Menander
ἐμοί τ᾿ ἔσεσθαι τῶν μακρῶν πόνων τινὰ ἀνάπαυσιν εἰς τὸ γῆρας εὐνοίας χάριν. νῦν δὲ σὺ μὲν οἴχει παραλόγως τ᾿ ἀνήρπασαι, ἐγὼ δ᾿ ὁ παιδαγωγός, ὦ Κλεόστρατε, 15τὴν οὐχὶ σώσασάν σε τήνδ᾿ ἐλήλυθα ἀσπίδα κομίζων ὑπὸ δὲ σοῦ σεσωσμένην πολλάκις· ἀνὴρ γὰρ ἦσθα τὴν ψυχὴν μέγας, εἰ καί τις ἄλλος.
τῆς ἀνελπίστου τύχης, ὦ Δᾶε.
δεινῆς.
πῶς δ᾿ ἀπώλετ᾿ ἢ τίνι 20τρόπῳ;
(KT fr. 70) στρατιώτῃ, Σμικρίνη, σωτηρίας ἔστ᾿ ἔργον εὑρεῖν πρόφασιν, ὀλέθρου δ᾿ εὔπορον.
ὅμως διήγησαι τὸ πρᾶγμα, Δᾶε, μοί.
ποταμός τίς ἐστι τῆς Λυκίας καλούμενος Ξάνθος, πρὸς ᾧ τότ᾿ ἦμεν ἐπιεικῶς μάχαις
- 11μακαρων Β.
- 14ὦ om. B.
- 15σασαν Β.
- 17της Β.
- 20Corr. Edmonds, Austin: στρατιωτης Β, -την mss. of Stobaeus, Ecl. 4. 12. 6.
- 22διηγησασθαι Β.
- 23Corr. several: καλουμενης Β.
Aspis
And for me too, as I grew old, I hoped There’d be a rest from these long labours, after all I’d done for you. But now you’re dead, snatched off Against all reason, and, Kleostratos, It’s I who’ve come—your tutor, bringing back15 This shield which didn’t protect you, though you often Protected it. You always showed fine spirit, Second to none.
(coming forward) Oh Daos, what a tragedy! So unexpected!
Terrible.
How did he die? What way?
If you’re a soldier, Smikrines,20 It’s hard to find good reasons for survival; For death though, easy.
But what happened? Tell me,
In Lycia there’s a river called The Xanthos. 1 There we saw some action, quite a lot,