ.

Χάρων παγγέλοια ταῦτα, ὦ Ἑρμῆ.

Hermes Now look closely, and you will make out the Fates up aloft, spinning each man his spindle-full; from that spindle a man hangs by a narrow thread. Do you see what looks like a cobweb, coming down to each man from the spindles?

Charon I see each has a very slight thread. They are mostly entangled, one with another, and that other with a third.

Charon How absurd it all is!

Stable identifiers

HERMES

If you look close, you will also see the Fatés up above, drawing off each man’s thread from the spindle to which, as it happens, one and all are attached by slender threads. Do you see cobwebs, if I may call them so, coming down to each man from the spindles?

CHARON

I see that each man has a very slender thread, and it is entangled in most cases, this one with that and that with another.

CHARON

All this is very funny, Hermes.

Χάρων

ὁρῶ πάνυ λεπτὸν ἑκάστῳ νῆμα, ἐπιπεπλεγμένον γε τὰ πολλά, τοῦτο μὲν ἐκείνῳ, ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἄλλῳ.

Χάρων

παγγέλοια ταῦτα, ὦ Ἑρμῆ.

Hermes

Now look closely, and you will make out the Fates up aloft, spinning each man his spindle-full; from that spindle a man hangs by a narrow thread. Do you see what looks like a cobweb, coming down to each man from the spindles?

Charon

I see each has a very slight thread. They are mostly entangled, one with another, and that other with a third.

Charon

How absurd it all is!