Trygæus.
Very well; but something very strange has happened to him.
Hermes.
What then?
Trygæus.
He has turned from Sophocles into Simonides.[1]
Hermes.
Into Simonides? How so?
Trygæus.
Because, though old and broken-down as he is, he would put to sea on a hurdle to gain an obolus.[2]
Hermes.
And wise Cratinus, is he still alive?[3]
Trygæus.
He died about the time of the Laconian invasion.
Hermes.
.
How?
Trygæus.
Of a swoon. He could not bear the shock of seeing one of his casks full of wine broken. Ah! what a number of other misfortunes our city has suffered! So, dearest mistress, nothing can now separate us from thee.
Hermes.
If that be so, receive Opora here for a wife; take her to the country, live with her, and grow fine grapes together.[4]
- ↑ Simonides was very avaricious, and sold his pen to the highest bidder. It seems that Sophocles had also started writing for gain.
- ↑ i.e. he would recoil from no risk to turn an honest penny.
- ↑ A comic poet as well known for his love of wine as for his writings; he died in 431 B.C., the first year of the war, at the age of ninety-seven.
- ↑ Opora was the goddess of fruits.
