morter Their drinke which yeeldeth a kinde of moysture much like unto dew they have no avoydance of excrements either of urine or dung neither have they any issue for that purpose like unto us their boyes admit copulation not like unto ours but in their hammes a little above the calfe of the legge for there they are open they hold it a great ornament to be bald for hairie persons are abhord with them Because that Comets seeme to be hairie and have their name from thence and yet among the Starres that are Comets it is thought commendable as some that have travelled those coasts reported unto us such beards as they have are growing a little above their knees they have no nailes on their feete for their whole foote is all but one toe every one of them at the point of his rumpe hath a long colewort growing out in stead of a tale alwaies greene and flourishing which though a man fall upon his backe cannot be broken the dropping of their noses is more sweete than honey when they labour or exercise themselves they annoint their bodie with milke whereinto if a little of that honey chance to drop it will be turned into cheese they make very fat oile of their beanes and of as delicate a savour as any sweet ointment they have many vines in those parts which yeeld them but water for the grapes that hang upon the clusters are like our halestones and I verily thinke that when the vines there are shaken with a strong winde there falls a storme of haile amongst us by the breaking down of those kinde of berries their bellies stand them instead of sachels to put in their necessaries which they may open and shut at their pleasure for they have neither liver nor any kind of entralls onely they are rough and hairie within so that when their young children are cold they may be inclosed therein to keepe them warme the rich men have garments of glasse very soft and delicate the poorer sort of brasse woven whereof they have great plentie which they inseame with water to make it fit for the workman as we do our wooll If I should write what manner of eies they have I doubt I should be taken for a liar The cause of haile The like is faigned by the Poets of the Gorgons three sisters that had but one eye amongst them which they used by turnes when they went abroad in publishing a matter so incredible yet I cannot chuse but tell it for they have eyes to take in and out as please themselves and when a man is so disposed hee may take them out and lay them by till hee have occasion to use them and then put them in and see againe many when they have lost their owne eies borrow of others for the rich have many lying by them their eares are all made of the leaves of plane-trees excepting those that come of acornes for they onely have them made of vvood I saw also another strange thing in the same court a mightie great glasse lying upon the top of a pit of no great depth whereinto if any man descend hee shall heare every thing that is spoken upon the earth if hee but looke into the glasse hee shall see all cities and all nations as well as if hee were among them there had I the sight of all my friends and the whole countrie about whether they saw mee or not I cannot tell but if they beleeve it not to be so let them take the paines to goe thither themselves and they shall finde my words true then we tooke our leaves of the king and such as were neare him and tooke shipping and departed at which time Endymion bestowed upon mee two mantles made of their glasse five of brasse with a compleat armour of those shells of lupines all which I left behinde mee in the whale and sent with us a thousand of his Hippogypians to conduct us five hundred furlongs on our way In our course we coasted many other countries and lastly arrived at the morning starre now newly inhabited where wee landed and tooke in fresh water from thence wee entred the Zodiake passing by the Sunne and leaving it on our right hand tooke our course neare unto the shoare but landed not in the country though our companie did much desire it for the winde would not give us leave but wee saw it was a flourishing region fat and well watered abounding with all delights but the Nephelocentaures espying us who were mercenary souldiers to Phaethon The citie of lights made to our ship as fast as they could and finding us to be friends said no more unto us for our Hippogypians were departed before then wee made forwards all the next night and day and about evening-tide following wee came to a citie called Lychnopolis still holding on our course downewards this citie is seated in the aire betweene the Pleiades and the Hyades somewhat lower than the Zodiake and arriving there not a man was to be seene but lights in great numbers running to and fro which were imployed some in the market place and some about the haven of which many were little and as a man may say but poore things some againe were great and mightie exceeding glorious and resplendent and there were places of receipt for them all every one had his name as well as men and we did heare them speake these did us no harme but invited us to feast with them yet we weare so fearfull that we durst neither eate nor sleepe as long as wee vvere there their court of justice standeth in the midst of the citie A very proper death where the governour sitteth all the night long calling every one by name and hee that answereth not is adjudged to die as if he had forsaken his rankes their death is to be quenched wee also standing amongst them sawe what was done and heard what answers the lights made for themselves and the reasons they alleaged for tarrying so long there wee also knew our owne light and spake unto it and questioned it of our affaires at home and how all did there which related every thing unto us As some have affirmed every countrie to be governed specially by some particular Star so hee faignes a light in this city for everie nation which could tell all that was done amongst them that night vvee made our abode there and on the next morrow returned to our ship and sailing neare unto the clouds had a sight of the citie Nephelococcygia which wee beheld with great wonder but entred not into it for the winde was against us the King thereof was Coronus the sonne of Cottyphion and I could not chuse but thinke upon the Poet k In his Comedie called the Clouds which hee wrote against Socrates Aristophanes how wise a man hee was and how true a reporter and how little cause there is to question his fidelitie for what hee hath written
to give any just account of their owne and can therefore be hardly thought fit and competent judges of another mans Written lives being nothing else but the lineaments of the minde as the plaine draught and extremities of a picture are of the body colours may give it ornament and beauty but addes but little to the true resemblance as he then that undertakes to copie out the one had need to bee well skil'd in the composure and difference of faces so he that adventures to draw the other ought to bee as cleare sighted in discerning manners and actions For the least mistake but of the smallest touch or shaddow in a face alters the shape and posture of the countenance and in matter either of life or government the insertion or omission of the meanest circumstance may give an alteration and difference to an action As for our author now in hand there is but little trust to bee given to the tracke of former times for some that have heretofore undertaken to record his life having drawne three or foure severall persons of that name some Sophisters some Rhetoricians and living at severall times into one Lucian have not so much wrote his life as made it In a matter therefore so full of uncertaintie to avoyde the like errour in following the doubtfull and various relations of such Writers as give no other reasons for their opinions then their owne authoritie I have thought best to gather him out of himselfe and so as neare as I can make the author his owne Biographer b Joannes de Ravenna in rationar vit M. S. in Biblioth Coll. Balliol nemo enim quam se quemquam meliùs novit vitae nemo verior testis c. First then for the place that brought him forth he was borne in c In lib. quomodo scribend Histor in Piscator Samosata the Metropolis and prime Citie of Comagenia d Plin. lib. 2. cap. 104 l. 5. cap. 24. seated not farre from the river Euphrates in the Country e Strabo l. 16. of Syria which is f Plin. lib. 5. c. 20. Pomp. Mel. lib. 1. cap. 11. Volaterr l. 11. cap. 8. Herodot l. 2. c. a region of the greater Asia berdering upon Palestine and Arabia so called sayes g cap. 57.58 Diod. Sic. l. 4. Solinus from Syrus the sonne of Apollo and Synope and oftentimes in his writings he calls himselfe h In Piscat in Scyth in lib. advers indoct c Syrian i In Dea Syria Assyrian k In bis accusato and the Syrian Rhetorician l In Dea Syria having when he was yet but a youth consecrated in the Citie of Hierapolis according to the custome of that Country the first cutting of his haire to the Syrian Goddesse Howbeit m In Asino in Pseudolog at other times he derives himselfe from Patras n Herodot l. 1. Plin. lib. 4. cap. 5. a Citie of Achaia as if o In comment in octavum lib. metamorph Apuleii sayes Beroaldus he would hereby intimate the one to be the place of his nativity the other of his descent according to that of Livie nati Carthagine oriundi Syracusis Secondly for his kindred p In Asino His Fathers name was Lucius his brothers Caius who as he sayes was an Elegiack Poet and a Sooth-sayer That he was borne but of meane parentage we may well conjecture q In Somnio his friends not being able to breed him up a Scholler or to afford him education correspondent to so hopefull a genius and therefore plac't him with an Vnckle of his by the mothers side who was an excellent cutter in stone that hee might learne a trade whereby to get his living but there he stay'd not long for either led by his good fortune or driven by his hard usage he soone gave his Vnckle the slip and became his owne carver applying himselfe afterwards wholly to his booke At the length both friends and meanes failing him at home he left Samosata and went to Antioch where having bestowed some time in the study and practise of the Law that profession and condition of life either thwarting his disposition or not answering his expectation being besides an excellent Rhetorician he left his Law and betooke himselfe and travelling into r In Hercule Gallico in pro mercede conduct France became there a publique professor in that Art Departing thence he went into Macedonia where hee gave a full and open testimony of his worth and learning ſ In Herodoto before a generall assembly of the most able and sufficient persons of the whole country Having thus after many and sundry perigrinations made himselfe knowne and famous in divers regions he now began to draw nearer home and to travell farther into himselfe for perceiving the Rhetoricians of those times to direct the whole bent and scope of their studies towards their owne ends endeavouring more the enriching and preferment of themselves then the advancement of vertue and goodnesse and finding the profession likewise t In Reviviscentib full of many disturbances deceptions oppositions impudences lies clamours and infinite other inconveniences hee forsooke this also u In Hermotim and about the 40th yeare of his age betooke himselfe to Philosophie x In Icaromen in Hermot When having by great industrie and studie acquainted himselfe with the severall tenents and doctrines almost of every sect and finding that they not only crost and contradicted each other in the very grounds and principles of all Arts and Sciences and chiefly in matter of Religion and in their conceits and opinions of the Gods but also that their lives and practises were nothing at all agreeable to their rules and precepts hee grew at length into such an utter dislike of them being himselfe a man that alwayes profest an uprightnesse of carriage and freedome of speech y In Piscator as may appeare by those artes which he acknowledges himselfe to be skill'd in and that borrow'd name of Parrhisiades that he bent his style almost wholly against them and became a sharpe and earnest opposer of the titular and mock-Philosophers of that age laying open to the world in his writings by way of Dialogue after a most pleasant and comicall manner their avarice intemperance ambition and hypocrisie and so farre deriding the senselesse superstition and feigned deities of the heathen that hee thereby got the sirname of z Suidas Atheos or Blasphemus and was commonly reputed a mocker and derider both of Gods and men They that report him to have beene sometimes a Christian and that afterwards falling into apostasie he should scoffingly say that he got nothing by that Religion but only the corruption of his name which was changed at his baptizing from Lucius to Lucianus have not only wrote more then they could justifie but what is easie enough to bee disprov'd for whosoever shall reade his booke de
patronage a friend nor crie quittance with a foe nor worthy to be emulated by other citizens only a meer drudge one of the common rascalitie ready to give way to thy better and waite upon him that can speake in thy behalfe living the life of a hare and great luck if ever thou light upon a better for say thou come to be as cunning as Phidias or Polycletus and worke many wonderous pieces thy Art will certainly bee commended by all men but not one that lookes on them if hee love himselfe will wish to be such an other as thou for bee what thou canst be thou shalt be but a mechanicall fellow one of a manuall Trade that hath no meanes to live but by his handy-labour But if thou wilt be ruled by me I will acquaint thee with all the famous Acts and memorable exploits of men of former time I will make thee know all that hath beene spoken or delivered by them so that thou shalt have a perfect insight into all things thy minde which is the lordly part within thee I will beautifie and garnish with many excellent ornaments as temperance justice pietie clemencie wisdome patience the love of good things and desire to attaine to matters of worth for these indeede are the ornature of the minde that shall never decay nothing whatsoever it be ancient or moderne shall escape thy knowledge and by my assistance thou shalt also foresee what is yet to come and to conclude I will in a short space make thee learned in all things divine and humane so thou that art now so poore and simple the son of a meane person that lately was like to bee put to a base and ignoble Art within a while shalt bee emulated and envied by all men reverenced commended and celebrated for thy good parts and respected by those that are of an high ranke both for nobilitie and riches then shalt thou be clad in such a garment as this is shewing mee the mantle shee wore herselfe which was very gorgeous to the eye and thought worthy of all honour and preheminence if it shall be thy fortune to travell into any forraine place thou shalt never arrive there as a person unknowne and obscure for I will set such markes and tokens upon thee that every one that seeth thee shall jogge the next stander by on the elbow e Pulchrum est digito monstrari dicier hic est Persius sat and point out his finger toward thee saying This is the man If any occasion of urgencie betide thy friends or the whole Citie they all shall cast their eyes upon thee when thou art to make a speech in any place the whole multitude shall stand gaping to heare thee admiring and wondring at thee blessing the powerfulnesse of thy deliverance and thy fathers happinesse to beget such a sonne And as it is said of some men that they shall continue immortall the same will I effect in thee for when thou shalt depart this life thou shalt perpetually converse with learned men and keepe company with the best hast thou not heard of f Plutarch in the life of Demosthenes Demosthenes what a poore mans sonne he was and what a fellow I brought him to be remembrest thou not Aeschines the sonne of a Taberer yet how did King Philip observe him for my sake yea g Socrates was the sonne of Sophroniscus a Carver and as some say exerces'd that Art himselfe the cloathed Graces in the tower of Athens were thought to have bin of his workmanship he also exercis'd painting and made the pictures of Aesculapius and his five daughters Plin. nat hist lib. 35. cap. 11. Socrates himselfe though he were bred up in this art of carving yet as soone as he made a better choice and gave that trade the bagge to be intertain'd as a fugitive by me you know how much he was magnified by all men and wilt thou forsake men of such excellent worth such glorious exploits such powerfull speeches such decent attire honour glory praise precedencie power authority commendation for good words admiration for wisedome and in leiw of all this cover thy skinne with a base garment cast a thread-bare cloak upon thy backe have thy hands full of carving tooles fit for thy trade thy face ever more bent downewards towards thy worke so continuing a sordide slavish and abject life never able to lift up thy head or to entertaine any manly or free thoughts but all thy care must bee to have thy worke handsome and proportionable respecting not a rush thine owne good but making thy selfe of lesse value then a stone Whilest she was yet speaking I could hold no longer for my life but rising up declared my selfe for her and abandoning that ugly drudge betooke me to learning with a glad heart especially when I bethought my selfe of the lash and the many stripes I received for my welcome the day before she that was forsaken tooke it haynously clapt her hands at me gnasht her teeth together against mee and in the end like a second h Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus and wife to Amphion King of Thebes who having borne unto her husband six sonnes and six daughters became thereupon so proud that shee preferr'd her selfe before Latona Whereat the Goddesse being mov'd with anger caused all her children to bee shot to death by her son and daughter Apollo and Diana and Niobe her selfe to be carried with a whirle winde neare unto Sipylus a Citie of Maeonia which was her native Country and there turn'd into a rocke of marble Vid. Ovids Metamorph the 6. booke Niobe i A fit metamorphosis for her profession was wholly congealed and turned into a stone you may thinke it strange but distrust not the truth for dreames can produce as unlikely matters as this But the other casting her eye upon me What recompence shall I make thee saith shee for passing thy censure with such discretion come hither and mount this chariot shewing me a chariot drawne with certaine horses winged and shaped like k Pegasus was a winged horse sprung from Medusas bloud when her head was strooken off by Perseus Pegasus that thou mayst see how many rare wonders thou shouldst have beene ignorant of if thou hadst not followed me When I was got up she drave away and supplyed the place of a Coachman and being raised to a full height I looked every way round about me beginning at the East and so to the West beholding Cities and Nations and people and like l Celeus King of the Elusines having entertained the Goddesse Ceres when she travail'd in the search of her lost daughter Proserpine shee in recompence of his liberall hospitalitie not only taught him the art of husbandrie but also nursed his young son Triptolemus with her owne milke and afterwards placing him in a chariot drawne with winged serpents sent him abroade into the world to teach men the use of corne and seed which as he rode
is impossible to imagine either time or place Friend These are bold fellowes indeed Menippus and talke of strange matters Menippus What if you should heare them speake sweete friend of their Ideas and Incorporalities Their tearmes and how they argue about finite and infinite a quarell that can never be composed for some confine the world to an end others will have it without end g Xenophanes vid. Laett in ejus vit some give out that there are many worlds and reprove them that talke as if there vvere but one h Heraclytus Empedocles another some quarrelsome companion I warrant him affirmes warre and falling out to be the originall of things what should I trouble you to tell you of their gods for to some i The Pythagoreans a certaine Arithmeticall number stands in steed of a god k Socrates others sweare by dogges geese and plane trees l The Platonickes Peripateticks c. Themistius the Philosopher as it is recorded by Socrates in his Ecclesiasticall Historie affirmes that there were above three huÌ„dred severall opinions concerning God and Religion among the Heathen Philosophers Soc. Eccl. Hist lib. 4. c. 27. some would make a riddance of other gods and ascribe the government of all things to one alone which drew mee into a great deale of distraction to heare men hold such uncertainties of the gods m The Poets others againe as liberally will allow us gods enough but they divide them into severall degrees calling one the chiefe god and allotting the second place to others and a third to the last moreover some hold opinion that the godhead hath neither body nor shape and some are conceited of it as of a body againe all do not attribute to god the provident disposing of our aâ—…ires n The Epicureans for there are some which exempt them from all care as we do old men from bearing office bringing them in for all the world like attendants in a stage play o Atheists others againe go beyond all these and will not beleeve there are any gods at all but leave the world at randome to be carried about without governour or guide when I heard all this I could not but beleeve men that spake so bigge words and wore so bigge beards yet knew not to what opinion to incline where I might finde such certaintie as could not be confuted by others and I was directly brought into such a case as Homer speakes of * The motives that caused him to undertakâ— this journey for when I found my selfe many times apt enough to be led by some of them suddenly a contrary conceipt would draw me another way This brought mee into such a quandarie that I despaired to have any true intelligence in these matters upon earth and thought there could be no better course to cleare my selfe from these uncertainties then to get mee wings and make a journey into heaven which I was brought in hope to effect principally for the vehemencie of my desire next by the encouragement of p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is so termed by Plutarch in his Solon but here by Lucian meerly in mockerie Aesope the fable-maker who made heaven pervious to eagles nay sometimes to beetles and camels but to make feathers spring out of my flesh I thought it impossible by any devise I could imagine yet if I could provide my selfe of wings either of a vulture or of an eagle for they onely would be able to beare the weight of a mans body then perhaps my project might proceed to some purpose whereupon I got mee those birds How hee furnished himselfe for it and cut off the right wing of the one and the left wing of the other which was the vulture as handsomely as I could and buckling them about mee fastned them to my shoulders with thongs of strong leather and at the ends of the uttermost feathers made mee loopes to put my hands through and then began to trie what I could do leaping upwards at the first to begin withall and sayling with my armes lifted my bodie a little from the ground no higher then geese use to do when they begin their flight and keeping my selfe low He practiseth to flie often touched the earth with the top of my toes but when I found by this that my device was answerable to my hopes I grew every day to bee more bold than other and getting up to the top of the Castle stew from thence and alighted at the Theater After so great a flight taken without any danger my minde carried mee to matters of more eminencie and beginning my course sometimes at the Hill q A hill in Artica Parnes somtimes at Mount r A Mountaine in Artica very fruitfull for Bees where was a statua of Jupiter thence called Jupiter Hymettius Pausan in Artic Hymâ—… would flie as farre as to Å¿ A hill in Megaris Thucyd. lib. 1. Garanea and from thence up to s The top of the Mountain hanging over the Citie Corinth Acrâ—corinthus then over t A Hill in Arcadia Pholoe and u A Mountaine in Arcadia Erymaâ—…bus and so to w A Mountaine in Laconia Pausan in Lacon Taygetus When I had thus well practised my selfe in my new profession and growne so perfect that I could mount at pleasure I thought my selfe a chicken no longer but got me up to the top of x A high Mountaine in Greece bordering on the one side on Thessalie on the other on Macedonia Paus used by the Poets for Heaven Olympus and there furnishing my selfe with victuales as expeditely as I could from thence took my * He beginneth his journey way directly towards Heaven and at the first the distance made mee somwhat dizzie for a time but afterwards I endured it well enough when I was got up as high as the Moone by making way thorough so many cloudes I found my selfe wearie especially upon the left wing which was of the Vulture I therefore sate me down upon it to rest my selfe from thence looking towards the Earth that was beneath me Iliad 8. v. 51. and like Homers Jupiter somtime beheld the horsemen of Thrace and sometimes the Mysians then if I pleas'd mee would cast mine eye upon Greece or upon Persia or India out of all which countries I was filled with varietie of rare delights Friend Tell me that too good Menippus let no one particular of your travels be left out but whatsoever came to your view though it were no appurtenance to your journey yet let me heare it for I looke for no ordinary matter from you but to bee inform'd what fashion the Earth was of and all that was in it as you beheld it from above Menip Your expectation shall not faile you my good friend for placing my selfe upon the Moone as well as I could shee travelled with me in her usuall course and holp mee to survey the order of all earthly
they are all puft up with winde some more some lesse some have a short continuance of swelling and some vanish as soone as they are risen but all must needs burst in the end Mercurie Well said Charon Iliad 6. v. 146. thou hast made as good a comparison as Homer for he likens the generation of men to the leaves of trees Charon They are no better Mercurie and yet you see how busie they are and what a stirre they make in striving for dignities honours and possessions which they must all leave behinde them and bring but one poore halfe-pennie with them when they come to us what if I should call aloud unto them now wee are got to such a height and exhort them to abstaine from their vaine imployments and to live as having death alwaies before their eyes and say unto them O foolish men why do you bestow your time upon such trifles mis-spend not your travels to so ill purpose ye shall not live for ever nothing you here affect can be perpetuall neither shall any man bring any of it away with him at his death but of necessitie he must come starke naked and leave his house his land and money behinde him to be for ever in the possession of others and subject to the changes of many masters if I should proclaime this and the like amongst them out of a place whence all might heare mee do you not thinke it would do a great deale of good and make them more warie in their carriage Merc. O honest Charon little dost thou know how they are bewitched with ignorāce error their eares so stopt that they can hardly be boared open with an awgar Vlysses could not make his followers eares more fast with waxe from hearing the Syrens you may breake your heart with calling before they will harken to you Od. 12. v. 177 for look what vertue the water of Lethe hath with you the same operation hath ignorance with them yet there are some few amongst them that will suffer no waxe to be crammed into their eares but are attentive to the truth see perfecty how the world goes and able to judge of it accordingly Charon What if I call to them Mercurie It were bootelesse to tell them what they know alreadie you see how they stand aloofe off from the multitude and deride their actions taking no contentment in them perceive you not how they are upon consultation to turne fugitives out of this life and runne to you for they are hated of all men because they reprove their ignorance Charon Few men wise Well done honest hearts but Mercurie mee thinkes there be but few of them Mercurie These are all let us now downe againe Charon One thing more Mercurie I desire to heare from you let mee know but that and you shall make your guidance compleat I would faine see the places where dead bodies lye when they are cast into the earth Mercurie They are called monuments Charon and tombes and sepulchers dost thou not see those heapes of earth that are cast up before their cities and the pillars the f The Aegyptian sepulchers built by their Kings at a wonderfull charge Pyramides those are all store-houses and receptacles of dead carcases Charon But why do they crowne those stones with garlands and annoint them with sweet ointments some make a great pile of wood before those heapes of earth upon which they burne costly and delicate banquets The manner of buriall in ancient times and digge a pitt in the earth into which they powre as I suppose wine and honey mixt with it Mercurie Beleeve mee Ferriman I do not know wha◠good all this can doe to them that are in hell but perhaps they are perswaded the soules below come up againe to feed upon the savour and smoake of the feast as they flie about it and to drinke of the liquor in the pit Charon They eate or drinke whose sculls are withered dried up but I am a foole to say so much to you that conduct them every day and know it unpossible for them to get up againe when they are once under the earth I were in a poore case then indeed and should have somewhat to doe if I were not onely to bring them downe but also carry them up againe to drinke O vaine men and ignorant not knowing upon what termes the state of dead and living men depend nor the manner of our beeing where g Animitation and inversion of some of Homers verses Iliad 1. Od. 10. c. No difference is but all is one Whether they have Tombes or none Poore Irus of as great a birth As Agamemnon under earth Thersites hath as good a feature As Thetis sonne that comely creature All emptie skulls naked and drie In Asphodelus medows lie Mercurie O Hercules what a deale of Homer hast thou pumpt up together but now thou hast put it into my head I will shew thee Achilles tombe see where it stands upon the sea shoare for that is the h Both Promontories nere unto Troy Trojan Sigeum and over against it is Ajax entombed in h Both Promontories nere unto Troy Rhoetium Charon These are no such great monuments Mercurie but now let mee see those famous cities we have heard of below as i Ninivie Ninus the citie of Sardanapalus and Babylon and k Ancient cities of Greece Mycenae and k Ancient cities of Greece Cleonae and the citie of Troy for I remember I have transported many a man from thence l All the time of the Trojan warre tenne yeares together I had no time to draw up my boat into the dock nor once to make it cleane Mercurie Ninus ferriman is utterly vanisht no token of it remaining neither can any man tell where it stood but Babylon you may see yonder the citie that hath so many towres and takes up so great a circuit of ground shortly to be sought after as well as the other as for Mycenae and Cleonae I am ashamed to shew them and especially Troy for I know when you are got downe againe you will have about with Homer for magnifying them so much in his verses yet in former time they have beene famous places though now decayed for cities must die Ferriman as well as men which is more to be admired even whole rivers are perished from having any beeing m A river said to be in the countrie Argos Inachus hath not so much as a sepulchre to be seen in all the countrie of Argos Charon Alas good Homer that thou shouldst commend them so highly and set them forth with such stately titles as sacred Ilium spacious Ilium beautifull Cleonae but whilst wee are busie in talke who are they that are fighting yonder and kill one another so desperately Mercurie There thou seest the Argives and Lacedaemonians in battell Charon and Othryades their captaine halfe dead n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Others
of the yeare which is the spring and feele no other wind but Zephirus Homer the region flourisheth with all sorts of flowres and vvith all pleasing plants fit for shade their vines beare fruit twelve times a yeare everie moneth once their pomegranate trees their apple trees and their other fruit they say beare thirteene times in the yeare for in the moneth called Minous they beare twice Instead of wheat their eares beare them loaves of bread ready baked like unto mushrummes about the citie are three hundred threescore and five vvells of vvater and as many of honey and five hundred of sweete ointment for they are lesse than the other they have seven rivers of milke and eight of vvine they keepe their feast vvithout the citie in a field called Elysium vvhich is a most pleasant medow invironed vvith vvoods of all sorts so thicke that they serve for a shade to all that are invited vvho fit upon beds of flowres and are waited upon and have every thing brought unto them by the windes unlesse it be to have the wine filled and that there is no need of for about the banketing place are mightie great trees growing of cleare and pure glasse and the fruit of those trees are drinking cups and other kinde of vessels of what fashion or greatnesse you will and every man that comes to the feast gathers one or two of those cups and sets them before him which will be full of wine presently and then they drinke instead of garlands the nightingales and other musicall birds gather flowers with their becks out of the medowes adjoyning and flying over their heads vvith chirping noates scatter them among them they are annointed with sweete ointment in this manner sundrie clouds draw that unguent out of the fountaines and the rivers which setling over the heads of them that are at the banket the least blast of winde makes a small raine fall upon them like unto a dewe After supper they spend the time in musicke and singing their ditties that are in most request they take out of m For he was in most esteeme among the ancients Homers verses who is there present himselfe and feasteth among them sitting n Vlysses had good reasâ—n to give place to Homer who lied so lustily for his credit next above Vlysses their quiers consist of boies and virgins which were directed and assisted by o Two excellent musitians Eunomus the Locrian and o Two excellent musitians Arion the Lesbian and p Two famous Lyrick Poets Anacreon and p Stesichorus having much inveighed against Hellena in his verses as the cause of all the Trojan war was strooke blind by Castor and Pollux but upon his recantation recovevered his sight Excellent liquor for a feast Stesichorus who hath had a place there ever since his reconcilement with Hellena As soone as these have done there enter a second quier of swans swallowes and nightingales and when they have ended the whole woods ring like winde instruments by the stirring of the aire but that which maketh most for their mirth are two wells adjoyning to the banquetting place the one of laughter the other of pleasure of these every man drinkes to begin the feast withall which makes them spend the whole time in mirth and laughter I will also relate unto you what famous men I saw in that association There were all the demigods and all that fought against Troy excepting q This Ajax when Troy was taken ravished Cassandra the daughter of Priamus being a virgin and preist to Minerva in the Temple of Pallas for which the goddesse sent a tempest which disperst the navie of the Grecians as they returned and sunke Ajax with a thunderbolt Ajax the Locrian he onely they told mee was tormented in the region of the unrighteous of Barbarians there was the elder and the yonger Cyrus and r The onely wise man among the Scythians who endevouring to bring in the Athenian lawes amongst his barbarous countrimen was slaine by the King his brother Laert. Anacharsis the Scythian Å¿ Scoller and servant to Pythagoras Zamolxis the Thracian and t The second Roman King Numa the Italian there was also u Law giver to the Lacedaemonians Plutarch Lycurgus the Lacedaemonian and * Two wise men of Athens that professed povertie Plutarch Phocion and * Two wise men of Athens that professed povertie Plutarch Tellus the Athenians and and all the wise men unlesse it were x Who was K. of Corinth and a Tyrant Periander I also saw Socrates the sonne of Sophroniscus pratling with Nestor and Palamedes and close by him stood z Socrates profest himselfe learned in nothing but onely love and that of young youths which he held to the best and noblest affection seeing that this was the best meanes to bring up the younger sort in the knowledge of goodnesse and vertuo but his enemies made the worst construction of it and therefore Lucian brings him in here with these young and beautifull laddes Hyacinthus the Lacedaemonian and the gallant Narcissus and Hyllas and other beautifull lovely youths and for ought I could gather by him hee vvas farre in love vvith Hyacinthus for hee discoursed with him more then all the rest for which cause they said Rhadamanthus was offended at him and often threatned to thrust him out of the Island if hee continued to play the foole in that fashion and not give over his idle manner of jesting vvhen hee was at their banket onely a Such a one as he would have in his common wealth Plato was not present for they said hee dwelled in a citie framed by himselfe observing the same rule of government and lawes as hee had prescribed for them to live under Aristippus and Epicurus are prime men amongst them because they are the most joviall good fellowes and the best companions Diogenes the Sinopean was so farre altered from the man hee was before that hee married with Lais the harlot and vvas many times so drunke that hee would rise and dance about the roome as a man out of his sences b The fable-maker No Stoâ—cks in Elysium Aesope the Phrygian served them for a jester there was not one Stoicke in companie but were still busied in ascending the height of vertues hill Nectom r. and of c A Philosopher scholler to Zeno the greatest Logician of his time and chiefe of the Stotcks sect Chrysippus wee heard that it was not lawfell for him by any meanes to touch upon the Island untill hee have the fourth time purged himselfe with Elleborus the d Hee meanes not the Platonicks who are call'd the old Academicks but the new Academicke who would affirme nothing and held it impossible that anything should be truly knowne and therefore hee saies they abolished all kinde of judgement What was the difference between these and the Pyrrhonians or Scepticks See Gellius 1.11 c. 5. Academicks they say
were willing enough to come but that they yet are doubtfull and in suspence cannot comprehend how there should be any such Island but indeed I thinke they were fearfull to come to be judged by Rhadamanthus because themselves have abolished all kinde of judgement yet many of them they say had a desire and would follow after those that were comming hither but were so sloathfull as to give it over because they were not comprehensive and therefore turned backe in the midst of their way these were all the men of note that I saw there and amongst them all Achilles was held to be the best man and next to him Theseus for their manner of venerie and copulation thus it is they couple openly in the eyes of all men both with females and male kinde and no man holds it for any dishonestie onely Socrates vvould sweare deeply that he accompanied young men in a cleanly fashion and therefore every man condemned him for a perjured fellow and Hyacinthus snd Narcissus both confest otherwise for all his deniall the women there are all in common and no man takes exception at it in which respect they are absolutely e Plato in his commonwealth would have all women commō the best Platonists in the world and so do the boyes yeeld themselves to any mans pleasure without contradiction after I had spent two or three daies in this manner I went to talke with Homer the poet our leasure serving us both well and to know of him what countrie man he was a question with us hard to be resolved and hee said he could not certainly tell himselfe f Seven Cities of Greece strove for the birth of Homer which are comprised in this verse Smyrna Rhodos Colophon Salamē Chios Argos Athenae because some said hee was of Chios some of Smyrna and many to be of Colophon but hee said indeed hee was a Babilonian and among his owne countrimen not called Homer but Tigranes and afterwards living as an g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a pledge or hostage hostage among the Graecians hee had therefore that name put upon him then I questioned him about those verses in his bookes that are dasallowed as not of his making whether they were written by him or not and hee told mee they were all his owne much condemning h Two carping grammarians that undertooke to correct some of Homers verses Zenodatus and h Two carping grammarians that undertooke to correct some of Homers verses Aristarchus the Grammarians for their vveakenesse in judgement when hee had satisfied mee in this I asked him againe i This touches some Commentators upon Homer who have gone about to give a reason almost of every word hee wrote why hee began the first verse of his poeme with anger and hee told mee it fell out so by chance not upon any premeditation I also desired to know of him whether hee wrote his Odysses before his Iliads as many men do hold but he said it was not so as for his blindnesse which is charged upon him I soone found it was farre otherwise and perceived it so plainly that I needed not to question him about it thus vvas I used to doe many daies when I found him idle and would goe to him and aske him many questions vvhich hee would give mee answer to very freely especially when wee talked o a triall hee had in the court of justice wherein hee got the better for k See Necromant b. Thersites had preferd a bill of complaint against him for abusing him and scoffing at him in his Poeme in which action Homer was acquitted having l Who was an eloquent Orator Vlysses for his advocate about the same time came to us m See the Cock a. h. Pythagoras the Samian who had changed his shape now seven times and lived in as many lives and accomplished the periodes of his soule the right halfe of his bodie was wholy of gold and they all agreed that hee should have place amongst them but were doubtfull what to call him Pythagoras or Euphorbus n Icaromenip a. b. Empedocles also came to the place scorcht quite over as if his bodie had beene broild upon the embers but could not be admitted for all his great intreatie the time passing thus along the day of prizes for masteries of activitie now approached which they call o Games and masteries among the dead Thanatusia the setters of them forth were p He alludes to the manner of the Roman magistrates who when they exhibited playes unto the people the names of the setters forth were Registred and the time how often they had done it Achilles the fifth time and Theseus the seventh time to relate the whole circumstance would require a long discourse but the principall points I will deliver at wrastling Carus one of the linage of Hercules had the best and wanne the garland from Vlysses the fight vvith fists was equall betweene Arius the Aegyptian vvho was buried at Corinth and Epius that combated for it there was no prize appointed for the q Fighting at all manner of weapons Pancratian fight 〈…〉 er do I remember who got the best in running 〈…〉 etrie though Homer without question were to good for them all yet the best was given to r Homer and Hesiod lived about the same time and it hath been controverted by many which was the better poet Hesiodus the prizes were all alike garlands plotted of peacocks feathers As soone as the games were ended newes came to us that the damned crew in the habitation of the wicked had broken their bounds escaped the Jaylours and were comming to assaile the Island led ſ Who were all bloody Tyrants or notorious robbers by Phalaris the Acragentine Busyris the Aegyptian Diomedes the Thracian Sciron Pitnocamptes and others which Rhadamanthus hearing hee ranged the Heroes in battell aray upon the sea shore under the leading of Theseus and Achilles and Ajax Telamonius who had now recovered his senses where they joyned fight but the Heroes had the day Achilles carrying himselfe very nobly Socrates also who was placed in the right wing was noted for a brave souldier t Plato in his Laches or Dialogue of fortitude prayseth Socrates for his manhood at Delium in which battell the Athenians were overthrowne by the Boeotians and ranne all away much better than he was in his lifetime in the battell at Delium for when the enemie charged him hee neither fled nor changed countenance wherefore afterwards in reward of his valour hee had a prize set out for him on pupose which was a beautifull and spacious garden planted in the suburbes of the citie whereunto hee invited many and disputed with them there giving it the name of u Academia was a wooddy place about a mile from Athens where Socrates did sometimes meet his schollers and dispute with them here Plato was borne and from hence Lucian takes this name which
tormented and comming at last to the prison and place of torment vvee wondered to see the nature and qualitie of the soile which brought forth no other flowers but swords and daggers and round about it ranne certaine rivers the first of dirt the second of blood and the innermost of burning fire which was very broad and unpassable floting like water and working like the waves of the sea full of sundrie fishes some as bigge as firebrands others of a lesse sise like coales of fire and these they call Lychniscies there was but one narrow entrance into it and Timon of Athens appointed to keepe the doore yet wee got in by the helpe of Nauplius and saw them that were tormented both Kings and private persons very many of which there were some that I Knew for there I saw Cynirus tyed by private members and hanging up in the smoake but the greatest torments of all are inflicted upon them that told any lies in their life-time and wrote untruly as d Two historians Ctesias the Cnidian Herodotus and many other which I beholding was put in great hopes that I should never have any thing to do there Witnesse this historie for I do not know that ever I spake any untruth in my life wee therefore returned speedily to our ship for we could indure the sight no longer and taking our leaves of Nauplius sent him backe againe A little after appeared the Isle of Dreames neare unto us The Island and Citie of Dreams described an obscure countrie and unperspicuous to the eie indued with the same qualitie as dreames themselves are for as wee drew it still gave backe and fled from us that it seemed to be farther off then at the first but in the end wee attained it and entred the haven called e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sleepe Hypnus and adjoyned to the gate of Ivorie where the temple of f Or Alector Alectryon stands and tooke land somewhat late in the evening entring the gate wee saw many dreames of sundrie fashions See the Cocke but I will first tell you somewhat of the citie because no man else hath written any description of it Odyss lib. 9 v. 562. onely Homer hath toucht it a little but to small purpose it is round about environed with a wood the trees whereof are exceeding high g Hearbs procuring sleepe The names both of places and persons here are compounded of such words as signifie something belonging to dreames sleepe or to the night Poppies and Mandragoras in which an infinite number of owles doe nestle and no other birds to be seene in the Island neare unto it is a river running called by them Nyctiporus and at the gates are two wells the one named Negretus the other Pannychia the wall of the citie is high and of a changeable colour like unto the rainebow in vvhich are foure gates though Homer speake but of two for there are two vvhich looke toward the fields of flowth the one made of iron the other of potters clay through which those dreames have passage that represent fearefull bloodie and cruell matters the other two behold the haven and the sea of which the one is made of horne the other of Ivorie vvhich vvee vvent in at As vvee entred the citie on the right hand stands the temple of the Night vvhom with Alectryon they reverence above all the gods for hee hath also a Temple built for him neare unto the haven on the left hand stands the pallace of sleepe for hee is the soveraigne King over them all and hath deputed two great Princes to governe under him namely Taraxion the sonne of Matoegenes and Plutocles the sonne of Phantasion in the middest of the market-place is a well by them called Careotis and two temples adjoyning the one of falshood the other of truth which have either of them a private cell peculiar to the Priests and an oracle in which the chiefe prophet is Antipho the interpreter of dreames vvho was preferd by sleepe to that place of dignitie these dreames are not all alike either in nature or shape for some of them are long beautifull and pleasing others againe are as short and deformed some make shew to be of gold and others to be as base and beggarly some of them had wings and were of monstrous formes others set out in pompe as it were in a triumph representing the apparances of Kings Gods and other persons many of them were of our acquaintance for they had beene seene of us before which came unto us and saluted us as their old friends and tooke us and lull'd us asleep feasted us nobly and courteously promising beside all other entertainment which was sumptuous and costly to make us Kings and Princes some of them brought us home to our own countrie to shew us our friends there and come backe with us the next morrow thus wee spent thirtie daies and as many nights among them sleeping and feasting all the while untill a sudden clap of thunder awakned us all and we starting up provided our selves of victuals and tooke sea again and on the third day landed in Ogygia But upon the way I opened the letter I was to deliver and read the contents Homer Odyss which were these Vlysses to Calypso sendeth greeting this is to give you to undestand that after my departure from you in the vessell I made in hast for my selfe I suffered shipwracke hardly escaped by the helpe of Leucothea into the countrie of the Phoeacks who sent mee to mine owne home where I found many that were vvooers to my wife and riotously consumed my meanes but I slew them all and was afterwards kill'd my selfe by my son h Who being told by his mother whose son he was travell'd to Ithaca to see his father but being kept backe by the guard and not suffered to have admittance hee slew certain of them and at length Vlysses being drawne thither by the tumult Telegonus not knowing who he was ignorantly slew him Telegonus whom I begat of Circe am now in the Island of the blessed vvhere I daily repent my selfe for refusing to live with you and forsaking the imortalitie profered mee by you but if I can spie a convenient time I will give them all the slippe and come to you This was the effect of the letter with some addition concerning us that wee should have entertainment and farre had I not gone from the sea but I found such a cave as Homer speakes of and shee her selfe working busilie at her wooll when shee had received the letter and brought us in shee beganne to weepe and take on grievously but afterwards shee called us to meat and made us very good cheare asking us many questions concerning Vlysses and Penelope whether shee was so beautifull and modest as Vlysses had often before bragged of her and wee made her such answer as wee thought would give her best content and departing to our ship
have beene some heard of cattle and going forwards fell upon those men vvho espying us chaced us backe againe and tooke three of our companie the rest fled towards the sea then vvee all armed our selves not meaning to leave our friends unrevenged and set upon the Bucephalians as they vvere dividing the flesh of them that that vvere slaine and put them all to flight and pursued after them of whom wee killed fiftie and two wee tooke alive and so returned with our prisoners but food wee could finde none then the companie were all earnest with mee to kill those whom wee had taken but I did not like so well of that thinking it better to keepe them in bonds untill embassadours should come from the Bucephalians to ransome them that vvere taken and indeed they did and I vvell understood by the nodding of their heads and their lamentable lowing like petitioners what their businesse vvas so vvee agreed upon a ransome of sundrie cheeses and dried fish and onions and foure deere vvith three legges a peece two behind and one before upon these conditions vvee delivered those vvhom vvee had taken and tarrying there but one day departed then the fishes began to shewe themselves in the sea and the birds flew over our heads and all other tokens of our approach to land appeared unto us vvithin a vvhile after vvee saw men travelling the seas and a nevv found manner of navigation themselves supplying the office both for shippe and sailer and I will tell you hovv As they lye upon their backes in the water and their privie members standing upright vvhich are of a large sise and fit for such a purpose they fasten thereto a saile and holding their cords in their hands vvhen the vvinde hath taken it are carryed up and downe as please themselves after these followed others riding upon corke for they yoake two dolphines together and drive them on performing themselves the place of a coach-man which draw the corke along after them these never offered us any violence nor once shunned our sight but past along in our companie without feare in a peaceable manner wondring at the greatnesse of our shippe and beholding it on every side At evening wee arrived upon a small Island inhabited as it seemed onely by women which could speake the Greeke language for they came unto us gave us their hands and saluted us all attired like vvantons beautifull and young wearing long mantles downe to the foote the Island was called Cabalusa and the citie Hydamardia so the women received us and every one of them tooke aside one of us for herselfe and made him her guest but I pausing a little upon it for my heart misgave mee looked narrowly round about and saw the bones of many men and the sculls lying together in a corner yet I thought not good to make any stirre or to call my companie about mee or to put on armes but taking the mallow into my hand made my earnest prayers thereto that I might escape out of those present perils within a while after when the strange female came to wait upon mee I perceived shee had not the legges of a woman but the hoofes of an asse whereupon I drew my sword and taking fast hold of her bound her and examined her upon the point and shee though unwillingly confest that they were sea-women called Onosceleans and they fed upon strangers that travelled that vvay for said shee when vvee have made them drunke wee go to bed to them and in their sleepe make a hand of them I hearing this left her bound in the place where shee was and vvent up to the roofe of the house where I made an outcrie and called my company to mee and when they were come together acquainted them with all that I had heard and shewed them the bones and brought them into her that was bound who suddenly was turned into water and could not be seene notwithstanding I thrust my sword into the water to see what would come of it and it was changed into blood then wee made all the hast wee could to our shippe and got us away and as soone as it was cleare day wee had sight of the maine land which wee judged to be the countrie opposite to our continent whereupon wee worshipped and made our prayers and tooke counsell what was now to be done some thought it best onely to go a land and so returne backe againe others thought it better to leave our ship there and march into the midland to trie what the inhabitants would do but whilest wee were upon this consultation a violent storme fell upon us which drave our ship against the shoare and burst it all in pieces and with much adoe wee all swam to land with our armes every man catching what hee could lay hands on These are all the occurrences I can acquaint you withall till the time of our landing both in the sea and in our course to the Ilands and in the aire and after that in the whale and when wee came out againe what betide unto us among the Heroes and among the dreames and lastly among the Bucephalians and the Onosceleans what past upon land the next Bookes shall deliver TIMON OR THE MANHATER O Jupiter that art also a Names derived from the severall offices of Jupiter called Philius and Xenius and Hetaerius and Ephestius and Asteropetes and Hercius and Nephelegeretes and Erigdupus and I know not how many names else which the braine-sick poets have beene used to put upon thee especially when they want words to make up their meeter for then thou art a plaine aliàs dictus among them and they call thee they care not what Timons complaint wherewith thou supportest the ruines of their rythmes and closest up the crannies of their verses what 's now become of thy fiery flashes of lightning thy clattering claps of thunder and thy dreadfull horrible terrible thunderbolt all these are now come to nothing no more esteemed than a poeticall fume were it not for the noise of their names onely and that renowned farre fetching engine of thine that was readie at all assaies I know not by what meanes is now utterly quencht and coold not the least sparke of wrath reserved to be darted out against malefactors No knight of the post nor cōmon perjuror but stands more in dread of the dead snuffe of a candle than of the all consuming heat of thy thunderbolt and they make no more account of it than of a darke torch held over their heads that yeelds neither fire nor smoake think all the hurt it can do them is to fill them with sutt This made b True Hist l. 2. d. Salmoneus already presume to answer thee again with thunder a bold daring braggadochio that knew how coole Joves anger would be well enough for how should it be otherwise thou being surprised with so dead a sleepe as if thou hadst eaten c Ibid. g. Mandrakes neither able