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358 Κνήμων καὶ Δάμνιππος.

Κνήμων

τοῦτο ἐκεῖνο τὸ τῆς παροιμίας· ὁ νεβρὸς τὸν λέοντα.

Δαμασίας

τί ἀγανακτεῖς, ὦ Κνήμων;

Κνήμων

πυνθάνῃ ὅ τι ἀγανακτῶ; κληρονόμον ἀκούσιον καταλέλοιπα κατασοφισθεὶς ἄθλιος, οὓς ἐβουλόμην ἂν μάλιστα σχεῖν τἀμὰ παραλιπών.

Δαμασίας

πῶς τοῦτο ἐγένετο;

Κνήμων

Ἑρμόλαον τὸν πάνυ πλούσιον ἄτεκνον ὄντα ἐθεράπευον ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, κἀκεῖνος οὐκ ἀηδῶς τὴν θεραπείαν προσίετο. ἔδοξε δή μοι καὶ σοφὸν τοῦτο εἶναι, θέσθαι διαθήκας ἐς τὸ φανερόν, ἐν αἷς ἐκείνῳ καταλέλοιπα τἀμὰ πάντα, ὡς κἀκεῖνος ζηλώσειε καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ πράξειε. 359

Δαμασίας

τί οὖν δὴ ἐκεῖνος;

Κνήμων

ὅ τι μὲν αὐτὸς ἐνέγραψε ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ διαθήκαις οὐκ οἶδα ἐγὼ γοῦν ἄφνω ἀπέθανον τοῦ τέγους μοι ἐπιπεσόντος, καὶ νῦν Ἑρμόλαος ἔχει τἀμὰ ὥσπερ τις λαβραξ καὶ τὸ ἄγκιστρον τῷ δελέατι συγκατασπάσας.

Δαμασίας

Οὐ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτόν σε τὸν ἁλιέα· ὥστε σόφισμα κατὰ σαυτοῦ συντέθεικας.

Κνήμων

ἔοικα· οἰμώζω τοιγαροῦν.

Dialogi mortuorum. Lucian. ed. Karl Jacobitz. Leipzig. 1909.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Google Digital Humanities Awards Program.

Current edition Perseus

Νεκρικοὶ Διάλογοι (Greek) (Lucian. Luciani Samosatensis Opera, Vol. 1. Jacobitz, Karl, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1909.)

Editions (1)

Νεκρικοὶ διάλογοι Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 7. Macleod, Matthew Donald, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961 (unrenewed copyright).) — 8 focus

434 ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΧΕΙΡΩΝΟΣ

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Ἤκουσα, ὦ Χείρων, ὡς θεὸς ὢν ἐπεθύμησας ἀποθανεῖν.

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Ἀληθῆ ταῦτα ἤκουσας, ὦ Μένιππε, καὶ τέθνηκα, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ἀθάνατος εἶναι δυνάμενος.

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Τίς δαί σε ἔρως τοῦ θανάτου ἔσχεν, ἀνεράστου τοῖς πολλοῖς χρήματος;

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Ἐρῶ πρὸς σὲ οὐκ ἀσύνετον ὄντα. οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ἡδὺ ἀπολαύειν ¹ τῆς ἀθανασίας.

435

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Οὐχ ἡδὺ ἦν ζῶντα ὁρᾶν τὸ φῶς;

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Οὔκ, ὦ Μένιππε· τὸ γὰρ ἡδὺ ἔγωγε ποικίλον τι καὶ οὐχ ἁπλοῦν ² ἡγοῦμαι εἶναι. ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων ἀεὶ καὶ ἀπέλαυον τῶν ὁμοίων, ἡλίου, φωτός, τροφῆς, αἱ ὧραι δὲ αἱ αὐταὶ καὶ τὰ γινόμενα ἅπαντα ἑξῆς ἕκαστον, ὥσπερ ἀκολουθοῦντα θάτερον θατέρῳ· ἐνεπλήσθην οὖν αὐτῶν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ἀεὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ μὴ μετασχεῖν ³ ὅλως τὸ τερπνὸν ἦν.

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Εὖ λέγεις, ὦ Χείρων. τὰ ἐν ᾅδου δὲ πῶς φέρεις, ἀφ' οὗ προελόμενος αὐτὰ ἥκεις;

436

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Οὐκ ἀηδῶς, ὦ Μένιππε· ἡ γὰρ ἰσοτιμία πάνυ δημοτικὴ καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα οὐδὲν ἔχει τὸ διάφορον ἐν φωτὶ εἶναι ἢ ἐν σκότῳ· ἄλλως τε οὔτε διψῆν ὥσπερ ἄνω οὔτε πεινῆν δεῖ, ἀλλ’ ἀνεπιδεεῖς ⁴ τούτων ἁπάντων ἐσμέν.

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Ὅρα, ὦ Χείρων, μὴ περιπίπτῃς σεαυτῷ καὶ ἐς τὸ αὐτό σοι ὁ λόγος περιστῇ. ⁵

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Πῶς τοῦτο φῄς;

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Ὅτι εἰ τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ τὸ ὅμοιον ἀεὶ καὶ ταὐτὸν ἐγένετό σοι προσκορές, καὶ τἀνταῦθα ὅμοια ὄντα προσκορῆ ὁμοίως ἂν γένοιτο, καὶ δεήσει μεταβολήν σε ζητεῖν τινα καὶ ἐντεῦθεν εἰς ἄλλον βίον, ὅπερ οἶμαι ἀδύνατον.

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Τί οὐν ἂν πάθοι τις, ὦ Μένιππε;

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Ὅπερ, οἶμαι, φασί, συνετὸν ὄντα ἀρέσκεσθαι καὶ ἀγαπᾶν τοῖς παροῦσι καὶ μηδὲν αὐτῶν ἀφόρητον οἴεσθαι.

Translations (2)

Dialogues of the Dead Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 7. Macleod, Matthew Donald, translator. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961 (unrenewed copyright).) — 8 focus

Menippus And Chiron

MENIPPUS

I heard, Chiron, that though you were a god, you wanted to die.

CHIRON

What you heard is true, Menippus, and I am dead, as you see, though I could have been immortal.

MENIPPUS

Whatever made you so enamoured of death, a thing for which most men have no love?

CHIRON

I’ll tell you, seeing that you’re an intelligent fellow. I had no pleasure left in enjoying immortality.

MENIPPUS

Was it not pleasant to live and see the light?

CHIRON

No, Menippus. I consider pleasure to come from variety and change; but I was living on and on, and enjoying the same things—sun, light and food; the seasons were always the same, and everything came in its turn, one thing seeming to follow automatically upon another; and so I had too much of it all, for I found my pleasure not in always having the same thing, but also in doing quite without it.

MENIPPUS

Well spoken, Chiron. But how do you endure things in Hades, now that you’ve come down here out of preference?

CHIRON

I find them not unpleasant, Menippus. The equality here is truly democratic, and it makes no difference whether one is in light or in darkness. Besides, there’s no need to be thirsty or hungry, as up above; we don’t feel any of these needs.

MENIPPUS

Take care you don’t trip yourself up, Chiron, and have to use the same theory again.

CHIRON

What do you mean?

MENIPPUS

That if you became sick and tired of the constant monotony and sameness of things in life, things here too are monotonous; and so you may become just as sick and tired of them, and have to look for a change from here to yet another life—and that, I think, is impossible.

CHIRON

Then what can one do, Menippus?

MENIPPUS

What I imagine a sensible man is reputed to do—be content and satisfied with one’s lot and think no part of it intolerable.

Dialogues of the Dead Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 1. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 8 focus

VIII

Cnemon

Damnippus

Cnemon

Why, ’tis the proverb fulfilled! The fawn hath taken the lion.

Damasias

What’s the matter, Cnemon?

Cnemon

The matter! I have been fooled, miserably fooled. I have passed over all whom I should have liked to make my heirs, and left my money to the wrong man.

Damasias

How was that?

Cnemon

I had been speculating on the death of Hermolaus, the millionaire. He had no children, and my attentions had been well received by him. I thought it would be a good idea to let him know that I had made my will in his favour, on the chance of its exciting his emulation.

Damasias

Yes; and Hermolaus?

Cnemon

What his will was, I don’t know. I died suddenly,— the roof came down about my ears; and now Hermolaus is my heir The pike has swallowed hook and bait.

Damasias

And your anglership into the bargain. The pit that you digged for other....

Cnemon

That’s about the truth of the matter, confound it.

Francis George Fowler

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

358 Κνήμων καὶ Δάμνιππος.

Κνήμων τοῦτο ἐκεῖνο τὸ τῆς παροιμίας· ὁ νεβρὸς τὸν λέοντα.

Δαμασίας τί ἀγανακτεῖς, ὦ Κνήμων;

Κνήμων πυνθάνῃ ὅ τι ἀγανακτῶ; κληρονόμον ἀκούσιον καταλέλοιπα κατασοφισθεὶς ἄθλιος, οὓς ἐβουλόμην ἂν μάλιστα σχεῖν τἀμὰ παραλιπών.

Δαμασίας πῶς τοῦτο ἐγένετο;

Δαμασίας τί οὖν δὴ ἐκεῖνος;

Δαμασίας Οὐ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτόν σε τὸν ἁλιέα· ὥστε σόφισμα κατὰ σαυτοῦ συντέθεικας.

Κνήμων ἔοικα· οἰμώζω τοιγαροῦν.

Current edition Perseus

434 ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΧΕΙΡΩΝΟΣ

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ Ἤκουσα, ὦ Χείρων, ὡς θεὸς ὢν ἐπεθύμησας ἀποθανεῖν.

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ Ἀληθῆ ταῦτα ἤκουσας, ὦ Μένιππε, καὶ τέθνηκα, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ἀθάνατος εἶναι δυνάμενος.

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ Τίς δαί σε ἔρως τοῦ θανάτου ἔσχεν, ἀνεράστου τοῖς πολλοῖς χρήματος;

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ Ἐρῶ πρὸς σὲ οὐκ ἀσύνετον ὄντα. οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ἡδὺ ἀπολαύειν 1 τῆς ἀθανασίας.

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ Οὐχ ἡδὺ ἦν ζῶντα ὁρᾶν τὸ φῶς;

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ Εὖ λέγεις, ὦ Χείρων. τὰ ἐν ᾅδου δὲ πῶς φέρεις, ἀφ' οὗ προελόμενος αὐτὰ ἥκεις;

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ Ὅρα, ὦ Χείρων, μὴ περιπίπτῃς σεαυτῷ καὶ ἐς τὸ αὐτό σοι ὁ λόγος περιστῇ. 5

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ Πῶς τοῦτο φῄς;

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ Τί οὐν ἂν πάθοι τις, ὦ Μένιππε;

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ Ὅπερ, οἶμαι, φασί, συνετὸν ὄντα ἀρέσκεσθαι καὶ ἀγαπᾶν τοῖς παροῦσι καὶ μηδὲν αὐτῶν ἀφόρητον οἴεσθαι.

Menippus And Chiron

MENIPPUS I heard, Chiron, that though you were a god, you wanted to die.

CHIRON What you heard is true, Menippus, and I am dead, as you see, though I could have been immortal.

MENIPPUS Whatever made you so enamoured of death, a thing for which most men have no love?

CHIRON I’ll tell you, seeing that you’re an intelligent fellow. I had no pleasure left in enjoying immortality.

MENIPPUS Was it not pleasant to live and see the light?

MENIPPUS Well spoken, Chiron. But how do you endure things in Hades, now that you’ve come down here out of preference?

CHIRON I find them not unpleasant, Menippus. The equality here is truly democratic, and it makes no difference whether one is in light or in darkness. Besides, there’s no need to be thirsty or hungry, as up above; we don’t feel any of these needs.

MENIPPUS Take care you don’t trip yourself up, Chiron, and have to use the same theory again.

CHIRON What do you mean?

MENIPPUS That if you became sick and tired of the constant monotony and sameness of things in life, things here too are monotonous; and so you may become just as sick and tired of them, and have to look for a change from here to yet another life—and that, I think, is impossible.

CHIRON Then what can one do, Menippus?

MENIPPUS What I imagine a sensible man is reputed to do—be content and satisfied with one’s lot and think no part of it intolerable.

VIII

Cnemon

Damnippus

Cnemon Why, ’tis the proverb fulfilled! The fawn hath taken the lion.

Damasias What’s the matter, Cnemon?

Cnemon The matter! I have been fooled, miserably fooled. I have passed over all whom I should have liked to make my heirs, and left my money to the wrong man.

Damasias How was that?

Cnemon I had been speculating on the death of Hermolaus, the millionaire. He had no children, and my attentions had been well received by him. I thought it would be a good idea to let him know that I had made my will in his favour, on the chance of its exciting his emulation.

Damasias Yes; and Hermolaus?

Cnemon What his will was, I don’t know. I died suddenly,— the roof came down about my ears; and now Hermolaus is my heir The pike has swallowed hook and bait.

Damasias And your anglership into the bargain. The pit that you digged for other....

Cnemon That’s about the truth of the matter, confound it.

Stable identifiers

Κνήμων

τοῦτο ἐκεῖνο τὸ τῆς παροιμίας· ὁ νεβρὸς τὸν λέοντα.

Δαμασίας

τί ἀγανακτεῖς, ὦ Κνήμων;

Κνήμων

πυνθάνῃ ὅ τι ἀγανακτῶ; κληρονόμον ἀκούσιον καταλέλοιπα κατασοφισθεὶς ἄθλιος, οὓς ἐβουλόμην ἂν μάλιστα σχεῖν τἀμὰ παραλιπών.

Δαμασίας

πῶς τοῦτο ἐγένετο;

Δαμασίας

τί οὖν δὴ ἐκεῖνος;

Δαμασίας

Οὐ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτόν σε τὸν ἁλιέα· ὥστε σόφισμα κατὰ σαυτοῦ συντέθεικας.

Κνήμων

ἔοικα· οἰμώζω τοιγαροῦν.

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Ἤκουσα, ὦ Χείρων, ὡς θεὸς ὢν ἐπεθύμησας ἀποθανεῖν.

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Ἀληθῆ ταῦτα ἤκουσας, ὦ Μένιππε, καὶ τέθνηκα, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ἀθάνατος εἶναι δυνάμενος.

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Τίς δαί σε ἔρως τοῦ θανάτου ἔσχεν, ἀνεράστου τοῖς πολλοῖς χρήματος;

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Ἐρῶ πρὸς σὲ οὐκ ἀσύνετον ὄντα. οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ἡδὺ ἀπολαύειν ¹ τῆς ἀθανασίας.

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Οὐχ ἡδὺ ἦν ζῶντα ὁρᾶν τὸ φῶς;

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Εὖ λέγεις, ὦ Χείρων. τὰ ἐν ᾅδου δὲ πῶς φέρεις, ἀφ' οὗ προελόμενος αὐτὰ ἥκεις;

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Ὅρα, ὦ Χείρων, μὴ περιπίπτῃς σεαυτῷ καὶ ἐς τὸ αὐτό σοι ὁ λόγος περιστῇ. ⁵

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Πῶς τοῦτο φῄς;

ΧΕΙΡΩΝ

Τί οὐν ἂν πάθοι τις, ὦ Μένιππε;

ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ

Ὅπερ, οἶμαι, φασί, συνετὸν ὄντα ἀρέσκεσθαι καὶ ἀγαπᾶν τοῖς παροῦσι καὶ μηδὲν αὐτῶν ἀφόρητον οἴεσθαι.

MENIPPUS

I heard, Chiron, that though you were a god, you wanted to die.

CHIRON

What you heard is true, Menippus, and I am dead, as you see, though I could have been immortal.

MENIPPUS

Whatever made you so enamoured of death, a thing for which most men have no love?

CHIRON

I’ll tell you, seeing that you’re an intelligent fellow. I had no pleasure left in enjoying immortality.

MENIPPUS

Was it not pleasant to live and see the light?

MENIPPUS

Well spoken, Chiron. But how do you endure things in Hades, now that you’ve come down here out of preference?

CHIRON

I find them not unpleasant, Menippus. The equality here is truly democratic, and it makes no difference whether one is in light or in darkness. Besides, there’s no need to be thirsty or hungry, as up above; we don’t feel any of these needs.

MENIPPUS

Take care you don’t trip yourself up, Chiron, and have to use the same theory again.

CHIRON

What do you mean?

MENIPPUS

That if you became sick and tired of the constant monotony and sameness of things in life, things here too are monotonous; and so you may become just as sick and tired of them, and have to look for a change from here to yet another life—and that, I think, is impossible.

CHIRON

Then what can one do, Menippus?

MENIPPUS

What I imagine a sensible man is reputed to do—be content and satisfied with one’s lot and think no part of it intolerable.

Cnemon

Why, ’tis the proverb fulfilled! The fawn hath taken the lion.

Damasias

What’s the matter, Cnemon?

Cnemon

The matter! I have been fooled, miserably fooled. I have passed over all whom I should have liked to make my heirs, and left my money to the wrong man.

Damasias

How was that?

Cnemon

I had been speculating on the death of Hermolaus, the millionaire. He had no children, and my attentions had been well received by him. I thought it would be a good idea to let him know that I had made my will in his favour, on the chance of its exciting his emulation.

Damasias

Yes; and Hermolaus?

Cnemon

What his will was, I don’t know. I died suddenly,— the roof came down about my ears; and now Hermolaus is my heir The pike has swallowed hook and bait.

Damasias

And your anglership into the bargain. The pit that you digged for other....

Cnemon

That’s about the truth of the matter, confound it.