But I liked Theodorus above all, for his liberality and for the ornaments he lavished upon me. He gave me a pearl necklace, four peacocks from Samos, a writing-desk woven in gold and decorated with miniatures, and finally, a living green monkey that comes from the lands of Pontus.
That animal is clever and distinguishes himself by marvelous tricks. He grasps and holds in his hands anything that one gives him, dances to the sounds of the flute and walks on two feet like a man. Theodorus had also revealed to me a quality far more extravagant, regarding his natural lasciviousness. And yesterday, with Coronis, we were able to observe the verity of that affirmation.
Soon, my monkey will give rise to gossip in the city. Demetrius will probably want to contemplate such a phenomenon
And, seeing that the animal is expert in amour and appears to be fashioned expressly for caresses, I had a delicate thought, and this morning, I have been to take his collar as an offering to Venus.
Notes
1 This statement was allegedly attributed to Lycophron by Duris the Samian, according to the Byzantine poet John Tzetzes’ Scholiast [i.e. Commentary] on Lycophron, but there might have been a mistranslation somewhere along the line. Pan is more commonly alleged to have been fathered by Hermes/Mercury.
2 Two of Polyctor’s sons are listed among Penelope’s suitors, but this one is evidently Peisander, as the other, Eurymachus, was the father of Polybus.
3 Hermes/Mercury is said by numerous Classical sources to have assumed the form of a goat in order to father Pan.
4 Calypso.
5 Cephalus is usually said to be Aeolus’ grandson and the son of Deioneus.
6 In the original, Socrates swears in this instance “par le Chien” [literally, by the Dog], which I assume to be a reference to the constellation Canis Major, hence my translation.
7 The tyrant whose name was Latinized as Pisistratus was deposed twice during his reign, which lasted from approximately 561 to 527 B.C., returning the first time on a golden chariot accompanied by a tall woman allegedly mistaken by the populace for Athene—Ségur’s Minerva. Socrates’ allegation of priestly involvement is not unlikely, but Pisistratus appears to have been an early populist and proto-democrat who supported ordinary citizens against the aristocracy, and that probably had more to do with his reinstatement.
8 The battle fought at sea between Athens and the island of Salamis by the outnumbered forces of the allied Greek city states, commanded by Themistocles, against the Persian forces of Xerxes, in 480 B.C., followed the opposition mounted by an even smaller Greek contingent that had interrupted the advance of Xerxes invading army at Thermopylae. Unable to maneuver effectively in the narrow strait, the Persians were decisively defeated at Salamis and Xerxes was forced to retreat, clearing the way for the subsequent development of Ancient Greek culture and thus making a vast difference to the history of the western world.
9 Phrynicus, whose work is only known via a few fragments, is recorded as the winner a drama contest in 511 B.C. and often cited as the originator of the tradition of Tragedy, in his play The Sack of Miletus. In 476 B.C. he celebrated the defeat of Xerxes at Salamis in The Phoenician Women, which Themistocles financed as a choregos. Contrary to the account rendered here, Aeschylus’ The Persians is recorded as first having been performed in 472 B.C. and was allegedly modeled on The Phoenician Women. The titles of seven other plays by Phrynicus are recorded, and he is said, under the influence of his mentor Thespis, to have initiated the tradition of theatrical dialogue by separating an actor from the chorus.
10 The name of Theodota of Elis was preserved by Xenophon as that of a courtesan frequented by Socrates, but nothing more is known about her.
11 i.e. the protective goddess of the city—Athene/Minerva.
12 The name Sthenelais appears in an anonymous fragment in the Greek Anthology as that of a high-priced courtesan “who sets cities aflame.”
13 It is relevant to this passage that much of Agoracritus’ posthumous fame relates to a controversy regarding a statue known as the Rhamnusian Nemesis, a fragment of whose head is now in the British Museum. Pliny’s account alleges that the sculptor, who was from Paros, initially conceived it as a statue of Venus, but when it lost a competition held in Athens to a statue by the Athenian sculptor Alcamenes he altered it slightly in order to change it into a Nemesis, selling it to the people of Rhamnus on the condition that it was never exhibited in Athens.
14 The original text renders this courtesan’s name as Lacaina, which must be a misprint, perhaps resulting from a failure to read the author’s handwriting correctly. She was the lover of Aristogeton, who attempted to overthrow the tyranny of Hippias and Hipparchus in the 6th century B.C.; he was captured and she was arrested and tortured in the hope of forcing her to reveal the names of the other conspirators, but she died without saying a word; the Athenians erected a statue of a lioness without a tongue at the gate of the Acropolis to symbolize her courage, which some later commentators interpreted as an assertion that she had bitten off her own tongue.
15 Alcidamas of Elaea, a pupil of Gorgias, is reported by Athenaeus to have composed an Encomium to a courtesan named Naïs who lived in the fourth century B.C.; she has presumably been appropriated as the mother of the narrator of the present story.
16 Alexander the Great captured and looted the Persian capital, Persepolis, and burned its palace, in 330 B.C.
17 Demetrius Poliorcetes—i.e., “the Besieger”—(337-283 B.C.) eventually became King of Macedonia from 294-288 B.C. In his days of military glory he expelled Demetrius of Phalerium from Athens in 307 B.C.; he was subsequently deified, and took up residence, in the winter of 304-3 B.C., in the temple of the Parthenon, where, according to Plutarch, his conduct was scandalous, although that reputation seems to have been obtained more by his homosexual depredations than the gifts he is recorded as having given to courtesans, including one named Lamia.
18 Glycera, meaning “the sweet one,” was a popular soubriquet of courtesans, but this one is the most famous; originally the mistress of Alexander’s friend Harpalus, who died some time before the present story begins, she was subsequently the mistress of the poet and dramatist Menander (c.341-c.290 B.C.).
19 Hippomane is the name given by Linnaeus to a genus of plants that includes the highly toxic manchineel tree, but that genus is native to the Americas and Naïs could not know of its existence. The term had previously been used by Pliny in his Natural History and many other Classical authors including Aristotle and Virgil, but the range of its reference in those sources is unclear.
20 A mina was a Greek unit of weight; with reference to silver it referred to a hundred drachmae.
21 The Cynic philosopher Crates of Thebes (c.365-c.285 B.C.) married Hipparchia of Maroneia, who lived with him in poverty on the streets of Athens.
22 The flowers ambroisia and cosmosandales are mentioned in Athenaeas’ The Deipnosophists; or, The Banquet of the Learned, from which numerous other details of Demetrius’ feast and some subsequent references are appropriated.
23 A philosopher named Polemon was head of the Academy from c.314 B.C. to c.270 B.C., and was succeeded by Crates; none of his writings survive, but he is mentioned in The Deipnosophists.
24 The author might have in mind the epigrammatic poet Posidippus of Pella (c.310-c.240 B.C.), although the character cannot be him, given the datable events featured in the story..
25 Demetrius’ famous encounter with Cratesipolis took place in 307 B.C.
26 The philosopher here called Théodore le Dieu [Theodorus the God] was better known as Theodorus the Atheist; he is known to have written a book entitled On the Gods, but it has not survived.
FRENCH SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY COLLECTION
105 Adolphe Ahaiza. Cybele
102 Alphonse Allais. The Adventures of Captain Cap
02 Henri Allorge. The Great Cataclysm
14 G.-J. Arnaud. The Ice Company
152 André Arnyvelde. The Ark
153 André Arnyvelde
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61 Charles Asselineau. The Double Life
118 Henri Austruy. The Eupantophone
119 Henri Austry. The Petitpaon Era
120 Henri Austry. The Olotelepan
130 Barillet-Lagargousse. The Final War
180 Honoré de Balzac. The Last Fay
193 Mme Barbot de Villeneuve. Beauty and the Beast
194 Mme Barbot de Villeneuve. The Naiads
103 S. Henry Berthoud. Martyrs of Science
189 S. Henry Berthoud. The Angel Asrael
23 Richard Bessière. The Gardens of the Apocalypse + The Seven Rings of Rhea
121 Richard Bessière. The Masters of Silence+ They Came From The Dark
148 Béthune (Chevalier de). The World of Mercury
26 Albert Bleunard. Ever Smaller
173 Pierre Boitard. Journey to the Sun
92 Louis Boussenard. Monsieur Synthesis
39 Alphonse Brown. City of Glass
89 Alphonse Brown. The Conquest of the Air
98 Emile Calvet. In A Thousand Years
191 Jean Carrère. The End of Atlantis
220. Charlotte-Rose Caumont de la Force. The Land of Delights
40 Félicien Champsaur. The Human Arrow
81 Félicien Champsaur. Ouha, King of the Apes
91. Félicien Champsaur. The Pharaoh’s Wife
133 Félicien Champsaur. Homo-Deus
143 Félicien Champsaur. Nora, The Ape-Woman
03 Didier de Chousy. Ignis
166 Jacques Collin de Plancy. Voyage to the Center of the Earth
97 Michel Corday. The Eternal Flame
182. Michel Corday & André Couvreur. The Lynx
113 André Couvreur. The Necessary Evil
114 André Couvreur. Caresco, Superman
115 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 1)
116 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 2)
117 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 3)
67 Captain Danrit. Undersea Odyssey
184 Gaston Danville. The Perfume of Lust
149 Camille Debans. The Misfortunes of John Bull
17 C. I. Defontenay. Star (Psi Cassiopeia)
05 Charles Derennes. The People of the Pole
68 Georges T. Dodds. The Missing Link and Other Tales of Ape-Men
125 Charles Dodeman. The Silent Bomb
49 Alfred Driou. The Adventures of a Parisian Aeronaut
144 Odette Dulac. The War of the Sexes
188. Alexandre Dumas & Paul Lacroix. The Man who married a Mermaid
145 Renée Dunan. The Ultimate Pleasure
10 Henri Duvernois. The Man Who Found Himself
08 Achille Eyraud. Voyage to Venus
01 Henri Falk. The Age of Lead
51 Charles de Fieux. Lamékis
154 Fernand Fleuret. Jim Click
108 Louis Forest. Someone Is Stealing Children In Paris
31 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega
70 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega & The Shadowmen
112 H. Gayar. The Marvelous Adventures of Serge Myrandhal on Mars
88 Judith Gautier. Isoline and the Serpent-Flower
185 Louis Geoffroy. The Apocryphal Napoleon
163 Raoul Gineste. The Second Life of Dr. Albin
136 Delphine de Girardin. Balzac’s Cane
146 Jules Gros. The Fossil Man
174 Jimmy Guieu. The Polarian-Denebian War 1: The Time Spiral
175 Jimmy Guieu. The Polarian-Denebian War 2: Operation Aphrodite
176 Jimmy Guieu. The Polarian-Denebian War 3: The Man From Outer Space
177 Jimmy Guieu. The Polarian-Denebian War 4: Space Commandos
178 Jimmy Guieu. The Polarian-Denebian War 5: Our Ancestors From The Future
179 Jimmy Guieu. The Polarian-Denebian War 6: Prisoners of the Past
57 Edmond Haraucourt. Illusions of Immortality
134 Edmond Haraucourt. Daah, the First Human
24 Nathalie Henneberg. The Green Gods
131 Eugene Hennebert. The Enchanted City
137 P.-J. Hérault. The Clone Rebellion
150 Jules Hoche. The Maker of Men and his Formula
140 P. d’Ivoi & H. Chabrillat. Around the World on Five Sous
107 Jules Janin. The Magnetized Corpse
29 Michel Jeury. Chronolysis [NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
55 Gustave Kahn. The Tale of Gold and Silence
30 Gérard Klein. The Mote in Time’s Eye
209 Gérard Klein. Starmasters’ Gambit
210 Gérard Klein. The Day Before Tomorrow
90 Fernand Kolney. Love in 5000 Years
87 Louis-Guillaume de La Follie. The Unpretentious Philosopher
101 Jean de La Hire. The Fiery Wheel
50 André Laurie. Spiridon
52 Gabriel de Lautrec. The Vengeance of the Oval Portrait
82 Alain Le Drimeur. The Future City
27 Georges Le Faure & Henri de Graffigny. The Extraordinary Adventures of a Russian Scientist Across the Solar System (Volume 1)
28 Georges Le Faure & Henri de Graffigny. The Extraordinary Adventures of a Russian Scientist Across the Solar System (Volume 2)
07 Jules Lermina. Mysteryville
25 Jules Lermina. Panic in Paris
32 Jules Lermina. The Secret of Zippelius
66 Jules Lermina. To-Ho and the Gold Destroyers
127 Jules Lermina. The Battle of Strasbourg
15 Gustave Le Rouge. The Vampires of Mars
73 Gustave Le Rouge. The Dominion of the World 1: The Plutocratic Plot
74 Gustave Le Rouge. The Dominion of the World 2: The Transatlantic Threat
75 Gustave Le Rouge. The Dominion of the World 3: The Psychic Spies
76 Gustave Le Rouge. The Dominion of the World 4: The Victims Victorious
109 Gustave Le Rouge. The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius1: The Sculptor of Human Flesh
110 Gustave Le Rouge. The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius2: The Island od Hanged Men
111 Gustave Le Rouge. The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius3: The Rochester Bridge Catastrophe
214. Marie-Jeanne L’Heritier de Villandon. The Robe of Sincerity
96 André Lichtenberger. The Centaurs
99 André Lichtenberger. The Children of the Crab
135 Listonai. The Philosophical Voyager
157 Ch. Lomon & P.-B. Gheusi. The Last Days of Atlantis
197 Maurice Magre. The Marvelous Story of Claire d’Amour
197 Maurice Magre. The Call of the Beast
198 Maurice Magre. Priscilla of Alexandria
199 Maurice Magre. The Angel of Lust
200 Maurice Magre. The Mystery of the Tiger
201 Maurice Magre. The Poison of Goa
202 Maurice Magre. Lucifer
203 Maurice Magre. The Blood of Toulouse
204 Maurice Magre. The Albigensian Treasure
205 Maurice Magre. Jean de Fodoas
206 Maurice Magre. Melusine
207 Maurice Magre. The Brothers of the Virgin Gold
208 Charles Malato. Lost !
72 Xavier Mauméjean. The League of Heroes
219. Louis-Sebastien Mercier. The Iron Man
78 Joseph Méry. The Tower of Destiny
77 Hippolyte Mettais. The Year 5865
128 Hyppolite Mettais. Paris Before the Deluge
83 Louise Michel. The Human Microbes
84 Louise Michel. The New World
218. L. Miral & A. Viger. The Ring of Light.
93 Tony Moilin. Paris in the Year 2000
11 José Moselli. Illa’s End
38 John-Antoine Nau. Enemy Force
156 Charles Nodier. Trilby + The Crumb Fairy
04 Henri de Parville. An Inhabitant of the Planet Mars
21 Gaston de Pawlowski. Journey to the Land of the Fourth Dimension
; 56 Georges Pellerin. The World in 2000 Years
79 Pierre Pelot. The Child Who Walked On The Sky + What If Butterflies Cheat?
85 Ernest Perochon. The Frenetic People
161 Jean Petithuguenin. An International Mission to the Moon
141. Georges Price. The Missing Men of the Sirius
165 René Pujol. The Chimerical Quest
100 Edgar Quinet. Ahasuerus
123 Edgar Quinet. The Enchanter Merlin
192 Jean Rameau. Arrival in the Stars
60 Henri de Régnier. A Surfeit of Mirrors
33 Maurice Renard. The Blue Peril
34 Maurice Renard. Doctor Lerne
35 Maurice Renard. The Doctored Man
36 Maurice Renard. A Man Among the Microbes
37 Maurice Renard. The Master of Light
169 Restif de la Bretonne. The Discovery of the Austral Continent by a Flying Man
170 Restif de la Bretonne. Posthumous Correspondence Volume 1
171 Restif de la Bretonne. Posthumous Correspondence Volume 2
172 Restif de la Bretonne. Posthumous Correspondence Volume 3
186 Restif de la Bretonne. The Fay Ouroucoucou 1 : The Story of the Great Prince Oribeau
187 Restif de la Bretonne. The Fay Ouroucoucou 2 : The Four Beauties and the Four Beasts
41 Jean Richepin. The Wing
12 Albert Robida. The Clock of the Centuries
62 Albert Robida. Chalet in the Sky
69 Albert Robida. The Adventures of Saturnin Farandoul
95 Albert Robida. The Electric Life
211 Albert Robida. In 1965
151 Albert Robida. Engineer Von Satanas
46 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Givreuse Enigma
45 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Mysterious Force
43 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Navigators of Space
48 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Vamireh
44 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The World of the Variants
47 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Young Vampire
71 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Helgvor of the Blue River