2
Eros And Zeus
EROS
Even if I have done something wrong, Zeus, please forgive me, for I’m only a child, and still without sense.
Even if I have done something wrong, Zeus, please forgive me, for I’m only a child, and still without sense.
ZEUS
You a child, you Eros, who are far older than Iapetus
1
! Just because you have no heard or grey hairs, do you really think you should be considered a babe in arms, you old villain?
You a child, you Eros, who are far older than Iapetus
1
! Just because you have no heard or grey hairs, do you really think you should be considered a babe in arms, you old villain?
EROS
What great harm have I, old villain as you call me, done you, that you even think of putting me in chains?
What great harm have I, old villain as you call me, done you, that you even think of putting me in chains?
ZEUS
Curse you, do you think it no great harm when you make such a fool of me that you’ve turned me into everything under the sun—satyr, bull, shower of gold, swan, eagle?
2
Yet you’ve never made one woman fall for me in my true colours, and, as far as I know, I’ve not got you to thank for any of my conquests, but I’ve to practise black magic to win the ladies, hiding my true self. They’ve plenty of affection for the bull or the swan, but if they see me as I really am, they’re frightened to death.
Curse you, do you think it no great harm when you make such a fool of me that you’ve turned me into everything under the sun—satyr, bull, shower of gold, swan, eagle?
2
Yet you’ve never made one woman fall for me in my true colours, and, as far as I know, I’ve not got you to thank for any of my conquests, but I’ve to practise black magic to win the ladies, hiding my true self. They’ve plenty of affection for the bull or the swan, but if they see me as I really am, they’re frightened to death.
EROS
That’s only natural. The sight of your face is too much for mortal women like them.
That’s only natural. The sight of your face is too much for mortal women like them.
ZEUS
How, then, is Apollo so popular with Branchus and Hyacinthus?
How, then, is Apollo so popular with Branchus and Hyacinthus?
EROS
And yet even he had Daphne run from him, for all his flowing locks and beardless face. But if you want them to fall for you, you mustn’t go shaking that shield of yours or carrying your thunderbolt around with you, but make yourself as attractive as you can and tender to behold. Let your hair grow down in curls, do them up with a ribbon like Bacchus, wear a purple robe and golden slippers, and come dancing in to the music of pipes and timbrels, and you’ll find you have more of them running after you than all his Bacchantes put together.
And yet even he had Daphne run from him, for all his flowing locks and beardless face. But if you want them to fall for you, you mustn’t go shaking that shield of yours or carrying your thunderbolt around with you, but make yourself as attractive as you can and tender to behold. Let your hair grow down in curls, do them up with a ribbon like Bacchus, wear a purple robe and golden slippers, and come dancing in to the music of pipes and timbrels, and you’ll find you have more of them running after you than all his Bacchantes put together.
ZEUS
Be off with you. I’d rather they didn’t fall for me, if I’ve to be like that.
Be off with you. I’d rather they didn’t fall for me, if I’ve to be like that.
EROS
Then give up all ideas of romance, Zeus. That’s a simple enough way out.
Then give up all ideas of romance, Zeus. That’s a simple enough way out.
ZEUS
Oh, no! I want my women, but I want success with them without so much trouble. Promise me just that, and I’ll let you go.
Oh, no! I want my women, but I want success with them without so much trouble. Promise me just that, and I’ll let you go.
Dialogi deorum. 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.