2012:croesus
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- | ====== Croesus ====== | + | < |
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- | Croesus, the ancient king of the Lydians, has had a fascinating afterlife. He is the first main character to appear in Herodotus and many of his anecdotes of Croesus are memorable. The conversation with Solon comes to mind. Croesus also had afterlife in the works of Lucian. See the quote above. | + | ====== |
- | Croesus even lives on into today as a fabulously wealthy individual. Cite Wikipedia: | + | < |
- | '' | + | ==== Authored by Frank Redmond, 2012 ==== |
- | As such, I think it will be interesting to trace Croesus' | ||
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- | **Croesus Receiving Tribute from a Lydian Peasant** | + | **Croesus Receiving Tribute from a Lydian Peasant**\\ |
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+ | Croesus, the ancient king of the Lydians, has had a fascinating afterlife. He is the first main character to appear in Herodotus and many of his anecdotes of Croesus are memorable. The conversation with Solon comes to mind. Croesus also had afterlife in the works of Lucian. See the quote above. \\ | ||
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+ | Croesus even lives on into today as a fabulously wealthy individual. Cite Wikipedia: | ||
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+ | As such, I think it will be interesting to trace Croesus' | ||
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+ | Then the seal is taken off, the string cut, the parchment opened, and my new owner’s name made known. It is a relation, or a parasite, or perhaps a domestic minion, whose value lay in his vices and his smooth cheeks; he has continued to supply his master with all sorts of unnatural pleasures beyond the years which might excuse such service, and now the fine fellow is richly rewarded. But whoever it is, he snatches me up, parchment included, and is off with me in a flash; he used to be called Pyrrhias or Dromo or Tibius, but now he is Megacles, Megabyzus, or Protarchus; off he goes, leaving the disappointed ones staring at each other in very genuine mourning-over the fine fish which has jumped out of the landing-net after swallowing their good bait.\\ | ||
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+ | The fellow who has pounced on me has neither taste nor feeling; the sight of fetters still gives him a start; crack a whip in his neighbourhood, | ||
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+ | Tim . Come, spade, show your mettle; stick to it; invite Thesaurus to step up from his retreat.... O God of Wonders! O mystic priests! O lucky Hermes! whence this flood of gold? Sure, ’tis all a dream; methinks ’twill be ashes when I wake. And yet — coined gold, ruddy and heavy, a feast of delight!\\ | ||
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+ | O gold, the fairest gift to mortal eyes! be it night, or be it day, Thou dost outshine all else like living fire.\\ | ||
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+ | Come to me, my own, my beloved. I doubt the tale no longer; well might Zeus take the shape of gold; where is the maid that would not open her bosom to receive so fair a lover gliding through the roof?\\ | ||
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+ | Talk of Midas, **Croesus**, | ||
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+ | All others are my foes and ill-wishers; | ||
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+ | Be the name he loves Misanthropus, | ||
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+ | All the same, I would give a good deal to have the fact of my enormous wealth generally known; they would all be fit to hang themselves over it.... Why, what is this? Well, that is quick work. Here they come running from every point of the compass, all dusty and panting; they have smelt out the gold somehow or other. Now, shall I get on top of this knoll, keep up a galling fire of stones from my point of vantage, and get rid of them that way? Or shall I make an exception to my law by parleying with them for once? contempt might hit harder than stones. Yes, I think that is better; I will stay where I am, and receive them. Let us see, who is this in front? Ah, Gnathonides the flatterer; when I asked an alms of him the other day, he offered me a halter; many a cask of my wine has he made a beast of himself over. I congratulate him on his speed; first come, first served.'' | ||
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+ | II\\ | ||
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+ | **Cr** . Pluto, we can stand this snarling Cynic no longer in our neighborhood; | ||
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+ | Pl . Why, what harm does he do to your ghostly community? | ||
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+ | **Cr** . Midas here, and Sardanapalus and I, can never get in a good cry over the old days of gold and luxury and treasure, but he must be laughing at us, and calling us rude names; ‘slaves’ and ‘garbage, | ||
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+ | Pl . Menippus, what’s this I hear?\\ | ||
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+ | Me . All perfectly true, Pluto. I detest these abject rascals! Not content with having lived the abominable lives they did, they keep on talking about it now they are dead, and harping on the good old days. I take a positive pleasure in annoying them.\\ | ||
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+ | Pl . Yes, but you mustn’t. They have had terrible losses; they feel it deeply.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Pluto! you are not going to lend your countenance to these whimpering fools?\\ | ||
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+ | Pl . It isn’t that: but I won’t have you quarrelling.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Well, you scum of your respective nations, let there be no misunderstanding; | ||
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+ | **Cr** . Presumption!\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Not a bit of it. Yours was the presumption, | ||
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+ | **Cr** . Lost! Ah God! My treasure-heaps —\\ | ||
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+ | Mid . My gold —\\ | ||
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+ | Sar . My little comforts —\\ | ||
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+ | Me . That’s right: stick to it! You do the whining, and I’ll chime in with a string of GNOTHI-SAUTONS, | ||
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+ | F.\\ | ||
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+ | Menippus. Aeacus. Various Shades\\ | ||
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+ | Me . In Pluto’s name, Aeacus, show me all the sights of Hades.\\ | ||
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+ | Aea . That would be rather an undertaking, | ||
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+ | Me . Yes, and you are the gate-keeper; | ||
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+ | Aea . This is Agamemnon; this is Achilles; near him, Idomeneus; next comes Odysseus; then Ajax, Diomede, and all the great Greeks.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Why, Homer, Homer, what is this? All your great heroes flung down upon the earth, shapeless, undistinguishable; | ||
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+ | Aea . That is Cyrus; and here is **Croesus**; | ||
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+ | Me . Ha! and it was before this creature that Greece trembled? this is our yoker of Hellesponts, | ||
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+ | Aea . And crack his skull, poor dear! Certainly not.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Then I must content myself with spitting in his ladyship’s face.\\ | ||
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+ | Aea . Would you like to see the philosophers? | ||
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+ | Me . I should like it of all things.\\ | ||
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+ | Aea . First comes Pythagoras.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Good-day, Euphorbus, alias Apollo, alias what you will.\\ | ||
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+ | Py . Good-day, Menippus.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . What, no golden thigh nowadays? | ||
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+ | Py . Why, no. I wonder if there is anything to eat in that wallet of yours?\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Beans, friend; you don’t like beans.\\ | ||
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+ | Py . Try me. My principles have changed with my quarters. I find that down here our parents’ heads are in no way connected with beans.\\ | ||
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+ | Aea . Here is Solon, the son of Execestides, | ||
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+ | Aea . That is Empedocles. He was half-roasted when he got here from Etna.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Tell me, my brazen-slippered friend, what induced you to jump into the crater?\\ | ||
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+ | Em . I did it in a fit of melancholy.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Not you. Vanity, pride, folly; these were what burnt you up, slippers and all; and serve you right. All that ingenuity was thrown away, too: your death was detected.— Aeacus, where is Socrates? | ||
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+ | Aea . He is generally talking nonsense with Nestor and Palamedes.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . But I should like to see him, if he is anywhere about.\\ | ||
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+ | Aea . You see the bald one? Me . They are all bald; that is a distinction without a difference.\\ | ||
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+ | Aea . The snub-nosed one.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . There again: they are all snub-nosed.\\ | ||
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+ | Soc . Do you want me, Menippus? | ||
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+ | Me . The very man I am looking for.\\ | ||
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+ | Soc . How goes it in Athens?\\ | ||
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+ | Me . There are a great many young men there professing philosophy; and to judge from their dress and their walk, they should be perfect in it.\\ | ||
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+ | Soc . I have seen many such.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . For that matter, I suppose you saw Aristippus arrive, reeking with scent; and Plato, the polished flatterer from Sicilian courts?\\ | ||
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+ | Soc . And what do they think about me in Athens?\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Ah, you are fortunate in that respect. You pass for a most remarkable man, omniscient in fact. And all the time — if the truth must out — you know absolutely nothing.\\ | ||
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+ | Soc . I told them that myself: but they would have it that that was my irony.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . And who are your friends? | ||
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+ | Soc . Charmides; Phaedrus; the son of Clinias.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . Ha, ha! still at your old trade; still an admirer of beauty.\\ | ||
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+ | Soc . How could I be better occupied? Will you join us?\\ | ||
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+ | Me . No, thank you; I am off, to take up my quarters by **Croesus** and Sardanapalus. I expect huge entertainment from their outcries.\\ | ||
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+ | Aea . I must be off, too; or some one may escape. You shall see the rest another day, Menippus.\\ | ||
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+ | Me . I need not detain you. I have seen enough.\\ | ||
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+ | Ch . And whereabouts is **Croesus**? | ||
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+ | Her . Look over there. You see the great city with the triple wall? That is Sardis. And there, look, is **Croesus** himself, reclining on a golden couch, and conversing with Solon the Athenian. Shall we listen to what they are saying?\\ | ||
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+ | Ch . Yes, let us.\\ | ||
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+ | Cr. Stranger, you have now seen my stores of treasure, my heaps of bullion, and all my riches. Tell me therefore, whom do you account the happiest of mankind ?\\ | ||
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+ | Ch . What will Solon say, I wonder?\\ | ||
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+ | Her . Trust Solon; he will not disgrace himself.\\ | ||
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+ | So . **Croesus**, | ||
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+ | Ch . Ah, he means those two who yoked themselves to a waggon, and drew their mother to the temple, and died the moment after. It was but the other day.\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . Ah. So they are first on the list. And who comes next ?\\ | ||
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+ | So . Tellus the Athenian, who lived a righteous life, and died for his country .\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . And where do I come, reptile ?\\ | ||
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+ | So . That I am unable to say at present, **Croesus**; | ||
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+ | Ch . Bravo, Solon; you have not forgotten us! As you say, Charon’s ferry is the proper place for the decision of these questions.— But who are these men whom **Croesus** is sending out? And what have they got on their shoulders? | ||
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+ | Her . Those are bars of gold; they are going to Delphi, to pay for an oracle, which oracle will presently be the ruin of **Croesus**. But oracles are a hobby of his.\\ | ||
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+ | Ch . Oh, so that is gold , that glittering yellow stuff, with just a tinge of red in it. I have often heard of gold, but never saw it before.\\ | ||
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+ | Her . Yes, that is the stuff there is so much talking and squabbling about.\\ | ||
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+ | Ch . Well now, I see no advantages about it, unless it is an advantage that it is heavy to carry.\\ | ||
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+ | Her . Ah, you do not know what it has to answer for; the wars and plots and robberies, the perjuries and murders; for this men will endure slavery and imprisonment; | ||
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+ | Ch . For this stuff? Why, it is not much different from copper. I know copper, of course, because I get a penny from each passenger.\\ | ||
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+ | Her . Yes, but copper is plentiful, and therefore not much esteemed by men. Gold is found only in small quantities, and the miners have to go to a considerable depth for it. For the rest, it comes out of the earth, just the same as lead and other metals.\\ | ||
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+ | Ch . What fools men must be, to be enamoured of an object of this sallow complexion; and of such a weight!\\ | ||
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+ | Her . Well, Solon, at any rate, seems to have no great affection for it. See, he is making merry with **Croesus** and his outlandish magnificence. I think he is going to ask him a question. Listen.\\ | ||
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+ | So . **Croesus**, | ||
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+ | Cr . Any use! Why there is nothing at Delphi to be compared to them.\\ | ||
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+ | So . And that is all that is wanting to complete his happiness, eh?— some bar gold?\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . Undoubtedly.\\ | ||
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+ | So . Then they must be very hard up in Heaven, if they have to send all the way to Lydia for their gold supply?\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . Where else is gold to be had in such abundance as with us?\\ | ||
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+ | So . Now is any iron found in Lydia?\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . Not much.\\ | ||
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+ | So . Ah; so you are lacking in the more valuable metal.\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . More valuable? Iron more valuable than gold?\\ | ||
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+ | So . Bear with me, while I ask you a few questions, and I will convince you it is so.\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . Well?\\ | ||
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+ | So . Of protector and protege, which is the better man?\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . The protector, of course.\\ | ||
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+ | So . Now in the event of Cyrus’s invading Lydia — there is some talk of it — shall you supply your men with golden swords? or will iron be required, on the occasion? | ||
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+ | Cr . Oh, iron.\\ | ||
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+ | So . Iron accordingly you must have, or your gold would be led captive into Persia?\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . Blasphemer!\\ | ||
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+ | So . Oh, we will hope for the best. But it is clear, on your own admission, that iron is better than gold.\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . And what would you have me do? Recall the gold, and offer the God bars of iron?\\ | ||
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+ | So . He has no occasion for iron either. Your offering (be the metal what it may) will fall into other hands than his. It will be snapped up by the Phocians, or the Boeotians, or the God’s own priests; or by some tyrant or robber. Your goldsmiths have no interest for Apollo.\\ | ||
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+ | Cr . You are always having a stab at my wealth. It is all envy!\\ | ||
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+ | Her . This blunt sincerity is not to the Lydian’s taste. Things are come to a strange pass, he thinks, if a poor man is to hold up his head, and speak his mind in this frank manner! He will remember Solon presently, when the time comes for Cyrus to conduct him in chains to the pyre. I heard Clotho, the other day, reading over the various dooms. Among other things, **Croesus** was to be led captive by Cyrus, and Cyrus to be murdered by the queen of the Massagetae. There she is: that Scythian woman, riding on a white horse; do you see?</ | ||
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+ | I have been guessing how you are likely to have expressed yourself upon reading my essay about dependants. I feel pretty sure you read it all and had a laugh over it; but it is your running and general comment in words that I am trying to piece on to it. If I am any good at divination, this is the sort of thing: To think that a man can set down such a scathing indictment of the life, and then forget it all, get hold of the other end of the stick, and plunge headlong into such manifest conspicuous slavery! Take Midas, **Croesus**, | ||
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+ | The corn-stalks brake not ‘neath his airy tread.\\ | ||
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+ | He will not be frightened of ‘whirlwind-footed steeds.’ If his theme is a noble house, with everything handsome about it,\\ | ||
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+ | Zeus on Olympus dwells in such a home,\\ | ||
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+ | we shall be told. But your flatterer would use that line about the swineherd’s hovel, if he saw a chance of getting anything out of the swineherd. Demetrius Poliorcetes had a flatterer called Cynaethus who, when he was gravelled for lack of matter, found some in a cough that troubled his patron — he cleared his throat so musically!</ | ||
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+ | Seek not for offspring in the Gods’ despite; Beget a child, and thou begett’st thy slayer.\\ | ||
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+ | Was not this advice superfluous, | ||
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+ | Zeus . Apollo was angry with **Croesus**. When **Croesus** boiled that lamb and tortoise together in the cauldron, he was making trial of Apollo.</ | ||
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2012/croesus.1329357549.txt.gz · Last modified: 2014/01/14 22:46 (external edit)