1. 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?
1. ΜΙΝΩΣ: Ὁ μὲν λῃστὴς οὑτοσὶ Σώστρατος εἰς τὸν Πυριφλεγέθοντα ἐμβεβλήσθω, ὁ δὲ ἱερόσυλος ὑπὸ τῆς Χιμαίρας διασπασθήτω, ὁ δὲ τύραννος, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, παρὰ τὸν Τιτυὸν ἀποταθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν γυπῶν καὶ αὐτὸς κειρέσθω τὸ ἧπαρ, ὑμεῖς δὲ οἱ ἀγαθοὶ ἄπιτε κατὰ τάχος εἰς τὸ Ἠλύσιον πεδίον καὶ τὰς μακάρων νήσους κατοικεῖτε, ἀνθ' ὧν δίκαια ἐποιεῖτε παρὰ τὸν βίον.ΣΩΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ: Ἄκουσον, ὦ Μίνως, εἴ σοι δίκαια δόξω λέγειν. ΜΙΝΩΣ: Νῦν ἀκούσω αὖθις; οὐ γὰρ ἐξελήλεγξαι, ὦ Σώστρατε, πονηρὸς ὢν καὶ τοσούτους ἀπεκτονώς;
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.
ΣΩΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ: Ἐλήλεγμαι μέν, ἀλλ’ ὅρα, εἰ δικαίως κολασθήσομαι. ΜΙΝΩΣ: Καὶ πάνυ, εἴ γε ἀποτίνειν τὴν ἀξίαν δίκαιον.
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.
ΣΩΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ: Ὅμως ἀπόκριναί μοι, ὦ Μίνως· βραχὺ γάρ τι ἐρήσομαί σε. ΜΙΝΩΣ: Λέγε, μὴ μακρὰ μόνον, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους διακρίνωμεν ἤδη.
2. 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.
2. ΣΩΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ: Ὁπόσα ἔπραττον ἐν τῷ βίῳ, πότερα ἑκὼν ἔπραττον ἢ ἐπεκέκλωστό μοι ὑπὸ τῆς Μοίρας; ΜΙΝΩΣ: Ὑπὸ τῆς Μοίρας δηλαδή.
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.
ΣΩΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ: Οὐκοῦν καὶ οἱ χρηστοὶ ἅπαντες καὶ οἱ πονηροὶ δοκοῦντες ἡμεῖς ἐκείνῃ ὑπηρετοῦντες ταῦτα ἐδρῶμεν; ΜΙΝΩΣ: Ναί, τῇ Κλωθοῖ, ἣ ἑκάστῳ ἐπέταξε γεννηθέντι τὰ πρακτέα.
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.
ΣΩΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ: Εἰ τοίνυν ἀναγκασθείς τις ὑπ' ἄλλου φονεύσειέν τινα οὐ δυνάμενος ἀντιλέγειν ἐκείνῳ βιαζομένῳ, οἷον δήμιος ἢ δορυφόρος, ὁ μὲν δικαστῇ πεισθείς, ὁ δέ τυράννῳ, τίνα αἰτιάσῃ τοῦ φόνου; ΜΙΝΩΣ: Δῆλον ὡς τὸν δικαστὴν ἢ τὸν τύραννον, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ τὸ ξίφος αὐτό· ὑπηρετεῖ γὰρ ὄργανον ὂν τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν θυμὸν τῷ πρώτῳ παρασχόντι τὴν αἰτίαν.
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.
ΣΩΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ: Εὖ γε, ὦ Μίνως, ὅτι καὶ ἐπιδαψιλεύῃ τῷ παραδείγματι. ἢν δέ τις ἀποστείλαντος τοῦ δεσπότου ἥκῃ αὐτὸς χρυσὸν ἢ ἄργυρον κομίζων, τίνι τὴν χάριν ἰστέον ἢ τίνα εὐεργέτην ἀναγραπτέον; ΜΙΝΩΣ: Τὸν πέμψαντα, ὦ Σώστρατε· διάκονος γὰρ ὁ κομίσας ἦν.
3. 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.
3. ΣΩΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ: Οὐκοῦν ὁρᾷς πῶς ἄδικα ποιεῖς κολάζων ἡμᾶς ὑπηρέτας γενομένους ὧν ἡ Κλωθὼ προσέταττεν, καὶ τούτους τιμήσας τοὺς διακονησαμένους ἀλλοτρίοις ἀγαθοῖς; οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἐκεῖνό γε εἰπεῖν ἔχοι τις ὡς ἀντιλέγειν δυνατὸν ἦν τοῖς μετὰ πάσης ἀνάγκης προστεταγμένοις. ΜΙΝΩΣ: Ὦ Σώστρατε, πολλὰ ἴδοις ἂν καὶ ἄλλα οὐ κατὰ λόγον γιγνόμενα, εἰ ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάζοις. πλὴν ἀλλὰ σὺ τοῦτο ἀπολαύσεις τῆς ἐπερωτήσεως, διότι οὐ λῃστὴς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ σοφιστής τις εἶναι δοκεῖς. ἀπόλυσον αὐτόν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, καὶ μηκέτι κολαζέσθω. ὅρα δὲ μὴ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους νεκροὺς τὰ ὅμοια ἐρωτᾶν διδάξῃς.