7.95. And when well advanced in years he sent for his son to be his successor in the tyranny; but the Corcyraeans put him to death before he could set sail. Enraged at this, he dispatched the sons of the Corcyraeans to Alyattes that he might make eunuchs of them; but, when the ship touched at Samos, they took sanctuary in the temple of Hera, and were saved by the Samians. Periander lost heart and died at the age of eighty. Sosicrates’ account is that he died fortyone years before Croesus, just before the 49th Olympiad. Herodotus in his first book says that he was a guest-friend of Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus.
7.95. ὃν φθάσαντες οἱ Κερκυραῖοι διεχρήσαντο. ὅθεν ὀργισθεὶς ἔπεμψε τοὺς παῖδας αὐτῶν πρὸς Ἀλυάττην ἐπʼ ἐκτομῇ· προσχούσης δὲ τῆς νεὼς Σάμῳ, ἱκετεύσαντες τὴν Ἥραν ὑπὸ τῶν Σαμίων διεσώθησαν. Καὶ ὃς ἀθυμήσας ἐτελεύτησεν, ἤδη γεγονὼς ἔτη ὀγδοήκοντα. Σωσικράτης δέ φησι πρότερον Κροίσου τελευτῆσαι αὐτὸν ἔτεσι τεσσαράκοντα καὶ ἑνί, πρὸ τῆς τεσσαρακοστῆς ἐνάτης Ὀλυμπιάδος. τοῦτον Ἡρόδοτος ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ ξένον φησὶν εἶναι Θρασυβούλῳ τῷ Μιλησίων τυράννῳ.
7.96. Aristippus in the first book of his work On the Luxury of the Ancients accuses him of incest with his own mother Crateia, and adds that, when the fact came to light, he vented his annoyance in indiscriminate severity. Ephorus records his now that, if he won the victory at Olympia in the chariot-race, he would set up a golden statue. When the victory was won, being in sore straits for gold, he despoiled the women of all the ornaments which he had seen them wearing at some local festival. He was thus enabled to send the votive offering. There is a story that he did not wish the place where he was buried to be known, and to that end contrived the following device. He ordered two young men to go out at night by a certain road which he pointed out to them; they were to kill the man they met and bury him. He afterwards ordered four more to go in pursuit of the two, kill them and bury them; again, he dispatched a larger number in pursuit of the four. Having taken these measures, he himself encountered the first pair and was slain. The Corinthians placed the following inscription upon a cenotaph:
7.96. Φησὶ δὲ Ἀρίστιππος ἐν πρώτῳ Περὶ παλαιᾶς τρυφῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ τάδε, ὡς ἄρα ἐρασθεῖσα ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ Κράτεια συνῆν αὐτῷ λάθρα· καὶ ὃς ἥδετο. φανεροῦ δὲ γενομένου βαρὺς πᾶσιν ἐγένετο διὰ τὸ ἀλγεῖν ἐπὶ τῇ φωρᾷ. ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἔφορος ἱστορεῖ ὡς εὔξαιτο, εἰ νικήσειεν Ὀλύμπια τεθρίππῳ, χρυσοῦν ἀνδριάντα ἀναθεῖναι. νικήσας δὲ καὶ ἀπορῶν χρυσίου, κατά τινα ἑορτὴν ἐπιχώριον κεκοσμημένας ἰδὼν τὰς γυναῖκας πάντα ἀφείλετο τὸν κόσμον, καὶ ἔπεμψε τὸ ἀνάθημα. Λέγουσι δέ τινες ὡς θελήσας αὐτοῦ τὸν τάφον μὴ γνωσθῆναι, τοιοῦτόν τι ἐμηχανήσατο. δυσὶν ἐκέλευσε νεανίσκοις, δείξας τινὰ ὁδόν, ἐξελθεῖν νύκτωρ, καὶ τὸν ἀπαντήσαντα ἀνελεῖν καὶ θάψαι· ἔπειτα βαδίζειν ἄλλους τε κατὰ τούτων τέτταρας, καὶ ἀνελόντας θάψαι· πάλιν τε κατὰ τούτων πλείονας. καὶ οὕτως αὐτὸς τοῖς πρώτοις ἐντυχὼν ἀνῃρέθη. Κορίνθιοι δὲ ἐπί τι κενοτάφιον ἐπέγραψαν αὐτῷ τόδε·
7.97. In mother earth here Periander lies,The prince of sea-girt Corinth rich and wise.My own epitaph on him is: Grieve not because thou hast not gained thine end,But take with gladness all the gods may send;Be warned by Periander’s fate, who diedOf grief that one desire should be denied. To him belongs the maxim: Never do anything for money; leave gain to trades pursued for gain. He wrote a didactic poem of 2000 lines. He said that those tyrants who intend to be safe should make loyalty their bodyguard, not arms. When some one asked him why he was tyrant, he replied, “Because it is as dangerous to retire voluntarily as to be dispossessed.” Here are other sayings of his: Rest is beautiful. Rashness has its perils. Gain is ignoble. Democracy is better than tyranny. Pleasures are transient, honours are immortal.
7.97. πλούτου καὶ σοφίης πρύτανιν πατρὶς ἥδε Κόρινθοςκόλποις ἀγχίαλος γῆ Περίανδρον ἔχει.ἔστι καὶ ἡμῶν·μή ποτε λυπήσῃ σε τὸ μή σε τυχεῖν τινος· ἀλλὰτέρπεο πᾶσιν ὁμῶς οἷσι δίδωσι θεός.καὶ γὰρ ἀθυμήσας ὁ σοφὸς Περίανδρος ἀπέσβη,οὕνεκεν οὐκ ἔτυχεν πρήξιος ἧς ἔθελεν. Τούτου ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ Μηδὲν χρημάτων ἕνεκα πράττειν· δεῖν γὰρ τὰ κερδαντὰ κερδαίνειν. ἐποίησε δὲ καὶ ὑποθήκας εἰς ἔπη δισχίλια. εἶπέ τε τοὺς μέλλοντας ἀσφαλῶς τυραννήσειν τῇ εὐνοίᾳ δορυφορεῖσθαι, καὶ μὴ τοῖς ὅπλοις. καί ποτε ἐρωτηθεὶς διὰ τί τυραννεῖ, ἔφη, ὅτι καὶ τὸ ἑκουσίως ἀποστῆναι καὶ τὸ ἀφαιρεθῆναι κίνδυνον φέρει. ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ τάδε· καλὸν ἡσυχία· ἐπισφαλὲς προπέτεια· κέρδος αἰσχρόν· * δημοκρατία κρεῖττον τυραννίδος· αἱ μὲν ἡδοναὶ φθαρταί, αἱ δὲ τιμαὶ ἀθάνατοι·
7.98. Be moderate in prosperity, prudent in adversity. Be the same to your friends whether they are in prosperity or in adversity. Whatever agreement you make, stick to it. Betray no secret. Correct not only the offenders but also those who are on the point of offending. He was the first who had a bodyguard and who changed his government into a tyranny, and he would let no one live in the town without his permission, as we know from Ephorus and Aristotle. He flourished about the 38th Olympiad and was tyrant for forty years. Sotion and Heraclides and Pamphila in the fifth book of her Commentaries distinguish two Perianders, one a tyrant, the other a sage who was born in Ambracia.
7.98. εὐτυχῶν μὲν μέτριος ἴσθι, δυστυχῶν δὲ φρόνιμος· φίλοις εὐτυχοῦσι καὶ ἀτυχοῦσιν ὁ αὐτὸς ἴσθι· ὃ ἂν ὁμολογήσῃς, διατήρει· λόγων ἀπορρήτων ἐκφορὰν μὴ ποιοῦ· μὴ μόνον τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μέλλοντας κόλαζε. Οὗτος πρῶτος δορυφόρους ἔσχε, καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰς τυραννίδα μετέστησε· καὶ οὐκ εἴα ἐν ἄστει ζῆν τοὺς βουλομένους, καθά φησιν Ἔφορος καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης, ἤκμαζε δὲ περὶ τὴν τριακοστὴν ὀγδόην Ὀλυμπιάδα, καὶ ἐτυράννησεν ἔτη τετταράκοντα. Σωτίων δὲ καὶ Ἡρακλείδης καὶ Παμφίλη ἐν τῷ πέμπτῳ τῶν Ὑπομνημάτων δύο φασὶ Περιάνδρους γεγονέναι, τὸν μὲν τύραννον, τὸν δὲ σοφὸν καὶ Ἀμβρακιώτην.
7.99. Neanthes of Cyzicus also says this, and adds that they were near relations. And Aristotle maintains that the Corinthian Periander was the sage; while Plato denies this. His apophthegm is: Practice makes perfect. He planned a canal across the Isthmus. A letter of his is extant: Periander to the Wise Men “Very grateful am I to the Pythian Apollo that I found you gathered together; and my letters will also bring you to Corinth, where, as you know, I will give you a thoroughly popular reception. I learn that last year you met in Sardis at the Lydian court. Do not hesitate therefore to come to me, the ruler of Corinth. The Corinthians will be pleased to see you coming to the house of Periander.”
7.99. τοῦτο καὶ Νεάνθης φησὶν ὁ Κυζικηνός, ἀνεψιούς τε εἶιναι ἀλλήλοις. καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης μὲν τὸν Κορίνθιόν φησιν εἶναι τὸν σοφόν· Πλάτων δὲ οὔ φησι. Τούτου ἐστί· Μελέτη τὸ πᾶν. ἤθελε δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν διορύξαι. Φέρεται δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιστολή· Περίανδρος τοῖς σοφοῖς “Πολλὰ χάρις τῷ Πυθοῖ Ἀπόλλωνι τοῦ εἰς ἓν ἐλθόντας εὑρεῖν. ἀξοῦντί τε καὶ ἐς Κόρινθον ταὶ ἐμαὶ ἐπιστολαί. ἐγὼν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀποδέχομαι, ὡς ἴστε αὐτοί, ὅτι δαμοτικώτατα. πεύθομαι ὡς πέρυτι ἐγένετο ὑμῶν ἁλία παρὰ τὸν Λυδὸν ἐς Σάρδεις. ἤδη ὦν μὴ ὀκνεῖτε καὶ παρʼ ἐμὲ φοιτῆν τὸν Κορίνθου τύραννον. ὑμᾶς γὰρ καὶ ἄσμενοι ὄψονται Κορίνθιοι φοιτεῦντας ἐς οἶκον τὸν Περιάνδρου.
7.100. Periander to Procles “The murder of my wife was unintentional; but yours is deliberate guilt when you set my son’s heart against me. Either therefore put an end to my son’s harsh treatment, or I will revenge myself on you. For long ago I made expiation to you for your daughter by burning on her pyre the apparel of all the women of Corinth.” There is also a letter written to him by Thrasybulus, as follows: Thrasybulus to Periander “I made no answer to your herald; but I took him into a cornfield, and with a staff smote and cut off the over-grown ears of corn, while he accompanied me. And if you ask him what he heard and what he saw, he will give his message. And this is what you must do if you want to strengthen your absolute rule: put to death those among the citizens who are pre-eminent, whether they are hostile to you or not. For to an absolute ruler even a friend is an object of suspicion.”
7.100. Περίανδρος Προκλεῖ “Ἐμὶν μὲν ἀκούσιον τᾶς δάμαρτος τὸ ἄγος· τὺ δὲ ἑκὼν τῷ παιδί με ἄπο θυμοῦ ποιήσαις ἀδικεῖς. ἢ ὦν παῦσον τὰν ἀπήνειαν τῶ παιδός, ἢ ἐγὼν τὺ ἀμυνοῦμαι. καὶ γὰρ δὴν καὶ αὐτὸς ποινὰς ἔτισα τὶν τᾷ θυγατρί, συγκατακαύσαις αὐτᾷ τὰ πασᾶν Κορινθιᾶν εἵματα. Ἔγραψε δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ Θρασύβουλος οὕτω· Θρασύβουλος Περιάνδρῳ “Τῷ μὲν κήρυκι σεῦ οὐδὲν ὑπεκρινάμην· ἀγαγὼν δὲ αὐτὸν ἐς λήϊον, τοὺς ὑπερφυέας τῶν ἀσταχύων ῥάβδῳ παίων ἀπεθέριζον, ὁμαρτέοντος ἐκείνου. καί σοι ἀναγγελέει εἰ ἐπέροιο, ὅ τι μευ ἀκούσειεν ἢ ἴδοι. σὺ δὲ ποίει οὕτως, ἤν γʼ ἐθέλῃς καρτύνασθαι τὴν αἰσυμνητίην· τοὺς ἐξόχους τῶν πολιτέων ἐξαίρειν, ἤν τέ τις ἐχθρός τοι φαίνηται, ἤν τε μή. ὕποπτος γὰρ ἀνδρὶ αἰσυμνήτῃ καὶ τῶν τις ἑτάρων.
8.101. Anacharsis the Scythian was the son of Gnurus and brother of Caduidas, king of Scythia. His mother was a Greek, and for that reason he spoke both languages. He wrote on the institutions of the Greeks and the Scythians, dealing with simplicity of life and military matters, a poem of 800 lines. So outspoken was he that he furnished occasion for a proverb, “To talk like a Scythian.” Sosicrates makes him come to Athens about the 47th Olympiad in the archonship of Eucrates. Hermippus relates that on his arrival at the house of Solon he told one of the servants to announce that Anacharsis had come and was desirous of seeing him and, if possible, of becoming his guest.
8.101. Ἀνάχαρσις ὁ Σκύθης Γνούρου μὲν ἦν υἱός, ἀδελφὸς δὲ Καδουΐδα τοῦ Σκυθῶν βασιλέως, μητρὸς δὲ Ἑλληνίδος· διὸ καὶ δίγλωττος ἦν. οὗτος ἐποίησε τῶν τε παρὰ τοῖς Σκύθαις νομίμων καὶ τῶν παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, εἰς εὐτέλειαν βίου καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἔπη ὀκτακόσια. παρέσχε δὲ καὶ ἀφορμὴν παροιμίας διὰ τὸ παρρησιαστὴς εἶναι, τὴν ἀπὸ Σκυθῶν ῥῆσιν. Λέγει δὲ αὐτὸν Σωσικράτης ἐλθεῖν εἰς Ἀθήνας κατὰ τὴν τεσσαρακοστὴν ἑβδόμην Ὀλυμπιάδα ἐπὶ ἄρχοντος Εὐκράτους. Ἕρμιππος δὲ πρὸς τὴν Σόλωνος οἰκίαν ἀφικόμενον τῶν θεραπόντων τινὶ κελεῦσαι μηνῦσαι ὅτι παρείη, πρὸς αὐτὸν Ἀνάχαρσις, καὶ βούλοιτο αὐτὸν θεάσασθαι, ξένος τε, εἰ οἷόν τε, γενέσθαι.
8.102. The servant delivered his message and was ordered by Solon to tell him that men as a rule choose their guests from among their own countrymen. Then Anacharsis took him up and said that he was now in his own country and had a right to be entertained as a guest. And Solon, struck with his ready wit, admitted him into his house and made him his greatest friend. After a while Anacharsis returned to Scythia, where, owing to his enthusiasm for everything Greek, he was supposed to be subverting the national institutions, and was killed by his brother while they were out hunting together. When struck by the arrow he exclaimed, “My reputation carried me safe through Greece, but the envy it excited at home has been my ruin.” In some accounts it is said that he was slain while performing Greek rites. Here is my own epitaph upon him:
8.102. καὶ ὁ θεράπων εἰσαγγείλας ἐκελεύσθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Σόλωνος εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ, ὅτιπερ ἐν ταῖς ἰδίαις πατρίσι ξένους ποιοῦνται. ἔνθεν ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις ἑλὼν ἔφη νῦν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ πατρίδι εἶναι καὶ προσήκειν αὐτῷ ξένους ποιεῖθαι. ὁ δὲ καταπλαγεὶς τὴν ἑτοιμότητα εἰσέφρησεν αὐτὸν καὶ μέγιστον φίλον ἐποιήσατο. Μετὰ χρόνον δὲ παραγενόμενος εἰς τὴν Σκυθίαν καὶ δοκῶν τὰ νόμιμα παραλύειν τῆς πατρίδος πολὺς ὢν ἐν τῷ ἑλληνίζειν, τοξευθεὶς ἐν κυνηγεσίῳ πρὸς τἀδελφοῦ τελευτᾷ, εἰπὼν διὰ μὲν τὸν λόγον ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος σωθῆναι, διὰ δὲ τὸν φθόνον ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἀπολέσθαι. ἔνιοι δὲ τελετὰς Ἑλληνικὰς ἐπιτελοῦντα διαχρησθῆναι. Καὶ ἔστιν ἡμῶν εἰς αὐτόν·
8.103. Back from his travels Anacharsis came,To hellenize the Scythians all aglow;Ere half his sermon could their minds inflame,A wingèd arrow laid the preacher low. It was a saying of his that the vine bore three kinds of grapes: the first of pleasure, the next of intoxication, and the third of disgust. He said he wondered why in Greece experts contend in the games and non-experts award the prizes. Being asked how one could avoid becoming a toper, he answered, “By keeping before your eyes the disgraceful exhibition made by the drunkard.” Again, he expressed surprise that the Greek lawgivers should impose penalties on wanton outrage, while they honour athletes for bruising one another. After ascertaining that the ship’s side was four fingers’ breadth in thickness, he remarked that the passengers were just so far from death.
8.103. ἐς Σκυθίην Ἀνάχαρσις ὅτʼ ἤλυθε, πολλὰ πλανηθεὶςπάντας ἔπειθε βιοῦν ἤθεσιν Ἑλλαδικοῖς.τὸν δʼ ἔτι μῦθον ἄκραντον ἐνὶ στομάτεσσιν ἔχονταπτηνὸς ἐς ἀθανάτους ἥρπασεν ὦκα δόναξ. Οὗτος τὴν ἄμπελον εἶπε τρεῖς φέρειν βότρυς· τὸν πρῶτον ἡδονῆς· τὸν δεύτερον μέθης· τὸν τρίτον ἀνδίας. θαυμάζειν δὲ ἔφη πῶς παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἀγωνίζονται μὲν οἱ τεχνῖται, κρίνουσι δὲ οἱ μὴ τεχνῖται. ἐρωτηθεὶς πῶς οὐκ ἂν γένοιτό τις φιλοπότης, εἰ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν, εἶπεν, ἔχοι τὰς τῶν μεθυόντων ἀσχημοσύνας. θαυμάζειν τε ἔλεγε πῶς οἱ Ἕλληνες νομοθετοῦντες κατὰ τῶν ὑβριζόντων, τοὺς ἀθλητὰς τιμῶσιν ἐπὶ τῷ τύπτειν ἀλλήλους. μαθὼν τέτταρας δακτύλους εἶναι τὸ πάχος τῆς νεώς, τοσοῦτον ἔφη τοῦ θανάτου τοὺς πλέοντας ἀπέχειν.
8.104. Oil he called a drug which produced madness, because the athletes when they anoint themselves with it are maddened against each other. How is it, he asked, that the Greeks prohibit falsehood and yet obviously tell falsehoods in retail trade? Nor could he understand why at the beginning of their feasts they drink from small goblets and when they are “full” from large ones. The inscription on his statues is: “Bridle speech, gluttony, and sensuality.” Being asked if there were flutes in Scythia, he replied, “No, nor yet vines.” To the question what vessels were the safest his reply was, “Those which have been hauled ashore.” And he declared the strangest thing he had seen in Greece to be that they leave the smoke on the mountains and convey the fuel into the city. When some one inquired which were more in number, the living or the dead, he rejoined, “In which category, then, do you place those who are on the seas?” When some Athenian reproached him with being a Scythian, he replied, “Well, granted that my country is a disgrace to me, you are a disgrace to your country.”
8.104. Τὸ ἔλαιον μανίας φάρμακον ἔλεγε διὰ τὸ ἀλειφομένους τοὺς ἀθλητὰς ἐπιμαίνεσθαι ἀλλήλοις. πῶς, ἔλεγεν, ἀπαγορεύοντες τὸ ψεύδεσθαι ἐν ταῖς καπηλείαις φανερῶς ψεύδονται; καὶ θαυμάζειν φησὶ τῶς Ἕλληνες ἀρχόμενοι μὲν ἐν μικροῖς πίνουσι, πλησθέντες δὲ ἐν μεγάλοις. ἐπιγράφεται δὲ αὐτοῦ ταῖς εἰκόσι· γλώσσης, γαστρός, αἰδοίων κρατεῖν. ἐρωτηθεὶς εἰ εἰσὶν ἐν Σκύθαις αὐλοί, εἶπεν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἄμπελοι. ἐρωτηθεὶς τίνα τῶν πλοίων εἰσὶν ἀσφαλέστερα, ἔφη, τὰ νενεωλκημένα. καὶ τοῦτο ἔφη θαυμασιώτατον ἑωρακέναι παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ὅτι τὸν μὲν καπνὸν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι καταλείπουσι, τὰ δὲ ξύλα εἰς τὴν πόλιν κομίζουσιν. ἐρωτηθεὶς πότεροι πλείους εἰσίν, οἱ ζῶντες ἢ οἱ νεκροί, ἔφη, τοὺς οὖν πλέοντας ποῦ τίθης; ὀνειδιζόμενος ὑπὸ Ἀττικοῦ ὅτι Σκύθης ἐστίν, ἔφη, ἀλλʼ ἐμοῦ μὲν ὄνειδος ἡ πατρίς, σὺ δὲ τῆς πατρίδος.
8.105. To the question, “What among men is both good and bad?” his answer was “The tongue.” He said it was better to have one friend of great worth than many friends worth nothing at all. He defined the market as a place set apart where men may deceive and overreach one another. When insulted by a boy over the wine he said, “If you cannot carry your liquor when you are young, boy, you will be a water carrier when you are old.” According to some he was the inventor of the anchor and the potter’s wheel. To him is attributed the following letter: Anacharsis to Croesus “I have come, O King of the Lydians, to the land of the Greeks to be instructed in their manners and pursuits. And I am not even in quest of gold, but am well content to return to Scythia a better man. At all events here I am in Sardis, being greatly desirous of making your acquaintance.”
8.105. ἐρωτηθεὶς τί ἐστιν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀγαθόν τε καὶ φαῦλον, ἔφη, γλῶσσα. κρεῖττον ἔλεγεν ἕνα φίλον ἔχειν πολλοῦ ἄξιον ἢ πολλοὺς μηδενὸς ἀξίους. τὴν ἀγορὰν ὡρισμένον ἔφη τόπον εἰς τὸ ἀλλήλους ἀπατᾶν καὶ πλεονεκτεῖν. ὑπὸ μειρακίου παρὰ πότον ὑβρισθεὶς ἔφη, μειράκιον, ἐὰν νέος ὢν τὸν οἶνον οὐ φέρῃς, γέρων γενόμενος ὕδωρ οἴσεις. Εὗρε δʼ εἰς τὸν βίον ἄγκυράν τε καὶ κεραμικὸν τροχόν, ὥς τινες. Καὶ ἐπέστειλεν ὧδε· Ἀνάχαρσις Κροίσῳ “Ἐγώ, βασιλεῦ Λυδῶν, ἀφῖγμαι εἰς τὴν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, διδαθησόμενος ἤθη τὰ τούτων καὶ ἐπιτηδεύματα. χρυσοῦ δʼ οὐδὲ δέομαι, ἀλλʼ ἀπόχρη με ἐπανήκειν ἐς Σκύθας ἄνδρα ἀμείνονα. ἥκω γοῦν ἐς Σάρδεις, πρὸ μεγάλου ποιούμενος ἐν γνώμῃ τοι γενέσθαι.
9.106. Myson was the son of Strymon, according to Sosicrates, who quotes Hermippus as his authority, and a native of Chen, a village in the district of Oeta or Laconia; and he is reckoned one of the Seven Sages. They say that his father was a tyrant. We are told by some one that, when Anacharsis inquired if there were anyone wiser than himself, the Pythian priestess gave the response which has already been quoted in the Life of Thales as her reply to a question by Chilon:Myson of Chen in Oeta; this is heWho for wiseheartedness surpasseth thee.His curiosity aroused, Anacharsis went to the village in summer time and found him fitting a share to a plough and said, “Myson, this is not the season for the plough.” “It is just the time to repair it,” was the reply.
9.106. Μύσων Στρύμωνος, ὥς φησι Σωσικράτης Ἕρμιππον παρατιθέμενος, τὸ γένος Χηνεύς, ἀπὸ κώμης τινὸς Οἰταϊκῆς ἢ Λακωνικῆς, σὺν τοῖς ἑπτὰ καταριθμεῖται. φασὶ δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ τυράννου πατρὸς εἶναι. λέγεται δὴ πρός τινος Ἀναχάρσιδος πυνθανομένου εἴ τις αὐτοῦ σοφώτερος εἴη, τὴν Πυθίαν ἀνελεῖν ἅπερ προείρηται ἐν τῷ Θαλοῦ βίῳ ὑπὲρ Χίλωνος·Οἰταῖόν τινά φημι Μύσωνʼ ἐνὶ Χηνὶ γενέσθαισοῦ μᾶλλον πραπίδεσσιν ἀρηρότα πευκαλίμῃσι.πολυπραγμονήσαντα δὲ ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὴν κώμην καὶ εὑρεῖν αὐτὸν θέρους ἐχέτλην ἀρότρῳ προσαρμόττοντα, καὶ εἰπεῖν, ἀλλʼ, ὦ Μύσων, οὐχ ὥρα νῦν ἀρότρου. καὶ μάλα, εἶπεν, ὥστε ἐπισκευάζειν.
9.107. Others cite the first line of the oracle differently, “Myson of Chen in Etis,” and inquire what “Myson of Etis” means. Parmenides indeed explains that Etis is a district in Laconia to which Myson belonged. Sosicrates in his Successions of Philosophers makes him belong to Etis on the father’s side and to Chen on the mother’s. Euthyphro, the son of Heraclides of Pontus, declares that he was a Cretan, Eteia being a town in Crete. Anaxilaus makes him an Arcadian. Myson is mentioned by Hipponax, the words being:And Myson, whom Apollo’s self proclaimedWisest of all men.Aristoxenus in his Historical Gleanings says he was not unlike Timon and Apemantus, for he was a misanthrope.
9.107. ἄλλοι δὲ τὸν χρησμὸν οὕτως ἔχειν φασί, Ἠτεῖόν τινά φημι· καὶ ζητοῦσι τί ἐστιν ὁ Ἠτεῖος. Παρμενίδης μὲν οὖν δῆμον εἶναι Λακωνικῆς, ὅθεν εἶναι τὸν Μύσωνα. Σωσικράτης δʼ ἐν Διαδοχαῖς, ἀπὸ μὲν πατρὸς Ἠτεῖον εἶναι, ἀπὸ δὲ μητρὸς Χηνέα. Εὐθύφρων δʼ ὁ Ἡρακλείδου τοῦ Ποντικοῦ, Κρῆτά φησιν εἶναι· Ἠτείαν γὰρ πόλιν εἶναι Κρήτης. Ἀναξίλαος δʼ Ἀρκάδα. Μέμνηται δʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἱππῶναξ εἰπών·καὶ Μύσων ὃν Ὡπόλλωνἀνεῖλεν ἀνδρῶν σωφρονέστατον πάντων.Ἀριστόξενος δέ φησιν ἐν τοῖς σποράδην οὐ πόρρω Τίμωνος αὐτὸν καὶ Ἀπημάντου γεγονέναι· μισανθρωπεῖν γάρ.
9.108. At any rate he was seen in Lacedaemon laughing to himself in a lonely spot; and when some one suddenly appeared and asked him why he laughed when no one was near, he replied, “That is just the reason.” And Aristoxenus says that the reason why he remained obscure was that he belonged to no city but to a village and that an unimportant one. Hence because he was unknown, some writers, but not Plato the philosopher, attributed to Pisistratus the tyrant what properly belonged to Myson. For Plato mentions him in the Protagoras, reckoning him as one of the Seven instead of Periander. He used to say we should not investigate facts by the light of arguments, but arguments by the light of facts; for the facts were not put together to fit the arguments, but the arguments to fit the facts. He died at the age of ninety-seven.
9.108. ὀφθῆναι γοῦν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι μόνον ἐπʼ ἐρημίας γελῶντα· ἄφνω δέ τινος ἐπιστάντος καὶ πυθομένου διὰ τί μηδενὸς παρόντος γελᾷ, φάναι, διʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο. φησὶ δʼ Ἀριστόξενος ὅτι ἔνθεν καὶ ἄδοξος ἦν, ὅτι μηδὲ πόλεως, ἀλλὰ κώμης, καὶ ταῦτα ἀφανοῦς. ὅθεν διὰ τὴν ἀδοξίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ αὐτοῦ τινας Πεισιστράτῳ περιθεῖναι τῷ τυράννῳ, χωρὶς Πλάτωνος τοῦ φιλοσόφου. μέμνηται γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ οὗτος ἐν τῷ Πρωταγόρᾳ, ἀντὶ Περιάνδρου θεὶς αὐτόν. Ἔφασκε δὲ μὴ ἐκ τῶν λόγων τὰ πράγματα, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν πραγμάτων τοὺς λόγους ζητεῖν· οὐ γὰρ ἕνεκα τῶν λόγων τὰ πράγματα συντελεῖσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἕνεκα τῶν πραγμάτων τοὺς λόγους. Κατέστρεψε δὲ βιοὺς ἔτη ἑπτὰ καὶ ἐννενήκοντα.
10.109. Epimenides, according to Theopompus and many other writers, was the son of Phaestius; some, however, make him the son of Dosiadas, others of Agesarchus. He was a native of Cnossos in Crete, though from wearing his hair long he did not look like a Cretan. One day he was sent into the country by his father to look for a stray sheep, and at noon he turned aside out of the way, and went to sleep in a cave, where he slept for fifty-seven years. After this he got up and went in search of the sheep, thinking he had been asleep only a short time. And when he could not find it, he came to the farm, and found everything changed and another owner in possession. Then he went back to the town in utter perplexity; and there, on entering his own house, he fell in with people who wanted to know who he was. At length he found his younger brother, now an old man, and learnt the truth from him.
10.109. Ἐπιμενίδης, καθά φησι Θεόπομπος καὶ ἄλλοι συχνοί, πατρὸς μὲν ἦν Φαιστίου, οἱ δὲ Δωσιάδα οἱ δὲ Ἀγησάρχου· Κρὴς τὸ γένος ἀπὸ Κνωσοῦ, καθέσει τῆς κόμης τὸ εἶδος παραλλάσσων. οὗτός ποτε πεμφθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς εἰς ἀγρὸν ἐπὶ πρόβατον, τῆς ὁδοῦ κατὰ μεσημβρίαν ἐκκλίνας ὑπʼ ἄντρῳ τινὶ κατεκοιμήθη ἑπτὰ καὶ πεντήκοντα ἔτη. διαναστὰς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐζήτει τὸ πρόβατον, νομίζων ἐπʼ ὀλίγον κεκοιμῆσθαι. ὡς δὲ οὐχ εὕρισκε, παρεγένετο εἰς τὸν ἀγρόν, καὶ μετεσκευασμένα πάντα καταλαβὼν καὶ παρʼ ἑτέρῳ τὴν κτῆσιν, πάλιν ἧκεν εἰς ἄστυ διαπορούμενος. κἀκεῖ δὲ εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ εἰσιὼν οἰκίαν περιέτυχε τοῖς πυνθανομένοις τίς εἴη, ἕως τὸν νεώτερον ἀδελφὸν εὑρὼν τότε ἤδη γέροντα ὄντα, πᾶσαν ἔμαθε παρʼ ἐκείνου τὴν ἀλήθειαν.
10.110. So he became famous throughout Greece, and was believed to be a special favourite of heaven. Hence, when the Athenians were attacked by pestilence, and the Pythian priestess bade them purify the city, they sent a ship commanded by Nicias, son of Niceratus, to Crete to ask the help of Epimenides. And he came in the 46th Olympiad, purified their city, and stopped the pestilence in the following way. He took sheep, some black and others white, and brought them to the Areopagus; and there he let them go whither they pleased, instructing those who followed them to mark the spot where each sheep lay down and offer a sacrifice to the local divinity. And thus, it is said, the plague was stayed. Hence even to this day altars may be found in different parts of Attica with no name inscribed upon them, which are memorials of this atonement. According to some writers he declared the plague to have been caused by the pollution which Cylon brought on the city and showed them how to remove it. In consequence two young men, Cratinus and Ctesibius, were put to death and the city was delivered from the scourge.
10.110. γνωσθεὶς δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι θεοφιλέστατος εἶναι ὑπελήφθη. Τότε καὶ Ἀθηναίοις [τότε] λοιμῷ κατεχομένοις ἔχρησεν ἡ Πυθία καθῆραι τὴν πόλιν· οἱ δὲ πέμπουσι ναῦν τε καὶ Νικίαν τὸν Νικηράτου εἰς Κρήτην, καλοῦντες τὸν Ἐπιμενίδην. καὶ ὃς ἐλθὼν Ὀλυμπιάδι τεσσαρακοστῇ ἕκτῇ ἐκάθηρεν αὐτῶν τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἔπαυσε τὸν λοιμὸν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον. λαβὼν πρόβατα μέλανά τε καὶ λευκὰ ἤγαγε πρὸς τὸν Ἄρειον πάγον· κἀκεῖθεν εἴασεν ἰέναι οἷ βούλοιντο, προστάξας τοῖς ἀκολούθοις ἔνθα ἂν κατακλίνοι αὐτῶν ἕκαστον, θύειν τῷ προσήκοντι θεῷ· καὶ οὕτω λῆξαι τὸ κακόν. ὅθεν ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἔστιν εὑρεῖν κατὰ τοὺς δήμους τῶν Ἀθηναίωι βωμοὺς ἀνωνύμους, ὑπόμνημα τῆς τότε γενομένης ἐξιλάσεως. οἱ δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν εἰπεῖν τοῦ λοιμοῦ τὸ Κυλώνειον ἄγος σημαίνειν τε τὴν ἀπαλλαγήν· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀποθανεῖν δύο νεανίας, Κρατῖνον καὶ Κτησίβιον, καὶ λυθῆναι τὴν συμφοράν.
10.111. The Athenians voted him a talent in money and a ship to convey him back to Crete. The money he declined, but he concluded a treaty of friendship and alliance between Cnossos and Athens. So he returned home and soon afterwards died. According to Phlegon in his work On Longevity he lived one hundred and fifty-seven years; according to the Cretans two hundred and ninety-nine years. Xenophanes of Colophon gives his age as 154, according to hearsay. He wrote a poem On the Birth of the Curetes and Corybantes and a Theogony, 5000 lines in all; another on the building of the Argo and Jason’s voyage to Colchis in 6500 lines.
10.111. Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ τάλαντον ἐψηφίσαντο δοῦναι αὐτῷ καὶ ναῦν τὴν ἐς Κρήτην ἀπάξουσαν αὐτόν. ὁ δὲ τὸ μὲν ἀργύριον οὐ προσήκατο· φιλίαν δὲ καὶ συμμαχίαν ἐποιήσατο Κνωσίων καὶ Ἀθηναίων. Καὶ ἐπανελθὼν ἐπʼ οἴκου μετʼ οὐ πολὺ μετήλλαξεν, ὥς φησι Φλέγων ἐν τῷ Περὶ μακροβίων, βιοὺς ἔτη ἑπτὰ καὶ πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν· ὡς δὲ Κρῆτες λέγουσιν, ἑνὸς δέοντα τριακόσια· ὡς δὲ Ξενοφάνης ὁ Κολοφώνιος ἀκηκοέναι φησί, τέτταρα πρὸς τοῖς πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν. Ἐποίησε δὲ Κουρήτων καὶ Κορυβάντων γένεσιν καὶ Θεογονίαν, ἔπη πεντακισχίλια, Ἀργοῦς ναυπηγίαν τε καὶ Ἰάσονος εἰς Κόλχους ἀπόπλουν ἔπη ἑξακισχίλια πεντακόσια.
10.112. He also compiled prose works On Sacrifices and the Cretan Constitution, also On Minos and Rhadamanthus, running to about 4000 lines. At Athens again he founded the temple of the Eumenides, as Lobon of Argos tells us in his work On Poets. He is stated to have been the first who purified houses and fields, and the first who founded temples. Some are found to maintain that he did not go to sleep but withdrew himself for a while, engaged in gathering simples. There is extant a letter of his to Solon the lawgiver, containing a scheme of government which Minos drew up for the Cretans. But Demetrius of Magnesia, in his work on poets and writers of the same name, endeavours to discredit the letter on the ground that it is late and not written in the Cretan dialect but in Attic, and New Attic too. However, I have found another letter by him which runs as follows:
10.112. συνέγραψε δὲ καὶ καταλογάδην Περὶ θυσιῶν καὶ τῆς ἐν Κρήτῃ πολιτείας καὶ Περὶ Μίνω καὶ Ῥαδαμάνθυος εἰς ἔπη τετρακισχίλια. ἱδρύσατο δὲ καὶ παρʼ Ἀθηναίοις τὸ ἱερὸν τῶν Σεμνῶν, ὥς φησι Λόβων ὁ Ἀργεῖος ἐν τῷ Περὶ ποιητῶν. λέγεται δὲ καὶ πρῶτος οἰκίας καὶ ἀγροὺς καθῆραι καὶ ἱερὰ ἱδρύσασθαι. εἰσὶ δʼ οἳ μὴ κοιμηθῆναι αὐτὸν λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ χρόνον τινὰ ἐκπατῆσαι ἀσχολούμενον περὶ ῥιζοτομίαν. Φέρεται δʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς Σόλωνα τὸν νομοθέτην, περιέχουσα πολιτείαν ἣν διέταξε Κρησὶ Μίνως. ἀλλὰ Δημήτριος ὁ Μάγνης ἐν τοῖς περὶ ὁμωνύμων ποιητῶν τε καὶ συγγραφέων διελέγχειν πειρᾶται τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ὡς νεαρὰν καὶ μὴ τῇ Κρητικῇ φωνῇ γεγραμμένην, Ἀτθίδι δὲ καὶ ταύτῃ νέᾳ. ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ ἄλλην εὗρον ἐπιστολὴν ἔχουσαν οὕτως·
10.113. Epimenides to Solon “Courage, my friend. For if Pisistratus had attacked the Athenians while they were still serfs and before they had good laws, he would have secured power in perpetuity by the enslavement of the citizens. But, as it is, he is reducing to subjection men who are no cowards, men who with pain and shame remember Solon’s warning and will never endure to be under a tyrant. But even should Pisistratus himself hold down the city, I do not expect that his power will be continued to his children; for it is hard to contrive that men brought up as free men under the best laws should be slaves. But, instead of going on your travels, come quietly to Crete to me; for here you will have no monarch to fear, whereas, if some of his friends should fall in with you while you are travelling about, I fear you may come to some harm.”
10.113. Ἐπιμενίδης Σόλωνι “Θάρρει, ὦ ἑταῖρε. αἰ γὰρ ἔτι θητευόντεσσιν Ἀθηναίοις καὶ μὴ εὐνομημένοις ἐπεθήκατο Πεισίστρατος, εἶχέ κα τὰν ἀρχὰν ἀεί, ἀνδραποδιξάμενος τὼς πολιήτας· νῦν δὲ οὐ κακὼς ἄνδρας δουλῶται· τοὶ μεμναμένοι τᾶς Σόλωνος μανύσιος ἀλγιόντι πεδʼ αἰσχύνας οὐδὲ ἀνεξοῦνται τυραννούμενοι. ἀλλʼ αἴ κα Πεισίστρατος 〈αὐτὸσ〉 κατασχέθῃ τὰν πόλιν, οὐ μὰν ἐς παῖδάς γε τήνω ἔλπομαι τὸ κράτος ἵξεσθαι· δυσμάχανον γὰρ ἀνθρώπως ἐλευθεριάξαντας ἐν τεθμοῖς ἀρίστοις δούλως ἦμεν. τὺ δὲ μὴ ἀλᾶσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἕρπε ἐς Κρήτην ποθʼ ἁμέ. τουτᾶ γὰρ οὐκ ἐσεῖταί τιν δεινὸς ὁ μόναρχος· αἰ δέ πη ἐπʼ ἀλατείᾳ ἐγκύρσωντί τοι τοὶ τήνω φίλοι, δειμαίνω μή τι δεινὸν πάθῃς.
10.114. This is the tenor of the letter. But Demetrius reports a story that he received from the Nymphs food of a special sort and kept it in a cow’s hoof; that he took small doses of this food, which was entirely absorbed into his system, and he was never seen to eat. Timaeus mentions him in his second book. Some writers say that the Cretans sacrifice to him as a god; for they say that he had superhuman foresight. For instance, when he saw Munichia, at Athens, he said the Athenians did not know how many evils that place would bring upon them; for, if they did, they would destroy it even if they had to do so with their teeth. And this he said so long before the event. It is also stated that he was the first to call himself Aeacus; that he foretold to the Lacedaemonians their defeat by the Arcadians; and that he claimed that his soul had passed through many incarnations.
10.114. Καὶ οὗτος μὲν ὧδε. φησὶ δὲ Δημήτριός τινας ἱστορεῖν ὡς λάβοι παρὰ Νυμφῶν ἔδεσμά τι καὶ φυλάττοι ἐν χηλῇ βοός· προσφερόμενός τε κατʼ ὀλίγον μηδεμιᾷ κενοῦσθαι ἀποκρίσει μηδὲ ὀφθῆναί ποτε ἐσθίων. μέμνηται αὐτοῦ καὶ Τίμαιος ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ. λέγουσι δέ τινες ὅτι Κρῆτες αὐτῷ θύουσιν ὡς θεῷ· φασὶ γὰρ καὶ 〈προ〉γνωστικώτατον γεγονέναι. ἰδόντα γοῦν τὴν Μουνιχίαν παρʼ Ἀθηναίοις ἀγνοεῖν φάναι αὐτοὺς ὅσων κακῶν αἴτιον ἔσται τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον αὐτοῖς· ἐπεὶ κἂν τοῖς ὀδοῦσιν αὐτὸ διαφορῆσαι· ταῦτα ἔλεγε τοσούτοις πρότερον χρόνοις. λέγεται δὲ ὡς καὶ πρῶτος αὑτὸν Αἰακὸν λέγοι, καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις προείποι τὴν ὑπʼ Ἀρκάδων ἅλωσιν προσποιηθῆναί τε πολλάκις ἀναβεβιωκέναι.
10.115. Theopompus relates in his Mirabilia that, as he was building a temple to the Nymphs, a voice came from heaven: “Epimenides, not a temple to the Nymphs but to Zeus,” and that he foretold to the Cretans the defeat of the Lacedaemonians by the Arcadians, as already stated; and in very truth they were crushed at Orchomenus. And he became old in as many days as he had slept years; for this too is stated by Theopompus. Myronianus in his Parallels declares that the Cretans called him one of the Curetes. The Lacedaemonians guard his body in their own keeping in obedience to a certain oracle; this is stated by Sosibius the Laconian. There have been two other men named Epimenides, namely, the genealogist and another who wrote in Doric Greek about Rhodes.
10.115. Θεόπομπος δʼ ἐν τοῖς Θαυμασίοις, κατασκευάζοντος αὐτοῦ τὸ τῶν Νυμφῶν ἱερὸν ῥαγῆναι φωνὴν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, Ἐπιμενίδη, μὴ Νυμφῶν, ἀλλὰ Διός· Κρησί τε προειπεῖν τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων ἧτταν ὑπʼ Ἀρκάδων, καθάπερ προείρηται· καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐλήφθησαν πρὸς Ὀρχομενῷ. Γηρᾶσαί τʼ ἐν τοσαύταις ἡμέραις αὐτὸν ὅσαπερ ἔτη κατεκοιμήθη· καὶ γὰρ τοῦτό φησι Θεόπομπος. Μυρωνιανὸς δὲ ἐν Ὁμοίοις φησὶν ὅτι Κούρητα αὐτὸν ἐκάλουν Κρῆτες· καὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ φυλάττουσι Λακεδαιμόνιοι παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς κατά τι λόγιον, ὥς φησι Σωσίβιος ὁ Λάκων. Γεγόνασι δὲ καὶ Ἐπιμενίδαι ἄλλοι δύο, ὅ τε γενεαλόγος καὶ τρίτος ὁ Δωρίδι γεγραφὼς περὶ Ῥόδου.
11.116. Pherecydes, the son of Babys, and a native of Syros according to Alexander in his Successions of Philosophers, was a pupil of Pittacus. Theopompus tells us that he was the first who wrote in Greek on nature and the gods. Many wonderful stories are told about him. He was walking along the beach in Samos and saw a ship running before the wind; he exclaimed that in no long time she would go down, and, even as he watched her, down she went. And as he was drinking water which had been drawn up from a well he predicted that on the third day there would be an earthquake; which came to pass. And on his way from Olympia he advised Perilaus, his host in Messene, to move thence with all belonging to him; but Perilaus could not be persuaded, and Messene was afterwards taken.
11.116. Φερεκύδης Βάβυος Σύριος, καθά φησιν Ἀλέξανδρος ἐν Διαδοχαῖς, Πιττακοῦ διακήκοεν. τοῦτόν φησι Θεόπομπος πρῶτον περὶ φύσεως καὶ θεῶν γράψαι. Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ θαυμάσια λέγεται περὶ αὐτοῦ. καὶ γὰρ παρὰ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν τῆς Σάμου περιπατοῦντα καὶ ναῦν οὐριοδρομοῦσαν ἰδόντα εἰπεῖν ὡς οὐ μετὰ πολὺ καταδύσεται· καὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ καταδῦναι. καὶ ἀνιμηθέντος ἐκ φρέατος ὕδατος πιόντα προειπεῖν, ὡς εἰς τρίτην ἡμέραν ἔσοιτο σεισμός, καὶ γενέσθαι. ἀνιόντα τε ἐξ Ὀλυμπίας εἰς Μεσσήνην τῷ ξένῳ Περιλάῳ συμβουλεῦσαι ἐξοικῆσαι μετὰ τῶν οἰκείων· καὶ τὸν μὴ πεισθῆναι, Μεσσήνην δὲ ἑαλωκέναι.
11.117. He bade the Lacedaemonians set no store by gold or silver, as Theopompus says in his Mirabilia. He told them he had received this command from Heracles in a dream; and the same night Heracles enjoined upon the kings to obey Pherecydes. But some fasten this story upon Pythagoras. Hermippus relates that on the eve of war between Ephesus and Magnesia he favoured the cause of the Ephesians, and inquired of some one passing by where he came from, and on receiving the reply “From Ephesus,” he said, “Drag me by the legs and place me in the territory of Magnesia; and take a message to your countrymen that after their victory they must bury me there, and that this is the last injunction of Pherecydes.”
11.117. Καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις εἰπεῖν μήτε χρυσὸν τιμᾶν μήτε ἄργυρον, ὥς φησι Θεόπομπος ἐν Θαυμασίοις· προστάξαι δὲ αὐτῷ ὄναρ τοῦτο τὸν Ἡρακλέα, ὃν καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς νυκτὸς τοῖς βασιλεῦσι κελεῦσαι Φερεκύδῃ πείθεσθαι. ἔνιοι δὲ Πυθαγόρᾳ περιάπτουσι ταῦτα. Φησὶ δʼ Ἕρμιππος πολέμου συνεστῶτος Ἐφεσίοις καὶ Μάγνησι βουλόμενον τοὺς Ἐφεσίους νικῆσαι πυθέσθαι τινὸς παριόντος πόθεν εἴη, τοῦ δʼ εἰπόντος ἐξ Ἐφέσου, ἕλκυσόν με τοίνυν, ἔφη, τῶν σκελῶν καὶ θὲς εἰς τὴν τῶν Μαγνήτων χώραν, καὶ ἀπάγγειλόν σου τοῖς πολίταις μετὰ τὸ νικῆσαι αὐτόθι με θάψαι· ἐπεσκηφέναι τε ταῦτα Φερεκύδην.
11.118. The man gave the message; a day later the Ephesians attacked and defeated the Magnesians; they found Pherecydes dead and buried him on the spot with great honours. Another version is that he came to Delphi and hurled himself down from Mount Corycus. But Aristoxenus in his work On Pythagoras and his School affirms that he died a natural death and was buried by Pythagoras in Delos; another account again is that he died of a verminous disease, that Pythagoras was also present and inquired how he was, that he thrust his finger through the doorway and exclaimed, “My skin tells its own tale,” a phrase subsequently applied by the grammarians as equivalent to “getting worse,” although some wrongly understand it to mean “all is going well.”
11.118. ὁ μὲν 〈οὖν〉 ἀπήγγειλεν· οἱ δὲ μετὰ μίαν ἐπελθόντες κρατοῦσι τῶν Μαγνήτων, καὶ τόν τε Φερεκύδην μεταλλάξαντα θάπτουσιν αὐτόθι καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς τιμῶσιν. ἔνιοι δέ φασιν ἐλθόντα εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ Κωρυκίου ὄρους αὑτὸν δισκῆσαι. Ἀριστόξενος δʼ ἐν τῷ Περὶ Πυθαγόρου καὶ τῶν γνωρίμων αὐτοῦ φησι νοσήσαντα αὐτὸν ὑπὸ Πυθαγόρου ταφῆναι ἐν Δήλῳ. οἱ δὲ φθειριάσαντα τὸν βίον τελευτῆσαι· ὅτε καὶ Πυθαγόρου παραγενομένου καὶ πυνθανομένου, πῶς διακέοιτο, διαβαλόντα τῆς θύρας τὸν δάκτυλον εἰπεῖν, χροῒ δῆλα· καὶ τοὐντεῦθεν παρὰ τοῖς φιλολόγοις ἡ λέξις ἐπὶ τῶν χειρόνων τάττεται, οἱ δʼ ἐπὶ τῶν βελτίστων χρώμενοι διαμαρτάνουσιν.
11.119. He maintained that the divine name for “table” is θυωρός, or that which takes care of offerings. Andron of Ephesus says that there were two natives of Syros who bore the name of Pherecydes: the one was an astronomer, the other was the son of Babys and a theologian, teacher of Pythagoras. Eratosthenes, however, says that there was only one Pherecydes of Syros, the other Pherecydes being an Athenian and a genealogist. There is preserved a work by Pherecydes of Syros, a work which begins thus: “Zeus and Time and Earth were from all eternity, and Earth was called Γῆ because Zeus gave her earth (γῆ) as guerdon (γέρας).” His sun-dial is also preserved in the island of Syros. Duris in the second book of his Horae gives the inscription on his tomb as follows:
11.119. ἔλεγέ τε ὅτι οἱ θεοὶ τὴν τράπεζαν θυωρὸν καλοῦσιν. Ἄνδρων δʼ ὁ Ἐφέσιός φησι δύο γεγονέναι Φερεκύδας Συρίους, τὸν μὲν ἀστρολόγον, τὸν δὲ θεολόγον υἱὸν Βάβυος, ᾧ καὶ Πυθαγόραν σχολάσαι. Ἐρατοσθένης δʼ ἕνα μόνον, καὶ ἕτερον Ἀθηναῖον, γενεαλόγον. Σώζεται δὲ τοῦ Συρίου τό τε βιβλίον ὃ συνέγραψεν, οὗ ἡ ἀρχή· Ζὰς μὲν καὶ Χρόνος ἦσαν ἀεὶ καὶ Χθονίη· Χθονίῃ δὲ ὄνομα ἐγένετο Γῆ, ἐπειδὴ αὐτῇ Ζὰς γῆν γέρας διδοῖ. σώζεται δὲ καὶ ἡλιοτροπεῖον ἐν Σύρῳ τῇ νήσῳ. Φησὶ δὲ Δοῦρις ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ τῶν Ὡρῶν ἐπιγεγράφθαι αὐτῷ τὸ ἐπίγραμμα τόδε·
11.120. All knowledge that a man may have had I;Yet tell Pythagoras, were more thereby,That first of all Greeks is he; I speak no lie.Ion of Chios says of him:With manly worth endowed and modesty,Though he be dead, his soul lives happily,If wise Pythagoras indeed saw lightAnd read the destinies of men aright. There is also an epigram of my own in the Pherecratean metre: “The famous Pherecydes, to whom Syros gave birth,” “when his former beauty was consumed by vermin, gave orders that he should be taken straight to the Magnesian land in order that he might give victory to the noble Ephesians.
11.120. τῆς σοφίης πάσης ἐν ἐμοὶ τέλος· ἢν δέ τι πλεῖον,Πυθαγόρῃ τὠμῷ λέγε ταῦθʼ, ὅτι πρῶτος ἁπάντωνἔστιν ἀνʼ Ἑλλάδα γῆν· οὐ ψεύδομαι ὧδʼ ἀγορεύων. Ἴων δʼ ὁ Χῖός φησιν περὶ αὐτοῦ.ὣς ὁ μὲν ἠνορέῃ τε κεκασμένος ἠδὲ καὶ αἰδοῖκαὶ φθίμενος ψυχῇ τερπνὸν ἔχει βίοτον,εἴπερ Πυθαγόρης ἐτύμως ὁ σοφὸς περὶ πάντωνἀνθρώπων γνώμας ᾔδεε κἀξέμαθεν. Ἐστι καὶ ἡμῶν οὕτως ἔχον τῷ μέτρῳ τῷ Φερεκρατείῳ·τὸν κλεινὸν Φερεκύδην,ὃν τίκτει ποτὲ Σῦρος, ἐς φθεῖρας λόγος ἐστὶνἀλλάξαι τὸ πρὶν εἶδος,θεῖναί τʼ εὐθὺ κελεύεινΜαγνήτων, ἵνα νίκηνδοίη τοῖς Ἐφέσοιογενναίοις πολιήταις.
11.121. There was an oracle, which he alone knew, enjoining this; and there he died among them. It seems then it is a true tale; if anyone is truly wise, he brings blessings both in his lifetime and when he is no more.” He lived in the 59th Olympiad. He wrote the following letter:
11.121. ἦν γὰρ χρησμός, ὃν ᾔδειμοῦνος, τοῦτο κελεύων·καὶ θνήσκει παρʼ ἐκείνοις.ἦν οὖν τοῦτʼ ἄρʼ ἀληθές·ἢν ᾖ τις σοφὸς ὄντως,καὶ ζῶν ἐστιν ὄνησις,χὤταν μηδὲν ὑπάρχῃ. Γέγονε δὲ κατὰ τὴν πεντηκοστὴν καὶ ἐνάτην Ὀλυμπιάδα. καὶ ἐπέστειλεν ὧδε·
11.122. Pherecydes to Thales “May yours be a happy death when your time comes. Since I received your letter, I have been attacked by disease. I am infested with vermin and subject to a violent fever with shivering fits. I have therefore given instructions to my servants to carry my writing to you after they have buried me. I would like you to publish it, provided that you and the other sages approve of it, and not otherwise. For I myself am not yet satisfied with it. The facts are not absolutely correct, nor do I claim to have discovered the truth, but merely such things as one who inquires about the gods picks up. The rest must be thought out, for mine is all guess-work. As I was more and more weighed down with my malady, I did not permit any of the physicians or my friends to come into the room where I was, but, as they stood before the door and inquired how I was, I thrust my finger through the keyhole and showed them how plague-stricken I was; and I told them to come to-morrow to bury Pherecydes.” So much for those who are called the Sages, with whom some writers also class Pisistratus the tyrant. I must now proceed to the philosophers and start with the philosophy of Ionia. Its founder was Thales, and Anaximander was his pupil.
11.122. Φερεκύδης Θαλῇ “Εὖ θνήσκοις ὅταν τοι τὸ χρεὼν ἥκῃ· νοῦσός με καταλελάβηκε δεδεγμένον τὰ παρὰ σέο γράμματα. φθειρῶν ἔβρυον πᾶς καί με εἶχεν ἠπίαλος. ἐπέσκηψα δʼ ὦν τοῖσιν οἰκιήτῃσιν, ἐπήν με κατθάψωσιν, ἐς σὲ τὴν γραφὴν ἐνεῖκαι. σὺ δὲ ἢν δοκιμώσῃς σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις σοφοῖς, οὕτω μιν φῆνον· ἢν δὲ οὐ δοκιμώσητε, μὴ φήνῃς. ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ οὔκω ἥνδανεν. ἔστι δὲ οὐκ ἀτρεκηΐη πρηγμάτων οὐδʼ ὑπίσχομαι τἀληθὲς εἰδέναι· ἅσσα δʼ ἂν ἐπιλέγῃ θεολογέων· τὰ ἄλλα χρὴ νοέειν· ἅπαντα γὰρ αἰνίσσομαι. τῇ δὲ νούσῳ πιεζόμενος ἐπὶ μᾶλλον οὔτε τῶν τινα ἰητρῶν οὔτε τοὺς ἑταίρους ἐσιέμην· προεστεῶσι δὲ τῇ θύρῃ καὶ εἰρομένοις ὁκοῖόν τι εἴη, διεὶς δάκτυλον ἐκ τῆς κληΐθρης ἔδειξʼ ἂν ὡς ἔβρυον τοῦ κακοῦ. καὶ προεῖπα αὐτοῖσι ἥκειν ἐς τὴν ὑστεραίην ἐπὶ τὰς Φερεκύδεω ταφάς. Καὶ οὗτοι μὲν οἱ κληθέντες σοφοί, οἷς τινες καὶ Πεισίστρατον τὸν τύραννον προσκαταλέγουσι. λεκτέον δὲ περὶ τῶν φιλοσόφων· καὶ πρῶτόν γε ἀρκτέον ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰωνικῆς φιλοσοφίας, ἧς καθηγήσατο Θαλῆς, οὗ διήκουσεν Ἀναξίμανδρος.