MINOS

Let this pirate, Sostratus, be cast into Pyriphlegethon, the temple-robber be torn apart by Chimera, and the tyrant he stretched alongside Tityus, Hermes, and have his liver too torn by the vultures; but you good ones go off with all speed to the Elysian Fields, and live in the Isles of the Blest, as a reward for your just dealings in life.

SOSTRATUS

Listen, Minos, and see if what I say is just.

MINOS

Listen again now? Haven’t you already been found guilty of wickedness, Sostratus, and of committing all these murders?

SOSTRATUS

I admit I have, but consider whether it will be just for me to be punished.

MINOS

Of course it will, if it is just to pay the proper penalty.

SOSTRATUS

But answer me this, Minos. My question will be a short one.

MINOS

Speak on, then, only be brief, so that we can settle the other cases at once.

SOSTRATUS

Were my actions in life carried out by me of my own will, or already spun for me by Fate?

MINOS

Already spun by Fate, of course.

SOSTRATUS

Then all of us, whether we are thought good or bad, acted as we did as the servants of Fate?

MINOS

Yes, as servants of Clotho, who has ordained for each of us at birth what he must do.

SOSTRATUS

If, then, a man is forced by another man to kill, and is unable to gainsay the compulsion he brings to bear, if, for instance, he is a public executioner, or a mercenary, obeying, in one case, a judge, and, in the other, a tyrant, whom will you hold responsible for the killing?

MINOS

Clearly the judge or the tyrant, since the actual sword can’t be blamed; for it merely serves as a tool to serve the passion of the person who is responsible in the first instance.

SOSTRATUS

Many thanks, Minos, for your generous elaboration of my example. And, if some one brings with his own hands gold or silver sent by his master, whom must we thank and record as the benefactor?

MINOS

The sender, Sostratus; the bringer was merely a servant.

SOSTRATUS

Don’t you see then how wrong it is for you to punish us, who have been the servants of the commands of Clotho, and to have shown honour to those who ministered to the good deeds of others? No one can say that it was possible for us to gainsay ordinances that are all-compelling.

MINOS

These are not the only illogicalities you could find, Sostratus, by examining things carefully. However, you shall have your reward for your persistent questions, as I can see you’re not merely a pirate but also something of a master in the art of argument. Set him free, Hermes, and have his punishment stopped. But take care, fellow, that you don’t teach the other shades to ask questions like that.

Diogenes

Why so proud, Carian? How are you better than the rest of us?

Mausolus

Sinopean, to begin with, I was a king; king of all Caria, ruler of many Lydians, subduer of islands, conqueror of well-nigh the whole of Ionia, even to the borders of Miletus. Further, I was comely, and of noble stature, and a mighty warrior. Finally, a vast tomb lies over me in Halicarnassus, of such dimensions, of such exquisite beauty as no other shade can boast. Thereon are the perfect semblances of man and horse, carved in the fairest marble; scarcely may a temple be found to match it. These are the grounds of my pride: are they inadequate?

Diogenes

Kingship—beauty—heavy tomb; is that it?

Mausolus

It is as you say.

Diogenes

But, my handsome Mausolus, the power and the beauty are no longer there. If we were to appoint an umpire now on the question of comeliness, I see no reason why he should prefer your skull to mine. Both are bald, and bare of flesh; our teeth are equally in evidence; each of us has lost his eyes, and each is snub-nosed. Then as to the tomb and the costly marbles, I dare say such a fine erection gives the Halicarnassians something to brag about and show off to strangers: but I don’t see, friend, that you are the better for it, unless it is that you claim to carry more weight than the rest of us, with all that marble on the top of you.

Mausolus

Then all is to go for nothing? Mausolus and Diogenes are to rank as equals?

Diogenes

Equals! My dear sir, no; I don’t say that. While Mausolus is groaning over the memories of earth, and the felicity which he supposed to be his, Diogenes will be chuckling. While Mausolus boasts of the tomb raised to him by Artemisia, his wife and sister, Diogenes knows not whether he has a tomb or no—the question never having occurred to him; he knows only that his name is on the tongues of the wise, as one who lived the life of a man; a higher monument than yours, vile Carian slave, and set on firmer foundations,