Philosophical and Literary Miscellany

...and many of you, taken by the love of pleasure, became pigs on the easy path.
Chremylus Therefore, you are like Circe to us, the one who stirs up the potions,
And you ate your wretched companions, companions turned to swine,
taken by the love of pleasure,
imitating the son of Laertes Odysseus by hanging there as if to dance.
Imitating them just like a goat's
written as: pigs
nose. Do not gape like a greedy dog from within...
Carion But come now, having put aside these jokes already,
you must turn yourselves to another path; I will try to be light-hearted for us,
having taken some testimony and meat from the master,
chewing on it for the rest; in this way, I shall live through the labor.
Chremylus To greet you, fellow citizens, is an ancient custom
already, and even stale.
But I welcome you because you have come eagerly
And with intensity, and not lazily.
See to it that you stand by me in other things as well,
And truly become the saviors of the god.
Chremylus Take heart! For now you see a man with a fierce glare The Greek "Kryo-blema" suggests a chilling or intense look.
It would be terrible if, for the sake of three obols The standard daily pay for a citizen attending the Assembly or a jury,
we were jostled every time in the Assembly,
but let Wealth himself slip through our hands when he appears.
Chremylus And indeed, I see this man Blepsidemus here
approaching. It is clear that he has heard something of the matter
by his pace and speed.
Blepsidemus From where then has this matter come? From where and in what way
has Chremylus suddenly become rich? I don't believe it.
And yet there was much talk, by Heracles,
among those sitting in the barbershops Barbershops were the traditional centers of gossip in ancient Athens.

...how this man has suddenly become wealthy.
This very thing is a wonder to me: how,
when doing something good, he sends for his friends.
That is certainly not a local custom! Blepsidemus implies that usually, people who get rich quick try to hide it from their friends
Chremylus But I will tell you everything without hiding a thing, by the gods.
O Blepsidemus, we are doing better than yesterday,
so it is possible for you to share. For if of friends...
Blepsidemus Have you truly become rich, as they say?
Chremylus I shall be, very shortly, if God wills it.
For in certain things, there is a danger in the matter.
Blepsidemus What kind? Chremylus The sort... Blepsidemus Speak quickly, whatever you're going to say!
Chremylus If we succeed, we fare well forever;
but if we fail, we are utterly destroyed.
Blepsidemus This cargo seems like a bad business to me.
And it does not please me. For to become so excessively
wealthy all of a sudden does not seem to me
to be the work of a man who is honest and well-prepared.
Chremylus How is it not honest? Blepsidemus Because, by Zeus, you have stolen
from within, either silver or gold
from the god. And then perhaps you regret it.
Chremylus Apollo the Averter! A common prayer to ward off bad omens or accusations By Zeus, not I!
Blepsidemus Stop talking nonsense, my good man, for I know clearly.
Chremylus Do not suspect any such thing of me! Blepsidemus Alas!
How absolutely nothing is healthy in anyone,
but everyone is a slave to profit.
Chremylus By Demeter, you don't seem to me to be sane!
Blepsidemus How much he has changed from the way he used to be!
Chremylus You are melancholy Original "melanchola," meaning to be out of one's mind or suffering from a "black bile" delusion, man, by heaven!