Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

Xanthus ¹ and Sea

XANTHUS

Take me to you, Sea, for I’ve suffered terribly. Please put a stop to my burning wounds.

SEA

What’s this, Xanthus? Who has burnt you?

XANTHUS

Hephaestus. See how I’ve been charred to cinders all over, poor thing that I am, and am at boiling point.

SEA

Whatever made him attack you with his fire?

XANTHUS

It’s all because of the son of Thetis ² here. He was butchering the Phrygians, and I begged him to relent from his anger, but he wouldn’t; he only blocked up my stream with their bodies. Out of pity for the poor wretches, I attacked him, hoping to swallow him in a flood, and frighten him away from them.

XANTHUS

Then Hephaestus, happening to be near, attacked me, with all the fire he had in his forge it seemed to me, yes, with all his fire in Etna, and burnt my elms and tamarisks, roasting my unhappy fish and my eels, and making me myself bubble all over, and nearly dry all up. You can see the state I’m in from my burns.

SEA

You’re muddy and hot, Xanthus, as is only natural, what with the blood from the bodies and the heat from that fire you’ve been talking about—and quite right too, when you had the cheek to attack my grandson ³ though he was the son of a Nereid!

XANTHUS

Was it wrong for me, then, to feel sorry for my neighbours of Phrygia?

SEA

Or wrong for Hephaestus to be sorry for Thetis’ son, Achilles?

Dialogi Marini. Lucian of Samosata. Matthew Donald Macleod (Translator). Medford, MA. Perseus 5.0.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (2)

Ἐνάλιοι Διάλογοι Perseus (Lucian. Luciani Samosatensis Opera, Vol. 1. Jacobitz, Karl, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1909.) — 10 focus

Ἴριδος καὶ Ποσειδῶνος

Ἶρις

τὴν νῆσον τὴν πλανωμένην, ὦ Πόσειδον, ἣν ἀποσπασθεῖσαν τῆς Σικελίας ὕφαλον ἔτι νήχεσθαι συμβέβηκε, ταύτην, φησὶν ὁ Ζεύς, στῆσον ἤδη καὶ ἀνάφηνον καὶ ποίησον ἤδη δῆλον ἐν τῷ Αἰγαίῳ μέσῳ βεβαίως μένειν στηρίξας πάνυ ἀσφαλῶς· δεῖται γάρ τι αὐτῆς.

Ποσειδῶν

πεπράξεται ταῦτα, ὦ Ἶρι. τίνα δὲ ὅμως παρέξει 315 αὐτῷ τὴν χρείαν ἀναφανεῖσα καὶ μηκέτι πλέουσα;

Ἶρις

τὴν Λητὼ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς δεῖ ἀποκυῆσαι· ἤδη γὰρ πονήρως ὑπὸ τῶν ὠδίνων ἔχει.

Ποσειδῶν

τί οὖν; οὐχ ἱκανὸς ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐντεκεῖν; εἰ δὲ μὴ οὗτος, ἀλλʼ ἥ γε γῆ πᾶσα οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο ὑποδέξασθαι τὰς γονὰς αὐτῆς;

Ἶρις

οὔκ, ὦ Πόσειδον· ἡ Ἥρα γὰρ ὅρκῳ μεγάλῳ κατέλαβε τὴν γῆν, μὴ παρασχεῖν τῇ Λητοῖ τῶν ὠδίνων ὑποδοχήν. ἡ τοίνυν νῆσος αὕτη ἀνώμοτός ἐστιν· ἀφανὴς γὰρ ἦν.

Ποσειδῶν

συνίημι. στῆθι, ὦ νῆσε, καὶ ἀνάδυθι αὖθις ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ καὶ μηκέτι ὑποφέρου, ἀλλὰ βεβαίως μένε καὶ ὑπόδεξαι, ὦ εὐδαιμονεστάτη, τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τα τέκνα δύο, τοὺς καλλίστους τῶν θεῶν· καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὦ Τρίτωνες, διαπορθμεύσατε τὴν Λητὼ ἐς αὐτήν· καὶ γαληνὰ ἅπαντα ἔστω. τὸν δράκοντα δέ, ὃς νῦν ἐξοιστρεῖ αὐτὴν φοβῶν, τὰ νεογνὰ ἐπειδὰν τεχθῇ, αὐτίκα μέτεισι καὶ τιμωρήσει τῇ μητρί. σὺ δὲ ἀπάγγελλε τῷ Διὶ πάντα 316 εἶναι εὐτρεπῆ· ἕστηκεν ἡ Δῆλος· ἡκέτω ἡ Λητὼ ἤδη καὶ τικτέτω.

Θεῶν διάλογοι Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 7. Macleod, Matthew Donald, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961 (unrenewed copyright).) — 10 focus

ΞΑΝΘΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΗΣ

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Δέξαι με, ὦ θάλασσα, δεινὰ πεπονθότα καὶ κατάσβεσόν μου τὰ τραύματα.

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Τί τοῦτο, ὦ Ξάνθε; τίς σε κατέκαυσεν;

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Ὁ Ἥφαιστος. ἀλλ’ ἀπηνθράκωμαι ὅλος ὁ κακοδαίμων καὶ ζέω.

317

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Διὰ τί δαί σοι καὶ ἐνέβαλε τὸ πῦρ;

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Διὰ τὸν ταύτης υἱὸν τῆς Θέτιδος· ἐπεὶ γὰρ φονεύοντα τοὺς Φρύγας ἱκετεύσας οὐκ ἔπαυσα ¹ τῆς ὀργῆς, ἀλλ’ ὑπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν ἐνέφραττέ μοι τὸν ῥοῦν, ἐλεήσας τοὺς ἀθλίους ἐπῆλθον ἐπικλύσαι ἐθέλων, ὡς φοβηθεὶς ἀπόσχοιτο τῶν ἀνδρῶν.

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

ἐνταῦθα ὁ Ἥφαιστος—ἔτυχε γὰρ πλησίον που ὤν—πᾶν οἶμαι ὅσον ἐν τῇ καμίνῳ πῦρ εἶχεν ² καὶ ὅσον ἐν τῇ Αἴτνῃ φέρων ³ ἐπῆλθέ μοι, καὶ ἔκαυσε μὲν τὰς πτελέας μου καὶ μυρίκας, ὤπτησε δὲ καὶ τοὺς κακοδαίμονας ἰχθῦς καὶ τὰς ἐγχέλεις, αὐτὸν δὲ ἐμὲ ὑπερκαχλάσαι ποιήσας μικροῦ δεῖν ὅλον ξηρὸν εἴργασται. ὁρᾷς γοῦν ὅπως διάκειμαι ἀπὸ ⁴ τῶν ἐγκαυμάτων.

318

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Θολερός, ὦ Ξάνθε, καὶ θερμός, ὡς εἰκός, τὸ αἷμα μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἡ θέρμη δέ, ὡς φῄς, ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρός· καὶ εἰκότως, ὦ Ξάνθε, ὃς ἐπὶ τὸν ἐμὸν υἱ ωνὸν ⁵ ὥρμησας οὐκ αἰδεσθεὶς ὅτι Νηρεΐδος υἱὸς ἦν.

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Οὐκ ἔδει οὖν ἐλεῆσαι γείτονας ὄντας τοὺς Φρύγας;

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Τὸν Ἥφαιστον δὲ οὐκ ἔδει ἐλεῆσαι Θέτιδος υἱὸν ὄντα τὸν Ἀχιλλέα;

Translations (1)

Dialogues of the Sea-gods: Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 1. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 10 focus

X

Iris

Posidon

Iris

Posidon: you know that floating island, that was torn away from Sicily, and is still drifting about under water; you are to bring it to the surface, Zeus says, and fix it well in view in the middle of the Aegean; and mind it is properly secured; he has a use for it.

Posidon

Very good. And when I have got it up, and anchored it, what is he going to do with it?

Iris

Leto is to lie in there; her time is near.

Posidon

And is there no room in Heaven? Or is Earth too small to hold her children?

Iris

Ah, you see, Hera has bound the Earth by a great oath not to give shelter to Leto in her travail. This island, however, being out of sight, has not committed itself.

Posidon

I see.—Island, be still! Rise once more from the depths; and this time there must be no sinking. Henceforth you are terra firma; it will be your happiness to receive my brother’s twin children, fairest of the Gods.—Tritons, you will have to convey Leto across. Let all be calm.—As to that serpent who is frightening her out of her senses, wait till these children are born; they will soon avenge their mother.—You can tell Zeus that all is ready. Delos stands firm: Leto has only to come.

Francis George Fowler

Notes on the current edition

Dialogues of the Gods

1. A river of the Troad, also called Scamander. See Iliad, XXI, 211 ff.

2. Achilles.

3. It is very difficult to retain the υἱὸν of the MSS. in the sense of “descendant”. I have adopted the correc- tion υἱωνὸν (though ὑϊδοῦν would be equally possible) on the assumption that Lucian (who reserves the name Doris for the Nereid, cf. p. 179 note) has replaced Doris, the traditional mother of Thetis, by the General goddess of the sea, Thalatta, who first appears thus in Bion, I, 13 and Meleager, A.P. V, 180. Lucian may be thinking of works of art, as Pausanias, 2.1.7 mentions statues of Thalatta at Corinth, while Philostratus, Imag. II, 16 also describes Thalattai at Corinth.

Lucian of Samosata Dialogi Marini 10

Matthew Donald Macleod (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Xanthus ¹ and Sea

XANTHUS

Take me to you, Sea, for I’ve suffered terribly. Please put a stop to my burning wounds.

SEA

What’s this, Xanthus? Who has burnt you?

XANTHUS

Hephaestus. See how I’ve been charred to cinders all over, poor thing that I am, and am at boiling point.

SEA

Whatever made him attack you with his fire?

SEA

You’re muddy and hot, Xanthus, as is only natural, what with the blood from the bodies and the heat from that fire you’ve been talking about—and quite right too, when you had the cheek to attack my grandson ³ though he was the son of a Nereid!

XANTHUS

Was it wrong for me, then, to feel sorry for my neighbours of Phrygia?

SEA

Or wrong for Hephaestus to be sorry for Thetis’ son, Achilles?

Current edition Perseus

Ἴριδος καὶ Ποσειδῶνος

Ποσειδῶν

πεπράξεται ταῦτα, ὦ Ἶρι. τίνα δὲ ὅμως παρέξει 315 αὐτῷ τὴν χρείαν ἀναφανεῖσα καὶ μηκέτι πλέουσα;

Ἶρις

τὴν Λητὼ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς δεῖ ἀποκυῆσαι· ἤδη γὰρ πονήρως ὑπὸ τῶν ὠδίνων ἔχει.

Ποσειδῶν

τί οὖν; οὐχ ἱκανὸς ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐντεκεῖν; εἰ δὲ μὴ οὗτος, ἀλλʼ ἥ γε γῆ πᾶσα οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο ὑποδέξασθαι τὰς γονὰς αὐτῆς;

ΞΑΝΘΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΗΣ

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Δέξαι με, ὦ θάλασσα, δεινὰ πεπονθότα καὶ κατάσβεσόν μου τὰ τραύματα.

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Τί τοῦτο, ὦ Ξάνθε; τίς σε κατέκαυσεν;

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Ὁ Ἥφαιστος. ἀλλ’ ἀπηνθράκωμαι ὅλος ὁ κακοδαίμων καὶ ζέω.

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Διὰ τί δαί σοι καὶ ἐνέβαλε τὸ πῦρ;

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Οὐκ ἔδει οὖν ἐλεῆσαι γείτονας ὄντας τοὺς Φρύγας;

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Τὸν Ἥφαιστον δὲ οὐκ ἔδει ἐλεῆσαι Θέτιδος υἱὸν ὄντα τὸν Ἀχιλλέα;

X

Iris

Posidon

Iris

Posidon: you know that floating island, that was torn away from Sicily, and is still drifting about under water; you are to bring it to the surface, Zeus says, and fix it well in view in the middle of the Aegean; and mind it is properly secured; he has a use for it.

Posidon

Very good. And when I have got it up, and anchored it, what is he going to do with it?

Iris

Leto is to lie in there; her time is near.

Posidon

And is there no room in Heaven? Or is Earth too small to hold her children?

Iris

Ah, you see, Hera has bound the Earth by a great oath not to give shelter to Leto in her travail. This island, however, being out of sight, has not committed itself.

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Xanthus 1 and Sea

XANTHUS Take me to you, Sea, for I’ve suffered terribly. Please put a stop to my burning wounds.

SEA What’s this, Xanthus? Who has burnt you?

XANTHUS Hephaestus. See how I’ve been charred to cinders all over, poor thing that I am, and am at boiling point.

SEA Whatever made him attack you with his fire?

SEA You’re muddy and hot, Xanthus, as is only natural, what with the blood from the bodies and the heat from that fire you’ve been talking about—and quite right too, when you had the cheek to attack my grandson 3 though he was the son of a Nereid!

XANTHUS Was it wrong for me, then, to feel sorry for my neighbours of Phrygia?

SEA Or wrong for Hephaestus to be sorry for Thetis’ son, Achilles?

Current edition Perseus

Ἴριδος καὶ Ποσειδῶνος

Ποσειδῶν πεπράξεται ταῦτα, ὦ Ἶρι. τίνα δὲ ὅμως παρέξει 315 αὐτῷ τὴν χρείαν ἀναφανεῖσα καὶ μηκέτι πλέουσα;

Ἶρις τὴν Λητὼ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς δεῖ ἀποκυῆσαι· ἤδη γὰρ πονήρως ὑπὸ τῶν ὠδίνων ἔχει.

Ποσειδῶν τί οὖν; οὐχ ἱκανὸς ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐντεκεῖν; εἰ δὲ μὴ οὗτος, ἀλλʼ ἥ γε γῆ πᾶσα οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο ὑποδέξασθαι τὰς γονὰς αὐτῆς;

ΞΑΝΘΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΗΣ

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ Δέξαι με, ὦ θάλασσα, δεινὰ πεπονθότα καὶ κατάσβεσόν μου τὰ τραύματα.

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ Τί τοῦτο, ὦ Ξάνθε; τίς σε κατέκαυσεν;

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ Ὁ Ἥφαιστος. ἀλλ’ ἀπηνθράκωμαι ὅλος ὁ κακοδαίμων καὶ ζέω.

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ Διὰ τί δαί σοι καὶ ἐνέβαλε τὸ πῦρ;

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ Οὐκ ἔδει οὖν ἐλεῆσαι γείτονας ὄντας τοὺς Φρύγας;

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ Τὸν Ἥφαιστον δὲ οὐκ ἔδει ἐλεῆσαι Θέτιδος υἱὸν ὄντα τὸν Ἀχιλλέα;

X

Iris

Posidon

Iris Posidon: you know that floating island, that was torn away from Sicily, and is still drifting about under water; you are to bring it to the surface, Zeus says, and fix it well in view in the middle of the Aegean; and mind it is properly secured; he has a use for it.

Posidon Very good. And when I have got it up, and anchored it, what is he going to do with it?

Iris Leto is to lie in there; her time is near.

Posidon And is there no room in Heaven? Or is Earth too small to hold her children?

Iris Ah, you see, Hera has bound the Earth by a great oath not to give shelter to Leto in her travail. This island, however, being out of sight, has not committed itself.

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Xanthus ¹ and Sea

XANTHUS

Take me to you, Sea, for I’ve suffered terribly. Please put a stop to my burning wounds.

SEA

What’s this, Xanthus? Who has burnt you?

XANTHUS

Hephaestus. See how I’ve been charred to cinders all over, poor thing that I am, and am at boiling point.

SEA

Whatever made him attack you with his fire?

SEA

You’re muddy and hot, Xanthus, as is only natural, what with the blood from the bodies and the heat from that fire you’ve been talking about—and quite right too, when you had the cheek to attack my grandson ³ though he was the son of a Nereid!

XANTHUS

Was it wrong for me, then, to feel sorry for my neighbours of Phrygia?

SEA

Or wrong for Hephaestus to be sorry for Thetis’ son, Achilles?

Ποσειδῶν

πεπράξεται ταῦτα, ὦ Ἶρι. τίνα δὲ ὅμως παρέξει 315 αὐτῷ τὴν χρείαν ἀναφανεῖσα καὶ μηκέτι πλέουσα;

Ἶρις

τὴν Λητὼ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς δεῖ ἀποκυῆσαι· ἤδη γὰρ πονήρως ὑπὸ τῶν ὠδίνων ἔχει.

Ποσειδῶν

τί οὖν; οὐχ ἱκανὸς ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐντεκεῖν; εἰ δὲ μὴ οὗτος, ἀλλʼ ἥ γε γῆ πᾶσα οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο ὑποδέξασθαι τὰς γονὰς αὐτῆς;

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Δέξαι με, ὦ θάλασσα, δεινὰ πεπονθότα καὶ κατάσβεσόν μου τὰ τραύματα.

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Τί τοῦτο, ὦ Ξάνθε; τίς σε κατέκαυσεν;

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Ὁ Ἥφαιστος. ἀλλ’ ἀπηνθράκωμαι ὅλος ὁ κακοδαίμων καὶ ζέω.

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Διὰ τί δαί σοι καὶ ἐνέβαλε τὸ πῦρ;

ΞΑΝΘΟΣ

Οὐκ ἔδει οὖν ἐλεῆσαι γείτονας ὄντας τοὺς Φρύγας;

ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

Τὸν Ἥφαιστον δὲ οὐκ ἔδει ἐλεῆσαι Θέτιδος υἱὸν ὄντα τὸν Ἀχιλλέα;

Iris

Posidon: you know that floating island, that was torn away from Sicily, and is still drifting about under water; you are to bring it to the surface, Zeus says, and fix it well in view in the middle of the Aegean; and mind it is properly secured; he has a use for it.

Posidon

Very good. And when I have got it up, and anchored it, what is he going to do with it?

Iris

Leto is to lie in there; her time is near.

Posidon

And is there no room in Heaven? Or is Earth too small to hold her children?

Iris

Ah, you see, Hera has bound the Earth by a great oath not to give shelter to Leto in her travail. This island, however, being out of sight, has not committed itself.