I have discharged my obligations to Aristophanes , but you, in return, have given me such splendid tokens of a vehement affection as are conspicuous both to gods and men. So that now I seem almost to soar into the sky, elevated by your letter, which has inspired me with such hopes and has so decorated my oration that all things else -- the wealth of Midas, the beauty of Nireus , the swiftness of Crison , the strength of Polydamas , the sword of Peleus -- seem little in my sight. Even the nectar of the gods, were I allowed to enjoy it, could not give me greater delight than I now feel, when my prince, such a one as Plato formerly sought and could scarcely find, has commended my sentiments, admired my oration, and has not only promised that he will give something but, which is much greater honour, that he will consult with me what to give. They who observe the rising of the celestial goat do not always obtain their wishes, but I, though I have not attended to this, have been most successful. And if I want any other favour, the emperor, imitating the deity, is ever gracious. Your letter therefore shall be prefixed to my oration to inform all the Greeks that my dart has not been launched in vain, for by what I have written Aristophanes will be honoured, as I am by what you have returned; or rather both of us shall glory in what has been written and will be given by you, for each of us is honoured by each of these. But now it may amuse you to hear how Aristophanes has been terrified. One of your usual attendants informed us that on coming to your door he was refused admittance because, he was told, you were busy in composing an oration. This immediately occasioned an apprehension that you had determined to controvert my oration and confute your preceptor and would thus overwhelm Aristophanes like the Nile. We hastened therefore to the excellent Elphidius who, on hearing the cause of our alarm, burst into loud laughter. Thus we recovered our spirits and soon after I received your elegant letter. This oration for Aristophanes, a Corinthian, the son of Menander, who had been severely fined by the prefect of Egypt on account of his consulting astrologers, is preserved in the works of Libanius, vol. 2, p. 210 ff. WOLFIUS. It is said in this oration that he had been fined, flogged and imprisoned. Julian's letter, to which this is a reply, is the 68th. See Iliad ii. 671. Crison was a native of Himera who gained three victories in the Olympic games. A famous Thessalian wrestler who strangled a lion on Mt. Olympus, tamed a wild bull, and stopped a chariot drawn by the strongest horses. He was crushed to death by a rock under which he took shelter from a storm, after flattering himself that he could hold up the rock, which was starting to fall, when his companions fled. MORERI. Libanius mentions him also in his 16th declamation. Peleus received a sword from Vulcan with which he could defend himself against all attacks, as we learn from the scholiast on the 4th Nemean of Pindar, verse 88. WOLFIUS. A proverbial expression for those who got everything they wanted, based on the fable that those who saw that goat, who was the nurse of Jupiter and then was made a constellation, obtained whatever they desired. ERASMUS. The one on Aristophanes' behalf. I.e. in floods of eloquence.
I have discharged my obligations to Aristophanes , but you, in return, have given me such splendid tokens of a vehement affection as are conspicuous both to gods and men. So that now I seem almost to soar into the sky, elevated by your letter, which has inspired me with such hopes and has so decorated my oration that all things else -- the wealth of Midas, the beauty of Nireus , the swiftness of Crison , the strength of Polydamas , the sword of Peleus -- seem little in my sight. Even the nectar of the gods, were I allowed to enjoy it, could not give me greater delight than I now feel, when my prince, such a one as Plato formerly sought and could scarcely find, has commended my sentiments, admired my oration, and has not only promised that he will give something but, which is much greater honour, that he will consult with me what to give. They who observe the rising of the celestial goat do not always obtain their wishes, but I, though I have not attended to this, have been most successful. And if I want any other favour, the emperor, imitating the deity, is ever gracious. Your letter therefore shall be prefixed to my oration to inform all the Greeks that my dart has not been launched in vain, for by what I have written Aristophanes will be honoured, as I am by what you have returned; or rather both of us shall glory in what has been written and will be given by you, for each of us is honoured by each of these. But now it may amuse you to hear how Aristophanes has been terrified. One of your usual attendants informed us that on coming to your door he was refused admittance because, he was told, you were busy in composing an oration. This immediately occasioned an apprehension that you had determined to controvert my oration and confute your preceptor and would thus overwhelm Aristophanes like the Nile. We hastened therefore to the excellent Elphidius who, on hearing the cause of our alarm, burst into loud laughter. Thus we recovered our spirits and soon after I received your elegant letter. This oration for Aristophanes, a Corinthian, the son of Menander, who had been severely fined by the prefect of Egypt on account of his consulting astrologers, is preserved in the works of Libanius, vol. 2, p. 210 ff. WOLFIUS. It is said in this oration that he had been fined, flogged and imprisoned. Julian's letter, to which this is a reply, is the 68th. See Iliad ii. 671. Crison was a native of Himera who gained three victories in the Olympic games. A famous Thessalian wrestler who strangled a lion on Mt. Olympus, tamed a wild bull, and stopped a chariot drawn by the strongest horses. He was crushed to death by a rock under which he took shelter from a storm, after flattering himself that he could hold up the rock, which was starting to fall, when his companions fled. MORERI. Libanius mentions him also in his 16th declamation. Peleus received a sword from Vulcan with which he could defend himself against all attacks, as we learn from the scholiast on the 4th Nemean of Pindar, verse 88. WOLFIUS. A proverbial expression for those who got everything they wanted, based on the fable that those who saw that goat, who was the nurse of Jupiter and then was made a constellation, obtained whatever they desired. ERASMUS. The one on Aristophanes' behalf. I.e. in floods of eloquence.
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I have discharged my obligations to Aristophanes , but you, in return, have given me such splendid tokens of a vehement affection as are conspicuous both to gods and men. So that now I seem almost to soar into the sky, elevated by your letter, which has inspired me with such hopes and has so decorated my oration that all things else -- the wealth of Midas, the beauty of Nireus , the swiftness of Crison , the strength of Polydamas , the sword of Peleus -- seem little in my sight. Even the nectar of the gods, were I allowed to enjoy it, could not give me greater delight than I now feel, when my prince, such a one as Plato formerly sought and could scarcely find, has commended my sentiments, admired my oration, and has not only promised that he will give something but, which is much greater honour, that he will consult with me what to give. They who observe the rising of the celestial goat do not always obtain their wishes, but I, though I have not attended to this, have been most successful. And if I want any other favour, the emperor, imitating the deity, is ever gracious. Your letter therefore shall be prefixed to my oration to inform all the Greeks that my dart has not been launched in vain, for by what I have written Aristophanes will be honoured, as I am by what you have returned; or rather both of us shall glory in what has been written and will be given by you, for each of us is honoured by each of these. But now it may amuse you to hear how Aristophanes has been terrified. One of your usual attendants informed us that on coming to your door he was refused admittance because, he was told, you were busy in composing an oration. This immediately occasioned an apprehension that you had determined to controvert my oration and confute your preceptor and would thus overwhelm Aristophanes like the Nile. We hastened therefore to the excellent Elphidius who, on hearing the cause of our alarm, burst into loud laughter. Thus we recovered our spirits and soon after I received your elegant letter. This oration for Aristophanes, a Corinthian, the son of Menander, who had been severely fined by the prefect of Egypt on account of his consulting astrologers, is preserved in the works of Libanius, vol. 2, p. 210 ff. WOLFIUS. It is said in this oration that he had been fined, flogged and imprisoned. Julian's letter, to which this is a reply, is the 68th. See Iliad ii. 671. Crison was a native of Himera who gained three victories in the Olympic games. A famous Thessalian wrestler who strangled a lion on Mt. Olympus, tamed a wild bull, and stopped a chariot drawn by the strongest horses. He was crushed to death by a rock under which he took shelter from a storm, after flattering himself that he could hold up the rock, which was starting to fall, when his companions fled. MORERI. Libanius mentions him also in his 16th declamation. Peleus received a sword from Vulcan with which he could defend himself against all attacks, as we learn from the scholiast on the 4th Nemean of Pindar, verse 88. WOLFIUS. A proverbial expression for those who got everything they wanted, based on the fable that those who saw that goat, who was the nurse of Jupiter and then was made a constellation, obtained whatever they desired. ERASMUS. The one on Aristophanes' behalf. I.e. in floods of eloquence.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.