Letter 63: Pindar calls the Muses "silvery," as though comparing the clarity and brilliance of their art to the most luminous...

To Hecebolius. Pindar calls the Muses "silvery," as though comparing the clarity and brilliance of their art to the most luminous of substances. Homer calls silver "shining" and gives water the epithet "silvery" because it gleams with the reflected radiance of the sun. Sappho calls the moon "silvery" and says it dims the radiance of all other stars. By this logic, one might think silver is more appropriate to the gods than gold. And the ancients held — this is not my own theory — that silver is actually more precious than gold to mankind: it does not hide under the earth or avoid our eyes like gold, but is beautiful to look at and more useful in daily life. So if, in return for the gold coin you sent me, I give you a piece of silver of equal value, do not think the exchange is a loss. This is not like Glaucus trading gold armor for bronze [a famous example from Homer of a bad deal]. Diomedes himself might have preferred silver armor to gold, since silver is far more serviceable and, like lead, better at turning spear-points. I say all this in jest — taking my cue from the playful tone of your own letter. But if you truly want to send me gifts more precious than gold: write. And keep writing. Even a short letter from you I value more than any other blessing I could name.

To Hecebolius1 Pindar 2 thinks that the Muses are "silvery," and it is as though he likened the clearness and splendour of their art to the substance that shines most brilliantly. And the wise Homer3 calls silver "shining," and gives to water the epithet "silvery" because it gleams with the very brightness of the reflected image of the sun, as though under its direct rays. And Sappho4 the fair says that the moon is "silvery," and that because of this it dims the radiance of the other stars. Similarly one might imagine silver to be more appropriate to the gods than gold; but that to man, at any rate, silver is more precious than gold and more familiar to them because it is not, like gold, hidden under the earth and does not avoid their eyes, but is both beautiful to the eye and more serviceable in daily life,— this, I say, is not my own theory1 but was held by men of old. If, therefore, in return for the gold coin sent by you I give you a piece of silver of equal value, think not that the favour is less and do not imagine that, as with Glaucus,2 the exchange is to your disadvantage; for perhaps not even Diomede would have exchanged silver armour for golden, seeing that the former is far more serviceable than the latter, and like lead well fitted to turn the points of spears.3 All this I am saying in jest, and I take the cue4 for my freedom of speech to you from what you write yourself. But if you really wish to send me gifts more precious than gold, write, and keep on writing regularly. For even a short letter from you I hold to be more precious than any other blessing that one could name. 1 See Introduction, under Hecebolius. 2 Frag. 212, Bergk.; cf. Pythian 9. 65, Isthmian 2. 13. 3 These epithets for silver and water are not in our Homer. 4 Frag. 3, Bergk.; cf, Julian, Oration 3. 109c, note, Wright. 1 For this Julianic commonplace cf. Oration 6. 197b, note. 2 A sophistic commonplace; cf. Vol. 2, Letter to Themistius 260a, note. He exchanged bronze armour for golden; Iliad 6. 236. 3 Iliad 11. 237. 4 Literally "keynote"; cf. To Iamblichus 421a, p. 238.

[Πρός: Ἑκηβολίῳ] Πινδάρῳ μὲν ἀργυρέας εἶναι δοκεῖ τὰς Μούσας, οἱονεὶ τὸ ἔκδηλον αὐτῶν καὶ περιφανὲς τῆς τέχνης ἐς τὸ τῆς ὕλης λαμπρότερον ἀπεικάζοντι· Ὅμηρος δὲ ὁ σοφὸς τόν τε ἄργυρον αἰγλήεντα λέγει καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἀργύρεον ὀνομάζει, καθάπερ ἡλίου καθαραῖς ἀκτῖσιν αὐτῷ τῷ τῆς εἰκόνος φαιδρῷ μαρμαρύσσον· Σαπφὼ δ’ ἡ καλὴ τὴν σελήνην ἀργυρέαν φησὶ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῶν ἄλλων ἀστέρων ἀποκρύπτειν τὴν ὄψιν. οὕτω καὶ θεοῖς τὸν ἄργυρον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν χρυσὸν εἰκάσειεν ἄν τις πρέπειν· ἀνθρώποις γε μὴν ὅτι πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἐστὶν ὁ ἄργυρος τοῦ χρυσοῦ τιμιώτερος καὶ σύνεστι μᾶλλον αὐτοῖς, οὐχ ὥσπερ ὁ χρυσὸς ὑπὸ γῆς κρυπτόμενος ἢ φεύγων αὐτῶν τὴν ὄψιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀφθῆναι καλὸς καὶ ἐν διαιτήματι κρείττων, οὐκ ἐμὸς ἴδιος, ἀλλὰ παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν ὁ λόγος ἐστίν. εἰ δέ σοι τοῦ πεμφθέντος ὑπὸ σοῦ χρυσοῦ νομίσματος εἰς τὸ ἴσον τῆς τιμῆς ἕτερον ἀργύρεον ἀντιδίδομεν, μὴ κρίνῃς ἥττω τὴν χάριν, μηδὲ ὥσπερ τῷ Γλαύκῳ πρὸς τὸ ἔλαττον οἰηθῇς εἶναι τὴν ἀντίδοσιν, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ ὁ Διομήδης ἴσως ἀργυρᾶ χρυσῶν ἀντέδωκεν ἄν, ἅτε δὴ πολλῷ τῶν ἑτέρων ὄντα χρησιμώτερα καὶ τὰς αἰχμὰς οἱονεὶ μολίβδου δίκην ἐκτρέπειν εἰδότα. ταῦτά σοι προσπαίζομεν, ἀφ’ ὧν αὐτὸς γράφεις τὸ ἐνδόσιμον εἰς σὲ τῆς παρρησίας λαμβάνοντες. σὺ δὲ εἰ τῷ ὄντι χρυσοῦ τιμιώτερα ἡμῖν δῶρα ἐθέλεις ἐκπέμπειν, γράφε, καὶ μὴ λῆγε συνεχῶς τοῦτο πράττων· ἐμοὶ γὰρ καὶ γράμμα παρὰ σοῦ μικρὸν ὅτου περ ἂν εἴπῃ τις ἀγαθοῦ κάλλιον εἶναι κρίνεται.