---
title: "Dialogues of the Dead · Νεκρικοὶ διάλογοι"
author: "Lucian"
translator: "Matthew Donald Macleod"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 28 of 30
url: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-dead/28/
cite: "Lucian, tr. Matthew Donald Macleod, Dialogues of the Dead · Νεκρικοὶ διάλογοι, section 28. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-dead/28/"
---

# Dialogues of the Dead · Νεκρικοὶ διάλογοι

*Lucian, tr. Matthew Donald Macleod*

Diogenes, Menippus, Alexander, Achilles and the rest in Hades, where beauty, wealth and power count for nothing.

> Greek: ed. Matthew Donald Macleod, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0062.tlg066, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Matthew Donald Macleod, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0062.tlg066.perseus-eng3). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 28. Dialogue 28

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-dead/28/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-dialogues-of-the-dead/28/#p-N

[¶0] 1. PROTESILAUS: O master and king, and Zeus of our world, and you, daughter of Demeter, scorn not a lover’s prayer.

> Greek: 1. ΠΡΩΤΕΣΙΛΑΟΣ: Ὦ δέσποτα καὶ βασιλεῦ καὶ ἡμέτερε Ζεῦ καὶ σὺ Δήμητρος θύγατερ, μὴ ὑπερίδητε δέησιν ἐρωτικήν.

[¶1] PLUTO: What do you ask of us? Who are you?

> Greek: ΠΛΟΥΤΩΝ: Σὺ δὲ τίνων δέῃ παρ' ἡμῶν; ἢ τίς ὢν τυγχάνεις;

[¶2] PROTESILAUS: I am Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus, from Phylace, one who served with the Achaean army, and first man to die at Troy. I beg to be released and restored to life for a little.

> Greek: ΠΡΩΤΕΣΙΛΑΟΣ: Εἰμὶ μὲν Πρωτεσίλαος ὁ Ἰφίκλου Φυλάκιος συστρατιώτης τῶν Ἀχαιῶν καὶ πρῶτος ἀποθανὼν τῶν ἐπ' Ἰλίῳ. δέομαι δὲ ἀφεθεὶς πρὸς ὀλίγον ἀναβιῶναι πάλιν.

[¶3] PLUTO: That’s a love that’s common to all the dead, but will come to pass for none of them.

> Greek: ΠΛΟΥΤΩΝ: Τοῦτον μὲν τὸν ἔρωτα, ὦ Πρωτεσίλαε, πάντες νεκροὶ ἐρῶσιν, πλὴν οὐδεὶς ἂν αὐτῶν τύχοι.

[¶4] PROTESILAUS: My love, Aidoneus, is not for life, but for my wife, whom, while still but newly wed, I left in her bower and sailed away; and then, by evil fortune, I was slain by Hector, while I was landing; and so my love for my wife is eating my heart out, my lord; could I be restored to her sight even for a short while, I would gladly return here again.

> Greek: ΠΡΩΤΕΣΙΛΑΟΣ: Ἀλλ' οὐ τοῦ ζῆν, Ἀϊδωνεῦ, ἐρῶ ἔγωγε, τῆς γυναικὸς δέ, ἣν νεόγαμον ἔτι ἐν τῷ θαλάμῳ καταλιπὼν ᾠχόμην ἀποπλέων, εἶτα ὁ κακοδαίμων ἐν τῇ ἀποβάσει ἀπέθανον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἕκτορος. ὁ οὖν ἔρως τῆς γυναικὸς οὐ μετρίως ἀποκναίει με, ὦ δέσποτα, καὶ βούλομαι κἂν πρὸς ὀλίγον ὀφθεὶς αὐτῇ καταβῆναι πάλιν.

[¶5] 2. PLUTO: Have you not drunk, Protesilaus, from the waters of Lethe?

> Greek: 2. ΠΛΟΥΤΩΝ: Οὐκ ἔπιες, ὦ Πρωτεσίλαε, τὸ Λήθης ὕδωρ;

[¶6] PROTESILAUS: Deeply have I drunk, my lord, but my affliction was too strong.

> Greek: ΠΡΩΤΕΣΙΛΑΟΣ: Καὶ μάλα, ὦ δέσποτα· τὸ δὲ πρᾶγμα ὑπέρογκον ἦν.

[¶7] PLUTO: Then be patient; in time, she will join you here; you won’t have to go up there.

> Greek: ΠΛΟΥΤΩΝ: Οὐκοῦν περίμεινον· ἀφίξεται γὰρ κἀκείνη ποτὲ καὶ οὐδὲ σὲ ἀνελθεῖν δεήσει.

[¶8] PROTESILAUS: I can’t bear to wait, Pluto. You’ve been in love yourself, before now, Pluto, and know what it’s like.

> Greek: ΠΡΩΤΕΣΙΛΑΟΣ: Ἀλλ' οὐ φέρω τὴν διατριβήν, ὦ Πλούτων· ἠράσθης δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἤδη καὶ οἶσθα οἷον τὸ ἐρᾶν ἐστιν.

[¶9] PLUTO: What good will it do you to return to life for a single day, if shortly afterwards you must bewail the same misfortune?

> Greek: ΠΛΟΥΤΩΝ: Εἶτα τί σε ὀνήσει μίαν ἡμέραν ἀναβιῶναι μετ' ὀλίγον τὰ αὐτὰ ὀδυρόμενον;

[¶10] PROTESILAUS: I think I’ll be able to persuade her to follow me here, so that soon you’ll have two of us dead instead of one.

> Greek: ΠΡΩΤΕΣΙΛΑΟΣ: Οἶμαι πείσειν κἀκείνην ἀκολουθεῖν παρ' ὑμᾶς, ὥστε ἀνθ' ἑνὸς δύο νεκροὺς λήψῃ μετ' ὀλίγον.

[¶11] PLUTO: All this would be wrong, and has never happened before.

> Greek: ΠΛΟΥΤΩΝ: Οὐ θέμις γενέσθαι ταῦτα οὐδὲ γέγονε πώποτε.

[¶12] 3. PROTESILAUS: Let me refresh your memory, Pluto. You gave up Eurydice to Orpheus for this very reason, and sent back my kinswoman, Alcestis, 1 as a favour to Heracles.

> Greek: 3. ΠΡΩΤΕΣΙΛΑΟΣ: Ἀναμνήσω σε, ὦ Πλούτων· Ὀρφεῖ γὰρ δι’ αὐτὴν ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν τὴν Εὐρυδίκην παρέδοτε καὶ τὴν ὁμογενῆ μου Ἄλκηστιν παρεπέμψατε Ἡρακλεῖ χαριζόμενοι.

[¶13] PLUTO: Do you want that fair bride of yours to see you as you are now—a bare unsightly skull? What sort of a welcome will she give you, if she can’t even recognise you? She’ll be frightened, I’m sure, and run away from you, and you’ll find your long journey up to earth to have been a waste of time. PERSEPHONE: Then, dear husband, you must put matters right, and instruct Hermes to touch Protesilaus with his wand the moment he’s in the light, and make him the handsome youth he was when he left the bridal chamber.

> Greek: ΠΛΟΥΤΩΝ: Θελήσεις δὲ οὕτως κρανίον γυμνὸν ὢν καὶ ἄμορφον τῇ καλῇ σου ἐκείνῃ νύμφῃ φανῆναι; πῶς δὲ κἀκείνη προσήσεταί σε οὐδὲ διαγνῶναι δυναμένη; φοβήσεται γὰρ εὖ οἶδα καὶ φεύξεταί σε καὶ μάτην ἔσῃ τοσαύτην ὁδὸν ἀνεληλυθώς. ΠΕΡΣΕΦΟΝΗ: Οὐκοῦν, ὦ ἄνερ, σὺ καὶ τοῦτο ἴασαι καὶ τὸν Ἑρμῆν κέλευσον, ἐπειδὰν ἐν τῷ φωτὶ ἤδη ὁ Πρωτεσίλαος ᾖ, καθικόμενον ἐν τῇ ῥάβδῳ νεανίαν εὐθὺς καλὸν ἀπεργάσασθαι αὐτὸν, οἷος ἦν ἐκ τοῦ παστοῦ.

[¶14] PLUTO: Well, Hermes, since Persephone agrees, take him up and make him into a bridegroom again. And you, sir, remember you’ve only been given one day.

> Greek: ΠΛΟΥΤΩΝ: Ἐπεὶ Φερσεφόνῃ συνδοκεῖ, ἀναγαγὼν τοῦτον αὖθις ποίησον νυμφίον· σὺ δὲ μέμνησο μίαν λαβὼν ἡμέραν.